Author: Leslie Hutchison

Source: Record-Journal

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Baha’i World News Service

http://www.bahaiworldnews.org/story/651

Three Baha’is currently imprisoned in Yemen are facing the possibility of imminent deportation to Iran, where Baha’is are intensely persecuted and they would likely face imprisonment or torture.

“We are gravely concerned about the fate of these three Baha'is, who are being held without charges in a case that is clearly based on...

Author: Ken Goze

Source: Wilmette Life

http://www.pioneerlocal.com/wilmette/news/1105440,WI-temple-081408-s1.article

Rep. Mark Kirk, R-10th and Wilmette-area Bahá'ís are speaking out against what they say is a stepped up campaign of persecution against Bahá'ís in Iran, the birthplace of the religion.

The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed a bi-partisan resolution authored by Kirk and New Jersey...

Author: Jack and Barbara Cook

Source: The Peninsula Gateway

http://www.gateline.com/106/story/2101.html

As the world comes together this year for the International Olympics event, we wish to share our experience from 2007, of the world coming together for an amazing international spiritual event at the Baha’i World Center in Haifa, Israel.

We were among the 400 pilgrims from all parts of the planet gathered together for nine intensive days on...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The Baha'i World News Service

http://www.bahaiworldnews.org/story/650

Fraudulent claims in the Iranian news media about seven imprisoned Baha'i leaders and the efforts of Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi and others to defend them represent an effort by the government to prevent Baha'is from having adequate legal representation – and also to stir up “irrational fears and prejudices,” the Baha'i International...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: A Statement of the Bahá’í International Community

http://bic.org/statements-and-reports/featured/Iran-Intensifies-Disinformation.htm

The fears of Bahá’ís worldwide over the intended fate of their coreligionists in Iran have heightened in the light of occurrences since the arrests, three months ago, of the “Friends in Iran,” the seven Bahá’ís who coordinate...

Author: Jean Cowden Moore

Source: Ventura County Star

http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/aug/10/putting-his-faith-in-education/

Sattar Khoshkhoo came to the United States from Iran four years ago, escaping a government that would not allow him to attend college because of his Baha'i faith.

His family had been living a comfortable life in Iran, his dad working as a dentist, his mom as a homemaker. But...

Author: Joe Rodriguez

Source: The Wichita Eagle

http://www.kansas.com/194/story/488214.html

Inside the Baha'i Center on North Amidon, a Baha'i Scripture is painted on a wall inside a room where followers gather each week.

"So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth."

It's that light -- the light of unity -- that Baha'is stress when they speak about their religion.

Founded in 19th-century Persia by...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The Baha'i World News Service

http://www.bahaiworldnews.org/story/648

The Baha’i International Community categorically rejects statements by an Iranian prosecutor that seven Baha’is detained in Tehran have “confessed” to operating an “illegal” organization with ties to Israel and other countries.

“We deny in the strongest possible terms the suggestion that Baha’is in Iran have...

Author: Benjamin Balint

Source: The Wall Street Journal

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121755160850702963.html

Earlier this summer, Unesco added the Bahai holy places here to its list of World Heritage sites. Bahai officials greeted the announcement with enthusiasm. "[It] highlights the importance of the holy places of a religion that in 150 years has gone from a small group found only in the Middle East to a worldwide community with followers in...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The Baha'i World News Service

http://www.bahaiworldnews.org/story/646

The Baha’i book known as the Kitab-i-Aqdas, the “Most Holy Book,” has been published in Norwegian for the first time, bringing to nearly 30 the number of different language editions of the work.

The book, originally written in Arabic, was presented this month at a ceremony in Beitostolen attended by more than 300 Baha’is and their...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The Baha'i World News Service

http://www.bahaiworldnews.org/story/645

Acts of arson targeting homes and vehicles are the latest violent tactics directed against the Baha’is of Iran.

“In the early hours of the morning of 18 July, the house of the Shaaker family in Kerman went up in flames, only weeks after their car had been torched and in the wake of a series of threatening phone calls,” said Bani Dugal,...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: VietNamNet Bridge

http://english.vietnamnet.vn/politics/2008/07/795619/

The Government’s Committee for Religious Affairs has recognized the Baha’i Community of Vietnam as a religious organisation able to operate on an equal footing with other religions.

Head of the Government’s Committee for Religious Affairs Nguyen The Doanh handed over a certificate to this effect to the Baha’i Community of...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Institute for War & Peace Reporting

http://www.iwpr.net/?p=bca&s=b&o=345801&apc_state=henh

The state of religious freedoms in both Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan remains as poor as ever, with both governments suspicious of Muslim and non-Muslim faith groups alike.

At a White House meeting on July 14 dedicated to the tenth anniversary of the United States’ International Religious Freedom Act, President...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Baha'i World News Service

http://www.bahaiworldnews.org/story/642

A United Nations committee meeting here has determined that two Bahá’í shrines in Israel possess “outstanding universal value” and should be considered as part of the cultural heritage of humanity.

The decision today by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee means that the two most sacred sites for Bahá'ís – the resting places of the...