Author: Richard Boudreaux

Source: The Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-pope-mideast12-2009may12,0,1951298.story

Pope Benedict XVI, trying to quell Jewish anger over a Holocaust-denying bishop, bowed in silence Monday at Israel's memorial to Jews exterminated during World War II and declared that their suffering must "never be denied, belittled or forgotten."

"They...

Author: Ethan Bronner

Source: The New York Times

Author: David Eggert

Source: The Detroit News

Wire Service: AP

http://www.detnews.com/article/20090512/LIFESTYLE04/905120402/1041/LIFESTYLE04/Mich.-high-court-waits-to-decide-Muslim-veil-issue

The Michigan Supreme Court on Tuesday weighed whether to give judges power over how witnesses dress in court after a Muslim woman's case was dismissed...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The Times

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article6261820.ece

Pope Benedict XVI urged Christians in the Middle East to hold on to their faith and traditions at an open-air Mass attended by 50,000 worshippers.

He told them to work with other religions to enrich their daily lives and counter violent ideologies. “Be faithful to your roots,” he said yesterday in his homily at...

Author: Pamela Constable

Source: The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/09/AR2009050902518.html

When black-turbaned Taliban fighters demanded in January that Islamic sharia law be imposed in Pakistan's Swat Valley, few alarm bells went off in this Muslim nation of about 170 million.

Sharia, after all, is the legal framework that guides the lives of all Muslims....

Author: Fakir Hassen

Source: The Gaea News

[blog.taragana.com/n/zuma-inaugurated-as-south-african-president-after-sanskrit-chants-57666/]

A Hindu prayer started off the inauguration of South African President Jacob Zuma at the Union Buildings here Saturday.

As Indian Vice-President Hamid Ansari joined heads of state of 28 other countries, South African Hindu Maha Sabha president Ashwin Trikamjee recited a few lines in Sanskrit before translating them into English and making a plea for divine...

Author: David Brown

Source: The Times

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article6245144.ece

An honour established by the Queen has been declared unlawful after Muslims and Hindus complained that its Christian name and cross insignia were offensive.

The Trinity Cross of the Order of Trinity was established by the Queen 40 years ago to recognise distinguished service and gallantry in the former colony of...

Author: Leanne Larmondin

Source: Religion News Service

http://www.religionnews.com/index.php?/rnspremiumtext/singlewnet/a_muslim_a_church_and_a_whole_lot_of_questions/

Some church-going families in the Western world would recoil at the thought of a Muslim being responsible for their children’s religious education.

But Farzana Hassan, activist, writer and advocate for Islamic...

Author: Rachel Donadio

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/09/world/middleeast/09jordan.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail0=y

Arriving in Jordan on his first trip to the Holy Land as pope, Benedict XVI on Friday expressed his “deep respect” for Muslims and his desire for the Roman Catholic Church to play a major role in fostering peace in the Middle East.

Benedict was greeted...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8038398.stm

European Muslims have much more loyalty to the countries they live in than is generally believed, a survey says.

The report by Gallup and the Coexist Foundation says 77% of British Muslims identified with the UK, compared with 50% of the general public.

There was a similar finding in Germany, the survey says.

The authors say their report...

Author: Adam Sitte

Source: GALLUP

http://www.gallup.com/poll/118273/Canada-Show-Interfaith-Cohesion-Europe.aspx

In its first annual report on the state of faith relations in countries spanning four continents, Gallup and the Coexist Foundation find Americans and Canadians are more likely than European respondents surveyed to be classified as "integrated."

Other key findings from The Gallup Coexist Index 2009: A...

Author: Ben Hubbard and Ibrahim Barzak

Source: The New York Times

Wire Service: AP

Author: Staff Writer

Source: OMB Watch

http://www.ombwatch.org/node/9952

Responding to claims that Muslim organizations have been illegally spied upon in southern California, a federal judge said on April 20, 2009 he will conduct a review of the FBI records. The decision comes after nearly three years of legal efforts by the ACLU and American Muslim groups to obtain information that they say would demonstrate illegal surveillance by the FBI. The FBI will have 30 days...

Author: Angie El Sherif

Source: InFocus News

http://www.infocusnews.net/content/view/34427/135/

For 14-year-old Sarah Rafiqi, a freshman at Valencia High School in Placentia, Calif., taking part in the Bridging Communities program was a way to learn about others in neighboring communities. “I wanted to join because I think it is a good idea for kids of different ethnicities and races to come together and form a bond and a friendship,”...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: CBS News

Wire Service: AP

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/05/05/ap/middleeast/main4994022.shtml

The Egyptian government is using swine flu as an excuse to get rid of tens of thousands of pigs raised by garbage collectors who live amid the refuse in Cairo slums. But the move has prompted accusations Monday that Muslims are attacking minority Christians, who breed the...