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Sydney Terror Accused Deny Guilt

May 31, 2007

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6706701.stm

Nine men arrested in Australia's largest counter-terrorism operation have pleaded not guilty to charges of plotting an attack in Sydney.

The men, who are all Muslims, are accused of allegedly planning an attack to advance a "political, religious or ideological cause".

Their lawyers insist they are innocent, and that chemicals found at their homes were for household or...

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Day of Vesak Observed at the United Nations

May 31, 2007

Source: Columbo Page

http://www.colombopage.com/archive_07/May31134617CH.html

May 31, (UN_NY): Sri Lanka, together with several other Member States of the UN participated in the annual International Recognition of the Day of Vesak at United Nations Headquarters in New York on 29 May.

The Ceremony consisted of religious observances from the Vajrayana and Theravada sects and colourful cultural performances from Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar...

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Police Find Gilbert Teen Innocent in Bomb Scare

May 31, 2007

Author: Sarah Lynch

Source: East Valley Tribune

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/90694

Ban Abdulghafoor did not expect to hear the voice of a Gilbert police officer on the line when she answered the phone last Thursday.

It was the final day of school at Mesquite Junior High School, and her 13-year-old son, Mustafa Abdul Razzaq, decided to stay home because it was a halfday. The call woke him from his late-morning slumber.

While...

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New York City Police Seek Trust Among Immigrants

May 31, 2007

Author: Cara Buckley

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/31/nyregion/31outreach.html

Sidique Wai slipped into a mosque in Harlem as afternoon prayers broke, a wisp of a man swimming upstream against the crush of robed worshipers spilling out. He stepped out of his shoes and walked briskly to the front of the prayer room. A microphone was pressed into his outstretched hand.

“How many of you know a police...

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Muslim, Jewish Leaders See Fresh Start

May 31, 2007

Author: Raja Mishra

Source: The Boston Globe

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/05/31/muslim_jewish_leaders_see_fresh_start/

Boston-area Jewish and Muslim leaders sighed in relief yesterday at the resolution of a lengthy legal dispute over the planned construction of a mosque in Roxbury, saying the development cleared the way for renewed local dialogue between adherents of the two faiths.

...

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Proposed Pakistani Law Would Criminalize Conversion From Islam

May 31, 2007

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Religion News Service

http://www.hinduismtoday.com/hpi/2007/6/6.shtml#3

NEW DELHI, India, May 31, 2007: A draft bill in Pakistan's National Assembly would impose the death penalty on Muslim men -- and a life sentence on Muslim women -- if they renounce Islam. The bill has received its first reading and now sits before a standing committee of the National Assembly. It has been tabled by Muttahida Majlis-e-Ammal, an alliance...

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Affirming Religious Diversity No Denial of Christian Roots, NZ Catholic, Anglican Bishops Say

May 31, 2007

Source: Catholic Online

http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=24255

AUCKLAND, New Zealand (Catholic Online) – Support for a national statement on religious diversity that affirms that there is no state religion in New Zealand does not deny the Christian roots of the country, said nation’s Catholic and Anglican bishops.

In a May 28 joint statement issued just before the Asia-Pacific Dialogue on Interfaith...

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Religious Studies Would Teach Society's Diversity

May 31, 2007

Author: MARTIN KAY

Source: The Dominion Post

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4078477a7694.html

Kiwi children should learn about different religions in school to reflect the changing make-up of New Zealand society, religious and civic leaders at a meeting to promote tolerance say.

Members of the New Zealand delegation at the third Asia Pacific Interfaith Dialogue in Waitangi said religious studies - as opposed to religious instruction - could be incorporated...

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