Religion

POLITICS-MALAYSIA: Rising Hindu Activism May Upset Poll Calculations

By Baradan Kuppusamy
A new political force - right wing Hindu activism - has emerged in multi-ethnic Malaysia adding, in an election year, volatility to the country's already religiously charged politics dominated by the majority Malay Muslims.

US/MIDEAST: Status Quo Stifling Political Reforms

By IPS Correspondents
In his final State of the Union speech Monday night, President George W. Bush once again reminded the U.S. public of the cornerstone of his administration's foreign policy: "We trust that people, when given a chance, will choose a future of freedom and peace."

RELIGION: Founder of Legionaries Dies without Ever Going to Trial

By IPS Correspondents
Marcial Maciel, the founder of the influential conservative Catholic order Legionaries of Christ, "took with him to the grave secrets and guilt for which he never asked forgiveness," said activist Joaquín Aguilar, referring to the numerous accusations of pedophilia faced by the Mexican priest, who died in the United States.

BOLIVIA: Dying, to Help Others Live

By Franz Chávez
Italian aid worker Morris Bertozzi drowned in Bolivia trying to help a local woman cross a flooded river, just as he had worked for the last 11 years helping street children in the grip of alcohol, drugs and crime cross the bridge to a new life.
Dr Donya Aziz Credit: Zofeen Ebrahim/IPS

Q&A: ‘Half Our Job Is Done If We Have The Imams On Our Side’

By IPS Correspondents
At 31, Dr Donya Aziz, was the youngest legislator to join the previous Pakistan Muslim League (Q) government. Busy running for the February elections, Aziz wants to get back into the assembly and resume the work she had to leave off when President Pervez Musharraf clamped emergency rule on Nov. 3, 2007 and dissolved the house.

PAKISTAN: Sunni-Shia Strife Triggers Exodus Along Afghan Border

By IPS Correspondents
Violent sectarian strife in the border Kurram tribal area, already riven with conflict between pro-Taliban and Pakistan government forces, has led to over 500 deaths, and an exodus of civilians to the neighbouring North Western Frontier Province (NWFP).
Fernando Lugo Credit: IPS/David Vargas

Q&A: ‘Barring Electoral Fraud, the Opposition Will Triumph’ in Paraguay

By IPS Correspondents
The countdown to Paraguay’s presidential elections in April has begun, and the candidate for the Patriotic Alliance for Change (APC), former Catholic bishop Fernando Lugo, looks likely to pose a serious threat to the six-decades-old Colorado Party monopoly on power.

POLITICS-US: Religious Leaders Assail Bush Agenda

By IPS Correspondents
Describing George W. Bush as "an explicitly evangelical president" with a "sadly truncated" moral vision, a group of religious leaders is calling on the U.S. president to use his State of the Union message to Congress Monday evening to salvage his legacy by "changing course on the most pressing moral issues of our time".

IRAQ: Al Qaeda Records Shed Light on Foreign Recruits

By IPS Correspondents
Twenty-six-year-old Muhammad 'Abd-al-Qadir bil-Qasim began his journey in Darnah, Libya. He traveled to Egypt and arrived in Syria, where he paid a man named Abu Umar 2,000 Syrian pounds to smuggle him across the Iraqi border.

SPAIN: Alliance of Civilisations Gets Off to an Auspicious Start

By Tito Drago
The First Forum of the Alliance of Civilisations sponsored by Turkey and Spain concluded in Madrid with concrete commitments, including generous funding, and the announcement that the second forum will be held in Turkey in 2009.

MIDEAST: Christian Zionists Feel “Betrayed” by Bush’s Road Map

By IPS Correspondents
President George W. Bush returned home from his trip to the Middle East optimistic about the possibility of a peace agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians before he leaves office in January of next year.

HEALTH-SRI LANKA: Buddhist Monks Battle Tobacco, Alcohol Lobbies

By IPS Correspondents
Sri Lanka’s Buddhist monks see their fight against tobacco and alcohol abuse as more urgent than the war that the government of President Mahinda Rajapakse is prosecuting against Tamil separatist rebels.

HEALTH-ASIA: Religious Leaders Tackle HIV, AIDS

By IPS Correspondents
The Korean superstar RAIN was roped in by the Christian relief group World Vision last year to help promote awareness of HIV and AIDS, especially among the youth. Over in Fiji, people living with HIV can get internship opportunities at the World Council of Churches (WCC) in the Pacific.

POLITICS-US: Muslim American Voters Left Out in the Cold

By IPS Correspondents
In an electoral campaign system tactically dominated by "niche politics", major candidates for their party's presidential nominations are running as fast as they can from one potentially influential constituency.

POLITICS-US: Pentagon’s Islam “Expert” Hoisted by His Own Jihad

By IPS Correspondents
Neoconservative hawks lamented the latest casualty in the war on terror last Friday, as the axe fell on Stephen Coughlin's job. The Pentagon decided not to renew the contract of its "foremost" specialist on Islamic law and Islamic extremism when it ends in March, citing budget cuts.

POLITICS: Alliance Hopes to Dispel “Culture of Fear”

By Haider Rizvi
Preparations for an upcoming international gathering to promote worldwide respect for cultural and religious diversity are now in full swing.

POLITICS-US: Christian Zionists Gain Israel’s Inner Sanctum

By IPS Correspondents
After raising more than two hundred million dollars for various projects in Israel, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein and the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ), the organisation he founded and is president of, has hit pay-dirt.

SPAIN: Sparks Fly Between Church and Government

By Tito Drago
The Spanish Catholic Church "has strayed from the fundamentals of democracy," said the governing socialist party (PSOE) Wednesday, in response to harsh criticism from the Church leadership.

CHALLENGES 2007-2008: Terror Prosecutions Shed More Heat Than Light

By IPS Correspondents
The U.S. government's spotty record in obtaining convictions of people charged with providing "material support" to terrorist organisations is adding new impetus to the efforts of prominent constitutional lawyers to seek substantial changes in the law.

POLITICS-US: Religious Right Bringing In &#39More Money Than Ever&#39

By IPS Correspondents
In 1897, the great American author and humorist Mark Twain, responding to stories that had him lying at death’s door declared, "The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated." One hundred ten years later, Twain’s rejoinder could be applied to mainstream media reports about the demise of the Christian Right in the United States.
A comet is one of many theories for the Star of Bethlehem. Credit: NASA

SCIENCE: What the “Wise Men” Saw…

By IPS Correspondents
The Biblical tale of the "three wise men" who followed a particularly bright star to the birthplace of the Baby Jesus continues to fascinate amateur and professional astronomers more than two millennia after the event allegedly occurred.
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