Vietnam's Falungong under pressure

2011-12-23T01:31:23Z

In silent meditation, the Falungong members did not flinch when a shirtless, tattooed man slapped them on the head, or when a burly female security agent dragged a dried palm leaf across their faces.

Vietnamese practitioners of Falungong -- a Buddhist-inspired traditional Chinese spiritual discipline practised in more than 70 countries.-- say treatment like this has become routine. They say communist authorities in Hanoi have b...

Qaeda leader's brother among 11 dead in Yemen

2011-12-22T14:30:45Z

The brother of an Al-Qaeda chief was among six militants killed in the restive southern Yemeni province of Abyan, where five soldiers also died in overnight clashes, local officials said on Thursday.

Five Qaeda suspects died when their positions in Bajdar, on the outskirts of the provincial capital Zinjibar, were shelled in an attack that "might have come from US

Ultra-religious schools test Israel's high-tech future

2011-12-22T03:30:11Z

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - There are no computers at Maoz Hatorah, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish boys school on the outskirts of Israel's bustling high-tech commercial hub, Tel Aviv.

In the classrooms, English, mathematics and science lessons are ke...

South Africa's Zuma draws flak for Christianity comments

2011-12-21T19:30:39Z

South African President Jacob Zuma was Wednesday at the centre of a row over his comments that Christianity had brought in orphans and retirement homes.

South Africa's Times newspaper Wednesday quoted Zuma, a Christian, as saying: "Long before the arrival of religion and (the) gospel,...

Vatican hosts unusual Christmas Latin test

2011-12-21T16:30:28Z

The Vatican on Wednesday hosted an unusual Latin competition for Christmas between schoolchildren from Austria and Liechtenstein, with participants allowed to call on cardinals for help.

The test entitled "Puer Natus Est" ("A Child is Born") included translations of liturgical texts from Latin into ...

Two Iowa faith leaders back Republican Santorum

2011-12-20T15:00:29Z

URBANDALE, Iowa (Reuters) - Two prominent Iowa religious conservative leaders endorsed Republican Rick Santorum on Tuesday, bolstering his longshot presidential bid and dealing a blow to front-runner

2011-12-20T14:30:11Z

(Reuters) - "American Idol" runner-up David Archuleta has told fans he will become a full-time missionary for the Morm...

Two Iowa faith leaders back Rick Santorum

2011-12-20T10:30:21Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two prominent Iowa religious conservative leaders endorsed Republican Rick Santorum on Tuesday, bolstering his longshot presidential candidacy and dealing a blow to front-runner Newt Gingrich two weeks before the state's k...

Two Yemen soldiers, 13 Islamists killed in clashes

2011-12-20T09:30:42Z

Fresh fighting between suspected Al-Qaeda militants and army troops in Yemen's restive Abyan province have killed two soldiers and 13 Islamists, military officials said on Tuesday.

During Monday's clashes in southern Yemen the army fired artillery rounds on positions held by fighters of the Al-Qaeda linked Partisans of Sharia (Islamic law) group, killing 13 Islamists, the officials said.

Troubled Pakistanis turn to exorcism for help

2011-12-19T23:30:14Z

KARACHI (Reuters) - A girl in a long black shirt screams incoherently, banging her head against a wall at a Sufi shrine in the Pakistani city of Karachi. Sania Haneef's family says she is possessed by a demon.

Doctors could not help, so they brought the college student, kicking and screaming, to be exorcised by the spirit of a saint.

The We...

US study says Christians one third of world population

2011-12-19T18:30:39Z

A major US study released Monday put the total number of Christians worldwide at 2.18 billion -- almost a third -- of the estimated global population of 6.9 billion.

Christians make up as big a proportion of the world's population as they did a century ago, but whereas two-thirds of them in 1910 were in Europe, they now are spread more widely throughout the world, the DUBAI (Reuters) - A film about one of thousands of Koranic schools for girls in Syria has shocked some Syrians but impressed others with the implication that one of the bastions of Arab secularism has become a deeply religious society.

