News

Activists: NKorean Executed for Distributing Bible

July 24, 2009

Author: Kwang-Tae Kim

Source: Google News

Wire Service: AP

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5htjkn2uYbcOJC8azoyb2TkOh6B4AD99KVD2O0

A Christian woman accused of distributing the Bible, a book banned in communist North Korea, was publicly executed last month for the crime, South Korean activists said Friday.

The 33-year-old mother of three, Ri Hyon Ok, also was...

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Sephardic Jews Developed Haven On the Jersey Shore

July 24, 2009

Author: Kareem Fahim

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/25/nyregion/25deal.html?_r=2&emc=tnt&tntemail0=y

A century ago, Deal, a seaside resort carved from New Jersey farmland, was known as a playground for tycoons and magnates like Isidor Straus and Benjamin Guggenheim and celebrities who visited, including Mark Twain. At lavish “summer cottages,” garden parties raised money for the...

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'Record Rise' In UK Anti-Semitism

July 23, 2009

Author: Dominic Casciani

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8166173.stm

Anti-Semitic attacks in the UK doubled in the first half of this year compared with the same period in 2008, according to new figures.

The Jewish Community Security Trust, which monitors anti-Semitism, says it recorded 609 incidents between January and June - up from 276 last year.

Most incidents were abusive behaviour, but there were also 77 violent...

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China Says Falun Gong Ban 'Works'

July 22, 2009

Author: Michael Bristow

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8162342.stm

A Chinese official says the country has been successful in efforts to crack down on the spiritual movement Falun Gong, 10 years after it was banned.

Li Anping, from the China Anti-Cult Association, told a national newspaper that people now realised the true nature of the movement.

But Falun Gong still exists, and has organised protest events...

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Victims to Select Own-Faith Officers

July 22, 2009

Author: Catrin Nye

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/8161547.stm

Sikh victims of crime in London are to be given the option of asking for a police officer of their own faith to work on their case.

This new service from the Metropolitan Police (Met) aims to make use of the officers' specialist knowledge of Punjabi culture to help with cases like forced marriage and so-called honour crime.

...

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Danbury Camp Teaches Children to Give Peace a Chance

July 21, 2009

Author: Nanci G. Hutson

Source: The News-Times

http://www.newstimes.com/newtown/ci_12877329?source=rss

The Rev. Laura Westby of First Congregational Church believes the world's greatest hope for peace is to "teach our children to be peacemakers."

So Westby was delighted to see 25 children explore peace through the eyes of different religions and cultures during last week's sixth annual Interfaith Peace Camp sponsored by the Association...

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Camp Joins Summer Fun With Teaching Hindu Faith

July 21, 2009

Author: Neela Banerjee

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/21/us/21hindu.html

The first hour at the Chinmaya Mission day camp unfolds as at any other camp. Children shriek through tag, while a few others play Uno.

But by 9 a.m., the grammar-school-age campers are sitting down, their attention focused on a long-haired Indian man in the front of the room, Swami Dheerananda, the mission’s Hindu teacher, or acharya....

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Russia: Medvedev Announces Programs Of Religious Education In Schools

July 21, 2009

Author: Clifford J. Levy

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/22/world/europe/22briefs-Russia.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail0=y

Russia’s president, Dmitri A. Medvedev, said Tuesday that the federal government would begin a national program to teach religious education in the schools. Parents would be able to choose studies in four federally recognized religions — Russian...

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