Seven members of Iran's Baha'i minority are on trial on charges of spying and acting against the country's national security, state media reported.
According to state TV Web site, the charges against them also include cooperating with archenemy Israel, gathering classified documents and "corruption on earth" — an Islamic term for crimes punishable with the death sentence in Iran.
Since 1979 when Islamic clerics came to power, the Iranian government has banned the Baha'i religion, founded in the 1860s by Baha'u'llah, a Persian nobleman considered a prophet by the Baha'is. Islam considers Muhammad the last of the prophets.
The first hearing in the trial of the seven was held Tuesday at Tehran's Revolutionary Court, Prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi told the state IRNA news agency.
State media also reported that the defendants' alleged confessions and evidence proves they shared information and personal views while visiting homes of various western European ambassadors to Tehran. The seven are also accused of harming Iran's image in domestic and international circles.
The international Baha'i community argues Tehran is prosecuting the seven for their religious beliefs. The Baha'i faith is said to have up to 6 million followers worldwide.
The U.S. State Department strongly condemned the trial.
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Va. church votes to split from Lutheran parent
ROANOKE, Va. (AP) — Members of a Roanoke church have voted to leave the country's largest Lutheran denomination over its policy to allow gay clergy.
St. John Lutheran Pastor Mark Graham said church members voted 350-104 in favor of the split from the national Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Church rules required a two-thirds majority for reaffiliation.
At its annual convention in August, ELCA delegates voted to lift a ban that had prohibited gay and lesbian pastors who were not celibate from serving as clergy. The new policy, expected to take effect in April, will allow such individuals to lead ELCA churches as long as they can show that they are in committed, lifelong relationships.
The vote last Sunday affirmed a ballot held in September that called for St. John to join the smaller Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ.
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Iowa lawmaker says elected officials should say 'so help me God' when taking oath of office
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Republican member of the Iowa Legislature is proposing lawmakers should be required to say "so help me God" when being sworn into office.
Free-speech advocates say the proposal by Mount Auburn Rep. Dawn Pettengill goes against the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. American Civil Liberties Union legal director Randall Wilson says compelled speech violates the First Amendment just as much as censored speech.
Pettengill's resolution would change the Iowa Constitution.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Des Moines says he will talk with Republican leaders and fellow Democrats to see whether there would be any interest in pursuing the matter.
Pettengill dismisses concerns her proposal would offend lawmakers who may not believe in God. She says it's potentially offensive to her not to have the phrase in the oath.
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Latest faith healing trial set to begin in Oregon; parents of teen who died charged
OREGON CITY, Ore. (AP) — An Oregon City couple will soon go on trial for the death of their son, the latest Oregon criminal case over faith healing deaths.
Jeff and Marci Beagley have been charged with criminally negligent homicide for not providing medical treatment to their 16-year-old son, who died of an untreated urinary tract blockage. The family belongs to Followers of Christ Church, whose members shun medical care in favor of prayer. Their trial begins this month.
The Beagleys are grandparents of Ava Worthington, whose 2008 death sparked a high-profile case against her parents. Raylene Worthington, who is the Beagleys' daughter, was acquitted. Her husband was convicted of criminal mistreatment.
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Filipinos honor Black Nazarene in annual Catholic festival
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of Roman Catholics in the Philippines followed a centuries-old statue of Jesus Christ through the streets of Manila as part of annual ritual in which devotees express gratitude and seek redemption from sins, miracle cures and a better life.
The Black Nazarene's mostly male devotees — barefoot and clad in maroon shirts — converged for an early morning Mass Jan. 9 at the sprawling grounds of a seaside parade grandstand before the statue was paraded toward Manila's Quiapo Church, its home.
The crowd numbered at least 1 million, Manila police said.
The life-size wooden statue of Jesus Christ was brought from Mexico to Manila on a galleon in 1606 by Spanish missionaries. The ship caught fire, but the charred-black statue survived and thus was called the Black Nazarene.
Some believe the figure's continued survival of fires and earthquakes through the centuries, and bombings during World War II, are testament to its mystical powers.
Monsignor Pedro Quitorio, spokesman for the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines said devotees have been moved by their "personal religious experience" but said they should not get carried away, warning that otherwise "it may sink to fanaticism."
About 80 percent of the Philippines' 90 million people are Catholic.
Copyright 2010  AP News