In "The Light In Her Eyes," Houda al-Habash open...

India uproar at call in Russia to ban Hindu holy book

2011-12-19T07:30:14Z

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Angry Indian lawmakers forced parliament to close Monday and protesters gathered outside a Russian consulate over a Siberian trial calling for one of Hinduism's most holy books to be put on a list of banned literature that includes Hitler's Me...

Nepal's 'singing nun' shares the sound of music

2011-12-18T11:30:30Z

Wrapped in a maroon robe, her head shaven, Ani Choying Dolma treads gingerly into a Kathmandu hotel, exuding the composure and serenity one might expect from a Buddhist nun.

But this 40-year-old is no ordinary devotee, for Dolma -- better known by her moniker "The Singing Nun" -- is the most unlikely of music stars, touring the world to change the lives of thousands of poverty-hit Nepali girls.

She has recorded 12 albums, and ...

Iraq PM moves to oust deputy as US forces leave

2011-12-18T10:30:34Z

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki called on lawmakers on Sunday to withdraw confidence from one of his deputies, as the country's political crisis deepened as US forces completed their withdrawal.

Maliki's push for the ouster of Saleh al-Mutlak, a Sunni Arab who described him on televisio...

Christian group struggles over Gingrich endorsement

2011-12-18T10:30:22Z

DES MOINES/MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) - Newt Gingrich's marital problems have come back to haunt him in Iowa where Christian conservatives are split over whether they can look beyond his past infideliti...

Minnesota Bishop John Nienstedt Prays For Gay Marriage Ban

2011-12-17T06:00:12Z

Archbishop John Nienstedt has issued a prayer in support of Minnesota's proposed constitutional amendment banning gay marriage

John Nienstedt, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, has issued a prayer in support of Minnesota's...

Dutch Catholic Church abused 'tens of thousands'

2011-12-16T17:30:17Z

An independent Dutch inquiry into child sexual abuse committed by Catholic priests said Friday it found "tens of thousands" of victims since 1945, identifying 800 alleged perpetrators.

Dutch bishops said they were filled with "shame and sorrow" over the Deetman Commission's findings -- the latest allegations of abuse which have rocked the Catholic Church in several countries in recent years.

Tens of thousands of minors were exposed to "mild, severe or very severe...

Mother Teresa's order prays for old foe Hitchens

2011-12-16T04:30:23Z

India's Missionaries of Charity order said it would pray for British writer Christopher Hitchens' soul, despite his aggressive campaign against its Nobel prize-winning founder, Mother Teresa

Forty-year roller coaster for Bangladeshi Hindus

2011-12-15T19:31:14Z

When Bangladesh became an independent nation after a bloody nine month battle with Pakistan that ended 40 years ago Friday, Narayan Chandra Das, a Bengali Hindu, had high hopes for his new country.

As a Hindu, Das had been branded an "agent of India" during the war and fled when the Pakistani army burned his village in the easter...

Khmer Rouge did not ban Buddhism, says accused

2011-12-15T18:30:58Z

A top Khmer Rouge leader denied Thursday that the brutal 1970s regime persecuted Buddhists and outlawed religion, to the outrage of monks following his trial at Cambodia's UN-backed court.

"Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea, 85, said the hardline communist movement "did not have any measure to ban Buddhism" as h...

Graphic book reimagines key time in Steve Jobs' life

2011-12-15T08:00:26Z

(Reuters) - Another new book about late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs is hitting bookshelves next month, this one a graphic narrative exploring the innovator's spiritual development, the publishers announced on Wednesday.

"The Zen of Steve Jobs," by Forbes reporter Caleb Melby, is described as a "thoroughly researched interpretat...

Indonesian sharia stronghold 'rehabilitates' punks

2011-12-14T07:30:50Z

Indonesian sharia police are "morally rehabilitating" more than 60 young punk rock fans in Aceh province on Sumatra island, saying the youths are tarnishing the province's image.

