Author: Tom Godfrey

Source: The Toronto Sun

http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2009/10/18/11438616-sun.html

Hindus across the GTA are celebrating Diwali, a festival of lights, that marks the beginning of a new year for believers of the world's oldest religion.

Toronto-area temples were filled last night as worshippers celebrated an end of the old and beginning today of a new year in the Hindu calendar.

...

Author: Melanie Asmar

Source: Colorado Daily

http://www.coloradodaily.com/cu-boulder/ci_13590243

When University of Colorado junior Emma Lee transferred to the state's flagship university this fall from the much smaller Mesa State College, she noticed there was one big thing missing: a Pagan Student Alliance. 

So she's doing the same thing at CU she did in Grand Junction -- starting one from scratch.

"I was shocked and appalled...

Author: Jonathan Wynne-Jones and Ian Johnston

Source: Telegraph

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/6358886/Row-over-school-closures-for-Muslim-Hindu-and-Sikh-holidays.html

Two councils have instructed all schools under their control to shut for the annual celebrations of Eid-Ul-Fitr, Diwali and Guru Nanak's Birthday, in addition to the Christian festivals of...

Author: Tim Townsend

Source: St. Louis Today

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/columnists.nsf/keepthefaith/story/A552CB1EC9435D638625765200010C34?OpenDocument

Each year, a different faith group is assigned the chairmanship of the Interfaith Partnership/Faith Beyond Walls annual dinner. This year, the dinner was hosted by the St. Louis Muslim community, and the largest...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: DNA India

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_hindus-and-muslims-join-hands-to-renovate-a-temple-in-kashmir_1299907

A group of Kashmiri Hindus and local Muslims have set an example of brotherhood and communal harmony by coming together to renovate an abandoned temple in Srinagar city. 

Shiv Ji Temple Welfare Committee (STWC) has taken the initiative to...

Author: Annysa Johnson

Source: Journal Sentinel

http://www.jsonline.com/features/religion/64652562.html

Fireworks will brighten the night sky over the Hindu Temple in Pewaukee on Saturday night, its interior ablaze in light, as more than a thousand people gather for Diwali, the annual celebration of light over darkness, of goodness over evil.

"It's meant to arouse the light within," said Lakshmi Bharadwaj, who teaches sociology and...

Author: Zaki Cooper

Source: Times Online

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article6878351.ece

Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, an annual five-day celebration of the triumph of good over evil, starts today, and festivities in the UK are being led by Bharti Tailor. She is the new secretary general of the Hindu Forum of Britain, and thus a key figure in the UK Hindu community, which is now thought to number far more...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The Wauneta Breeze

Author: Omar Sacirbey

Source: Religion News Service

http://www.religionnews.com/index.php?/rnstext/is_spying_on_a_house_of_worship_a_good_idea1/

After all, Warpehoski said, his group, the Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice, had once been the target of FBI surveillance during the Vietnam War.

So Warpehoski, a Quaker, wrote a letter earlier this year to Attorney General Eric...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Telegraph

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/6337775/Diwali-Barack-Obama-celebrates-Hindu-festival-of-light.html

Mr Obama became the first US president to personally take part in a White House ceremony for the festival of lights, lighting a diya (oil lamp) inside the executive...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuiAW_6XKVM&feature=channel&fmt=18

The President extends holiday wishes for Diwali, or festival of lights.

Author: Ann Shapiro

Source: The GW Hatchet

http://media.www.gwhatchet.com/media/storage/paper332/news/2009/10/15/News/Jewish.Muslim.Students.Promote.Peace.At.8th.Annual.Interfaith.Dinner-3804182.shtml

The eighth annual Interfaith Dinner Wednesday night featured performances and foods from the Muslim and Jewish traditions and promoted a message...

Author: Amy Green

Source: Religion News Service

http://www.religionnews.com/index.php?/rnstext/latest_fla_court_battle_centers_around_teenage_convert/

First there was Elian Gonzalez, the Cuban boy torn between two nations. Then there was Terri Schiavo, the brain-damaged woman torn between two families. Now comes Rifqa Bary, the teenage runaway torn between two faiths.

If you’re...

Author: Tony Castro

Source: Los Angeles Daily News

http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_13536323

The idea of Francis Siciliano learning Hebrew, studying the Torah and observing Jewish services in a synagogue doesn't seem out of the ordinary on the Westside of Los Angeles.

Except that Siciliano is pastor of a Latino evangelical church in North Hollywood whose lively, born-again Christian services bear a sharp contrast to the ages-old traditions of Judaism...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Thaindian News

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/health/canadian-parliament-celebrates-diwali-with-image_100258581.html

The Canadian parliament celebrated Diwali this week with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other top leaders lighting the traditional lamps.
Immigration minister Jason Kenney, finance minster Jim Flaherty, public safety minister Peter Van...