Author: Olivia Lang

Source: Minivan News

http://www.minivannews.com/news/news.php?id=4814

An American-based NGO promoting religious pluralism has condemned the Maldives’ new constitution over a clause requiring all citizens to be Muslims, saying it does not conform to international norms and human rights.

The Institute on Religion and Public Policy (IRPP) says the regulation in the country’s new constitution – ratified on...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Dawn

Wire Service: AFP

http://www.dawn.com/2008/08/09/top9.htm

Occupied Kashmir is facing a shortage of food, fuel and medicine as the violence-hit region is gripped by the worst Hindu-Muslim tensions in decades, locals say.

Angry protesters in Hindu-dominated Jammu have been attacking trucks ferrying food, drugs and other essential supplies to the Muslim-majority valley, seeking to impose an...

Author: James T. Areddy

Source: The Wall Street Journal

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121813553021721423.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

When Dang Dongming completed a military tour in this remote corner of western China, he did an increasingly common thing. He stayed.

The 26-year-old son of a farmer from China's Gansu province refers affectionately to Kashgar as "an oasis in the desert," a good spot to practice his hobby...

Author: Nedra Pickler

Source: The Associated Press

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/religion/5928291.html

An attorney who volunteered to help Barack Obama improve his relationship with Muslim and Arab-Americans has resigned from the campaign amid questions about his connection to a fundamentalist imam.

Mazen Asbahi started as the campaign's outreach coordinator on July 26, and he resigned in a letter to the campaign...

Author: Cathy Lynn Grossman

Source: USA Today

http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2008-08-05-muslim-jew-census_N.htm

A new census of Muslim congregations is reviving controversies over how many Muslims are in the USA, how they are counted and why it matters.

For minority religious groups, particularly Muslims and Jews, higher numbers can mean enhanced social and political clout in the U.S. public square.

On...

Author: Lara Wozniak

Source: Business Week

http://www.cair.com/ArticleDetails.aspx?mid1=676&&ArticleID=25282&&name=n&&currPage=1

MasterCard Worldwide and EonCap Islamic Bank (a member of Malaysia's Eon Bank Group) have jointly launched what they are billing as the world's first Islamic debit MasterCard—the EonCap Islamic Debit MasterCard.

The EonCap Islamic Debit MasterCard is basically a debit card...

Author: Richard Owen

Source: The Times Online

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article4472073.ece

A proposal to turn a medieval palace in Genoa founded by Crusader knights into a multi faith prayer centre for Muslims, Jews and Christians has run into opposition from local politicians who say Muslims are "not welcome".

Members of the anti immigrant Northern League - which is part of the centre Right government led...

Author: Zaffar Iqbal

Source: NDTV

Author: Altaf Hussain

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7540157.stm

A shutdown is being observed in Indian-controlled Kashmir valley to protest against alleged assaults on Muslims in the state's Jammu region.

The Hindus in Jammu have been protesting ever since the state government rescinded the transfer of land to a Hindu shrine.

Muslims had protested saying that the move was aimed at altering the demographic...

Author: Gregg Krupa

Source: The Detroit News

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080804/METRO/808040380

Border guards recently began detaining Wissam Charafeddine every time he crosses from Windsor into the United States. Without explanation, he has been handcuffed in front of his parents and held apart from his pregnant wife for hours in isolated detention.

Charafeddine says he has done nothing wrong...

Author: Philip Jenks

Source: Worldwide Faith News

http://www.wfn.org/2008/08/msg00031.html

High ranking Catholic, Jewish, Muslim and Protestant leaders have called on the presidential candidates of both major parties to use their primetime slots at the nominating conventions to offer plans for combating poverty.

"As people of faith, we believe that it is immoral to ignore our nation's most vulnerable populations," the leaders said in letters to...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The New York Times

Wire Service: Reuters

Author: Jim Gomez

Source: The Associated Press

Author: Carla Hinton

Source: NewsOK.com

http://newsok.com/abercrombie-denies-religious-bias-in-hiring-of-woman-at-tulsa-store/article/3277899/?tm=1217640197

Abercrombie...

Author: Michael Slackman

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/02/world/middleeast/02egypt.html?hp

A monastery was ransacked in January. In May, monks there were kidnapped, whipped and beaten and ordered to spit on the cross. Christian-owned jewelry stores were robbed over the summer. The rash of violence was so bad that one prominent Egyptian writer worried it had become “open season” on the nation...