Since being arrested at a punk rock concert in the provincial capital Banda Aceh on Saturday night, 59 male and five female punk rock fans have been forced ...

Radical settlers trigger soul-searching in Israel

2011-12-14T04:00:21Z

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Young Jewish settlers behind attacks on Palestinian mosques have shaken Israel by turning violent against its most revered institution, the conscript military.

The zealots' escalation from anti-Arab vandalism and arson to a rampage at an Israeli garrison in the occ...

Islamists look to build on success in Egypt polls

2011-12-13T19:30:23Z

Islamists who swept to victory in the first stage of Egypt's parliamentary elections were looking to consolidate their winning streak in a second round of voting Wednesday.

Some 18.8 million Egyptians are eligible to cast their ballots in this round of the first legislative polls since a popular uprising ended Hosni Mubarak's 30-year-rule in February.

Polling stati...

Amnesty says Saudi beheading for sorcery "shocking"

2011-12-13T01:30:04Z

DUBAI (Reuters) - Rights group Amnesty International has described as "deeply shocking" Saudi Arabia's beheading of a woman convicted on charges of "sorcery and witchcraft," saying it underlined the urg...

Lowe's defends pulling ads from Muslim TV show

2011-12-12T19:30:15Z

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. home improvement chain Lowe's Monday defended its decision to pull advertising from reality TV show "All-American Muslim" amid charges the company had given in to bigotry.

"All-American Muslim," which airs on TLC, follows several Muslim families in and around the Detroit<...

Israeli activists battle 'growing' sex segregation

2011-12-12T16:30:33Z

A bus pulls up to a stop in Jerusalem and the waiting crowd divides -- men flock to the front and women to the back, an illustration, activists say, of a disturbing trend of gender segregation.

Israel's Supreme Court has ruled that the buses, which serve Israel's most conservative, ultra...

Lowe's defends pulling ads from U.S. Muslim TV show

2011-12-12T16:30:28Z

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. home improvement chain Lowe's defended on Monday its decision to pull advertising from reality show "All-American Muslim" amid charges the company had given in to bigotry.

"All-American Muslim," which airs on The Learning Channel and ends ...

Cubans honor Catholic patron ahead of papal visit

2011-12-12T11:00:11Z

HAVANA (Reuters) - White-robed priests burned incense as they marched slowly through Havana's narrow streets, giving Catholic faithful a rare glimpse of Cuba's patron saint outside her remote eastern home.

The ceremony was one of many witnessed by tens of thousands of people across the communist-...

Egypt Islamists reject army interference in constitution

2011-12-11T17:30:12Z

Egypt's Islamists said on Sunday they would not accept any interference from the ruling military council over the future constitution amid uncertainty about the army's role in the process.

"No one except the elected parliament has the right to draft legislation," Khairat al-Shater, the number two in the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's biggest Islamist ...

Pennsylvania priest arrested, accused of possessing child porn

2011-12-11T13:30:14Z

PITTSBURGH, Pa (Reuters) - A Roman Catholic priest was arrested on charges he viewed child pornography in the rectory of his Pittsburgh-area church, the diocese said on Sunday.

The Rev. Bartley Sorensen, 62, pastor of St. John Fisher Church in Churchill,

Death toll from Afghan holy day bombs reaches 80

2011-12-11T07:30:12Z

Afghanistan said Sunday the death toll from bombings targeting the Shiite Muslim holy day of Ashura, which raised fears the nation could face an eruption of sectarian violence, has climbed to 80.

The coordinated attacks struck in Kabul and the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif on Tuesday as Shiites gathered to mark the holiest day in their calend...

Gingrich's attack on Palestinians draws fire

2011-12-10T16:30:26Z

A leading Democratic lawmaker criticized Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich on Saturday for deriding the Palestinians as an "invented people" and questioning their right to statehood.

Senator Carl Levin said Gingrich's comments in an interview to be aired by the Jewish Channel television network offered "no solutions -- just a can of gasoline and a m...

