This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted in February 2011 by a villager trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The villager interviewed Naw L---, a female village head from Bilin Township, Thaton District. Naw L--- described being interrogated and threatened at meetings with local Tatmadaw officers, including at times when she was pregnant. She described the killing of her son-in-law by then-DKBA Brigade #333 soldiers, and the defection of a Tatmadaw soldier to the KNLA, after which Tatmadaw soldiers arbitrarily arrested and tortured villagers and ordered Naw L--- to provide a firearm to replace the one taken by the defecting soldier. She also described how Tatmadaw soldiers forced H--- villagers to banish persons suspected of being KNLA soldiers and burn down their houses. Naw L--- explained that villagers face ongoing demands for forced labour, including forced portering of military rations, messenger and guide duty, for Tatmadaw, Border Guard..

This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted by a KHRG researcher in September 2011. The KHRG researcher interviewed Naw K---, a 45 year old woman from L--- village in Pa'an District, who described an incident in which Tatmadaw LID #22 and Tatmadaw Border Guard soldiers forced local villagers to porter military supplies and equipment while wearing Border Guard uniforms during a joint attack on a KNLA Battalion #101 camp at Kler Law Hseh. In the interview below, Naw K--- explained that, while she was attending a funeral in Th--- village, many Th--- villagers were absent from the village, some having already been arrested by Border Guard soldiers to serve as porters and others having fled the village due to fears that they would be arrested to porter. Naw K--- told KHRG that the Th--- village head informed her that he had to wear a Border Guard uniform while forced to accompany Border Guard soldiers during their attack on the KNLA camp at Kler Law Hseh and she......

This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted during November 2011 in Lu Pleh Township, Pa'an District by a villager trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The villager interviewed Naw G---, a 40-year-old Buddhist hillfield farmer who described an incident in which her son-in-law, Saw A---, 36, was shot and killed by patrolling Tatmadaw soldiers from IB #230. Naw G--- explained that Saw A--- was cooking with KNLA soldiers in Naw G---'s house, when Tatmadaw soldiers entered P--- village. According to Naw G---, the soldiers fired at Saw A--- as he fled the house and the bullets hit the left side of his head, killing him instantly. A separate report of this incident written by the villager who conducted this interview, including 23 photos taken by the same villager, is available here. An interview with Naw G---'s son who was also present during the attack is available here.

Radio 4's Pop Goes the Bible! traces popular music's fascinating relationship with the good book.

A state senator from Southern California was considering calling for a boycott of Lowe's stores after the home improvement chain pulled its advertising from a reality show about Muslim-Americans.

This report contains the full transcript of an interview conducted during October 2011 in Than Daung Township, Toungoo District by a villager trained by KHRG to monitor human rights conditions. The villager interviewed Saw F---, a 55-year-old resident of W--- village who fled his village and hid in the forest during a joint attack by soldiers from Tatmadaw Infantry Battalion (IB) #92 and Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) #603. According to Saw F---, on October 12th 2011, following a clash with Karen National Liberation (KNLA) soldiers at a location 45 minutes on foot from W---, Tatmadaw soldiers fired approximately 50 mortar rounds into W--- and nearby civilian areas and then entered W---, where soldiers fired small arms deliberately at villagers' houses, the Roman Catholic church and religious and cultural items; killed villagers' animals; and looted or damaged villagers' property including food stores, clothing, roofing materials and money. Saw F--- also reported that W--- villagers....

Richard Branson built a global business empire with the philosophy "have fun and the money will come." The founder of Virgin Group now argues that it's time to rethink the way businesses function. In his new book, Screw Business As Usual, he says you can make money by doing good.

Neil McCormick reviews the Coldplay singers' charity gig in the St John's Church in Hackney.

This may rank as dance company DV8's talkiest project to-date, about the scale of violent threat posed by Islamic extremism to those upholding or speaking up for western values.

Any showy composer can mount a mountain in music, but to make Nietzschean philosophy visceral - danceable and a window into the future -- is something. Any showy composer can mount a mountain in music, but to make Nietzschean philosophy visceral - danceable and a window into the future -- is something.

Just down the road from a tiny country church in rural Georgia, the apocalypse has already arrived.

This report includes an interview conducted prior to Burma's November 2010 elections with the VPDC-appointed headman of a village in a government-controlled area of Te Naw Th'Ri Township, Tenasserim Division. The interviewee described human rights abuses including: demands for forced labour, including portering; theft and looting of villagers' property; shooting and killing; and movement restrictions that prevent villagers from accessing agricultural workplaces.

This report includes an interview conducted in August 2011 with a medic from the Backpack Health Worker Team (BPHWT). The medic described witnessing a joint attack by Tatmadaw soldiers from three different battalions on a village in Ma No Roh village tract, Te Naw Th'Ri Township, Tenasserim Division in January 2011. The soldiers shelled and then entered the village where they burned rice barns, food stores, and 17 homes, and planted landmines before leaving. The residents and the interviewee, who was providing medical care for the village, fled into the jungle to avoid the attack, and remain unable to return to their homes.

This report contains a situation update written by a villager describing the situation in Lu Pleh and Dta Greh townships, Pa'an District between February and April 2011. It contains information and photographs related to incidents of forced labour, including on Border Guard gold-mining and logging operations; forced relocation; the shooting of a 53-year-old woman by a Tatmadaw deserter; the desertion of Tatmadaw Border Guard soldiers to the DKBA and KNLA; and the humanitarian challenges faced by local communities.

