Author: Staff Writer

Original Source: AFP

Brutal killings have reached unprecedented levels in Thailand's Muslim-majority south, experts say, as the region enters the fifth year of a separatist insurgency that is tearing communities apart.

A government policy of reconciliation in the region has backfired, analysts told AFP, with rebels beheading, mutilating and even crucifying victims to try to spark a backlash and create divisions between Buddhists and Muslims.

"They kill in such brutal ways:...

Author: SAMUEL G. FREEDMAN

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/02/education/02education.html

Zahra Al-Attar drove down the two-lane highway from Iowa City to her morning classes here. As she entered Kalona, population 2,200 and change, she rolled past the harness shop and the veterinary clinic, those reminders of her dislocation. She noticed, too, a horse-drawn buggy on the shoulder, an unexpected cue for memory.
...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7166297.stm

Indian Home Minister Shivraj Patil has visited part of the eastern state of Orissa which has seen recent fighting between hardline Hindus and Christians.

He is the first central minister to visit the state after violence last week killed at least four people.

Mr Patil visited the trouble-torn Kandhamal district, which was at the centre of the...

Author: NICOLE WINFIELD

Source: The News...

Author: KASS STONE

Source: The Northwest Indiana Times

http://www.thetimesonline.com/articles/2008/01/02/news/top_news/doc541b4b60b478d58a862573c40010777d.txt

GARY | Iman W.D. Mohammed, a leader in the African-American Muslim community, offered a message of unity among Christians, Jews and Muslims at the 47th annual Emancipation Proclamation Program of Freedom on Tuesday at Western Christian...

Source: The Associated Press

http://www.wdbj7.com/Global/story.asp?S=7564032&nav=S6aK

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Barbara Hughes has spent years gathering Hampton Roads faith leaders to discuss their similarities and plot ways to mend differences.

Hughes will spread the concept of unity among these divergent faiths as the new liaison to the Jewish and Muslim communities, under the Catholic Diocese of Richmond. She was named to the post in October.

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Khaleej Times Online

Wire Service: AFP

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/theworld/2007/December/theworld_December980.xml&section=theworld&col

Malaysia’s opposition on Monday urged the government to lift a ban on construction of the world’s tallest Taoist Goddess of the Sea...

Source: PR.com

http://www.pr.com/press-release/65900

Denver, CO, December 30, 2007 --(PR.com)-- It’s the time of year when many individuals create their list of things they intend to do in the New Year to improve their minds, bodies, and/or spirits. For those who resolve to be more tolerant of others or who seek to become better educated about other cultures, Common Tables, a Colorado-based non-profit organization has the key to turn a well-meaning New Year’s resolution into...

Author: Michelle Boorstein

Source: The Washington Post

http://www.statesman.com/life/content/life/stories/faith/12/29/1229muslimjew.html

Two major Jewish and Muslim organizations unveiled an interfaith dialogue curriculum this month and are urging their hundreds of thousands of members to use it. Both sides say it is the broadest Jewish-Muslim interfaith effort in the continent's history.

Rabbi Eric Yoffie,...

Author: Gregg Krupa

Source: The Detroit News

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071229/LIFESTYLE04/712290334/1041/LIFESTYLE04

At a time of acute need, local food banks and soup kitchens say the tradition of Muslims donating meat from sheep or lambs sacrificed for the holy day Eid al-Adha -- the Feast of Sacrifice -- is particularly welcome this year.

Muslims in Metro Detroit...

Author: Joshua Mitnick

Source: The Washington Times

http://washingtontimes.com/article/20071226/FOREIGN/553402321

About 40 Jews who left Iran in secret arrived in Israel yesterday — one of the largest such defections — and got a Christmas present of $10,000 per person from U.S. evangelicals.

The number of Iranian-Jewish emigrants to Israel more than tripled to 200 in 2007, according to officials from the Jewish Agency...

Author: Candice Williams

Source: The Detroit News

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071226/METRO02/712260377/1041/LIFESTYLE04

WEST BLOOMFIELD -- Masha Silver and her dog, a friendly Tiberian terrier named Golani, spent Christmas visiting the residents of Regent Street Assisted Living Center.

The residents had a chance to pet Golani, a therapy dog trained to provide affection, as...

Author: MARTHA C. WHITE

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/25/business/25religion.html?_r=1&ex=1199250000&en=1fd400c02b7461fa&ei=5070&emc=eta1&oref=slogin

Being away from family is an everyday occupational hazard for business travelers, but trips that mean missing a holiday at home — by design or by delay — are all the more vexing.

...

Author: Michael Conlon

Source: Reuters

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN1431156020071224

Muslims and Jews, a tiny slice of the U.S. population, are looking for new ways to get along that could set a worldwide example for two ancient but often alienated faiths, religious leaders and experts say.

"I've encountered (among Muslims) a more centrist, a more moderate voice that is looking to the Jewish community to help project...

Author: Catherine Jun

Source: The Detroit News

[detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071224/LIFESTYLE04/712240346/1041/LIFESTYLE04]

NORTHVILLE -- For years, Malik Ankouny's parents took great pains to make it look as if Santa had descended on their house on Christmas Eve. They took bites out of carrots set out for Santa's reindeer and drew sleigh tracks in the snow with a hockey stick. In this, the Ankounys are not very different from other American families trying to make Christmas a magical...