Controversial Texas license plates put Perry on the spot

2011-12-10T11:30:16Z

SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - The approval of a specialty Texas vehicle license plate which says "One State Under God" and shows three crosses has again put Texas Governor Rick Perry on the spot in the Republican presidential race.

The Tex...

Iowa's religious conservatives up in air on 2012

2011-12-10T05:30:06Z

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (Reuters) - Frozen by indecision, Iowa's politically powerful religious conservatives are still on the sidelines in the Republican presidential race less than a month before the state's kick-off nominating contest.

After helping to propel Bulgaria's Muslim minority are not deeply religious, although they enthusiastically practise traditional rituals, a study showed Friday.

Only 28.5 percent of respondents said they were deeply religious, a negligible 0.5 percent believed that disputes should be resolved using Islamic Sharia law and as many as 79.6 percent said that wearing a veil in school was "unacceptable."

"People who evoke the scarecrow of Islamic fundamental...

Indian police file charges against Tibetan leader

2011-12-08T09:30:46Z

Indian police said Thursday they had filed charges against the Karmapa, a Buddhist monk seen as a potential successor to the Dalai Lama, over more than $1 million in cash found at his monastery.

The charges against the Karmapa and nine others were lodged at court in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh, where he lives near the town of Dharamshala with t...

Boxer Khan could be Muslim 'ambassador': promoter

2011-12-07T20:30:32Z

Britain's Amir Khan, a talented world boxing champion on an eight-fight win streak, could also play an important role in combating anti-Muslim prejudice, according to his US promoter.

"He has the character and the background to unite the cultures very well," said Reuters) - A roadside mine killed 19 civilians and injured another five when it exploded in the southern Afghan province of Helmand on Wednesday, the provincial government said.

The blast came a day after rare sectarian attacks in three Afghan cities killed 59 people, and refocused attention on the fragile Af...

US citizen killed in Kabul shrine blast

2011-12-07T08:30:36Z

A US citizen was one of at least 55 people killed in Tuesday's blast near a Shiite shrine in the Afghan capital Kabul, the US embassy in the city said Wednesday.

"Yes, that's true. I can't comment further on that pending the family's instructions," said embassy spokeswoman Megan Ellis.

The embassy added that its staff were in contact with the dead person's family and were "providing all appropriate consular assistance".

Europe Fearful Copts

2011-01-04T09:32:07Z

Father Girguis Lucas uses his cellphone before addressing reporters, inside the Coptic church Sainte Marie Saint Marc of Chatenay-Malabry, south of Paris, Tuesday Jan. 4, 2011. Messages of threats against Coptic churches were seen on the Internet by a member of the congregation. Police said the Chatenay-Malabry site was among the Euro...

Mideast Egypt Church Attack

2011-01-03T02:31:26Z

Some hundreds of Egyptian Christians march in front of Egyptian Foreign Ministery, tower at left, and Television building, tower 2nd right with aerial mast on top, in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday Jan. 2, 2011, two days after 21 Christian worshippers were killed in an apparent suicide bombing. The Christian community claim they feel betrayed by a government which they say has not done enough to keep them safe. (AP Photo/Amr Mustafa)

Alexandria, Egypt, Sunday, Jan. 2, 2011. Grieving Christians, many clad in black, were back praying Sunday in the blood-spattered church where 21 worshippers were killed in an apparent suicide bombing, feelin...

Spain Christianity

2011-01-02T09:01:10Z

Bishops, right, walk beside nuns, left, during a mass honoring the family as a building block of Christianity in downtown Madrid, Spain Sunday, Jan. 2, 2011. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

...

Mideast Egypt Elections

2011-01-02T07:00:22Z

Egyptian Muslims and Christians raise a copy of the Quran and a Cross in Shubra district, Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, Jan.1, 2011 to protest against the terrorist attack on a Coptic Christian church in the northern Egyptian city of Alexandria. A powerful bomb, possibly from a suicide attacker, exploded in front of a Coptic Christian church as a crowd of worshippers emerged ...

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Iraq crisis simmers as Sunni strongholds protest Maliki