Author: Anto Akkara

Source: Ecumenical News International

[eni.ch/featured/article.php?id=2064]

A joint forum of Buddhist, Christian and Hindu minorities in Bangladesh is lobbying quietly for the restoration of a secular constitution that was abolished 20 years ago making Islam the state religion in the Muslim-majority nation.

"We are trying our best to make our voices heard," Nirmal Rozario, organizing secretary of the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, told Ecumenical News...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The Associated Press

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hKGgzL2v7BjS70ALL_GckqynPPsAD91PODI01

Switzerland will hold a nationwide referendum on whether to ban the construction of minarets where Muslims traditionally issue the call to prayer, officials said Tuesday.

Swiss nationalists have collected enough signatures to force a vote on the ban, the Interior Ministry said. Organizers backed...

Author: Ethan Cole

Source: The Christian Post

http://www.christianpost.com/article/20080708/egypt-s-christian-muslim-gap-growing-bigger.htm

The divide between Egypt’s Coptic Christian community and the Muslim majority is growing bigger as an increasing number of Christians are cutting ties with Muslim neighbors and turning to the Church for all their social needs.

Many Christians in Egypt are...

Author: Alfred de Montesquiou

Source: The Washington Post

Wire Service: AP

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/07/AR2008070701679.html

It's an uncommon sight for an Arab country: hundreds of joyous Jewish pilgrims gathering without fear around a rabbi's tomb, greeted by local Muslim officials who share a prayer with them at a synagogue.

Yet most of the...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: CAIR Press Release

http://www.cair.com/ArticleDetails.aspx?mid1=777&&ArticleID=25105&&name=n&&currPage=1

The Washington state chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-WA) today welcomed an internal memorandum from Seattle’s police chief cautioning against the use of religious or ethnic profiling in training programs.

In his memo to department captains,...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: CAIR/Honolulu Advertiser

Author: Staff Writer

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7493756.stm

A controversial mosque in the Italian city of Milan is to be shut down, the country's right-wing government says.

The Jenner mosque attracts about 4,000 Muslims each week, with Friday prayers often spilling out on to the street.

Now, after years of complaints from local residents, Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni has said he will close the...

Source: The Hindu

http://www.hindu.com/2008/07/07/stories/2008070759861500.htm

In a rude shock to a Hindu family which moved the court to stop Malaysia’s Islamic authorities from burying a relative claiming that he was converted, a Shariah court on Sunday ruled that the deceased was a Muslim.

The family of Elangesvaran Benedict, 34, wanted to cremate the deceased according to Hindu rites, saying it was not aware of his reported conversion to Islam....

Author: Staff Writer

Source: CAIR Press Release

Author: Jeffery Kurz

Source: Record-Journal

Author: Stuart MacDonald

Source: Times Online

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article4276489.ece

Police sniffer dogs will have to wear bootees when searching the homes of Muslims so as not to cause offence.

Guidelines being drawn up by the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) urge awareness of religious sensitivities when using dogs to search for drugs and explosives. The guidelines, to be published this year, were...

Author: Tara Tuckwiller

Source: The Charleston Gazette

http://www.wvgazette.com/News/200807050258

When Ruby Abdulla moved to Charleston 32 years ago, she and her husband started looking around the grocery stores for halal foods - the only foods that are lawful for Muslims to eat.

"I have to tell you - when we first came here, we couldn't even buy bread," said Abdulla, a realty agent with Old Colony. "Sunbeam bread was the only one that had vegetable...

Author: Graeme Morton, with files from Sherri Zickefoose

Source: Calgary Herald

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=81e95e14-0d8a-46c5-82fd-7e7b1d2cc0d8

Calgary's newest house of worship, the Baitun Nur mosque in Castleridge, was officially dedicated Saturday by an estimated crowd of 5,000 people that included religious leaders, Canada's two top politicians and throngs of faithful.

...

Author: Matt Burgard

Source: The Hartford Courant

http://www.courant.com/community/news/hfd/hc-ctislam0706.artjul06,0,890224.story

A woman wearing a burqa sat on a bench Saturday at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford, the fabric across her face revealing only her eyes.

Next to her, a group of children chatted on cellphones and shrieked merrily over the sound of chanting music calling the assembled...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Associated Free Press

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hd_otaqnZQpWUHWdH-axlbbgvt6w

Seven people have been killed in four separate shooting incidents in Thailand's troubled southern states, police said Saturday.

In a drive-by shooting early Saturday, witnesses said at least five militants in a pick-up truck opened fire on a tea shop in Yala province's Raman district, killing four villagers and...