This report includes a situation update written by a villager describing the situation in Te Naw Th'Ri Township, Tenasserim Division between June 2010 and April 2011. It includes information on land confiscation by USDP officials; forced labour, including forced USDP membership; and attacks on villages in hiding, including on school buildings and supplies. It also describes Tatmadaw activity across Tenasserim Division, and the health and education concerns of villagers in hiding in three parts of Te Naw Th'Ri Township.

This report contains an interview conducted in May 2011 in Te Naw Th'Ri Township, Tenasserim Division with Saw P---, the 36-year-old head of a village in which Tatmadaw soldiers maintain a continuous presence. Saw P--- described the disappearance of a male villager; forced labour, specifically on roads; taxation and demands; theft of livestock; and movement restrictions . Saw P--- also described concerns related to disruption of children's education, and his community's responses to human rights threats and related livelihoods challenges.

Additional Attorney General K K Agha said evidence had been found of the involvement of Mr Kazmi, MNA Jumani and Raja Aftab Islam in Haj corruption.

ISLAMABAD, July 31: The administration of International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI) is contemplating discontinuing the services of its Arab faculty, Dawn has learnt through sources. As many as two dozen deans and professors from the Arab world have been associated with the university since its establishment in 1980s. “The Arab faculty was brought on board [...]

On the eve of Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar,  muslims around the world are seen participating in different events,  practices, festivals and preparations in the following photographs. -Photos by agencies

MANAMA: Bahrain has released a detained ex-army captain who joined pro-democracy protests that hit the Gulf island kingdom earlier this year, activists said on Monday. Mohammed Buflasa, a Sunni Muslim who joined the protests led mostly by the country’s Shi’ite majority, was arrested in February after he gave a speech at the Pearl Roundabout, the [...]

OSLO: At more than 1,500 pages long and nearly a decade in the making, the manifesto detailing Norwegian mass-killer Anders Behring Breivik’s murderous “crusade” gives a chilling picture of a self-confessed “monster”. It was designed to bring about the revolution he says is needed to end a centuries-long Muslim colonisation of Europe. Behring Breivik, the [...]

LAHORE, July 23: The entrance test for admission to engineering institutions of Punjab for undergraduate programmes will be held simultaneously on Sunday (today) at 10am at UET Lahore, UET Taxila, BZU Engineering College, Multan, Islamia University Bahawalpur, NFC Institute of Engineering Research and Fertilizer Faisalabad, University of Gujrat, Siddeeq Public School, 6th Road, Satellite Town, [...]

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, whose country is to take the rotating chair of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), has strongly denounced the wearing of the Islamic Hijab (headdress) in Kazakhstani schools.

The new mayor of Tower Hamlets in east London appeals for unity after a highly turbulent election campaign which saw him removed as Labour candidate.

Lutfur Rahman - who won just over 50 per cent of the vote - ran as an independent after he was deselected as Labour's candidate. He was backed by George Galloway's Respect organisation.

The extremists in Israel are trying to build a case that aims to bring the peace process to a complete halt. [They are saying] if you want a Palestinian state, you must realize that we will expel a million and a quarter Palestinians who hold the Israeli nationality and live inside the Jewish state.

Fasting is about more than going without food – it is connecting with reality and noticing the suffering of your neighbour On the first Sunday of his visit to India, the Archbishop of Canterbury preached at a service of thanksgiving to mark the Global Day of Prayer for the millennium development goals at St Paul's Cathedral in Kolkata. Most of the time, we try to make reality fit our preferences and our self-directed hopes. But the Spirit will not leave us in peace with our own version of reality; the Spirit brings us into God's world, God's frame of reference. When we say that Jesus was filled with the Spirit, what we mean is that Jesus lives every moment in God's world, not in the confused muddle of fears and hopes and self-serving preferences that the rest of us inhabit for so much of our lives. And when that reality is uncovered, what do we see in the world when we are living in God's frame of reference? We see a world where people are not free, where they are denied a....

The Palestinian Fatah party has condemned the Israeli cabinet for the approval of the 'oath of loyalty' bill, saying the move indicates a policy of ethnic cleansing.

The Publishers IB Tauris are proud to announce the publication of:

The Copts of Egypt: Challenges of Modernisation and Identity, IB Tauris 2010
Vivian Ibrahim

The Coptic Christians of Egypt have traditionally been portrayed as a ‘beleaguered minority’. This book uses newly discovered Coptic archival sources to present a vivid and alternative image of the community, examining Coptic agency in the twentieth century. Vivian Ibrahim reveals a strong Coptic response to the emergence and threats of Political Islam from the 1940s, and examines how Copts negotiated a role for themselves during the colonial period and in Nasser’s post-revolutionary Egypt. Dismissing the monolithic portrayal of the community, she highlights the varied Coptic factions and groups that contributed to the identity of the Coptic community in the first half of the twentieth century.

‘Vivian Ibrahim's book provides a welcome and eloquent insight into the complexity and controversial dynamics of Egyptian inter-communal relations.’
– H.E. Dr Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Former Secretary-General of the United Nations (1992-1997)

Special Offer Price £39.55 --- RRP £56.50
Hardback | 216 x 134mm | 288 pages | ISBN-9781848854994 | 30th September 2010
Offer available only with attached flyer. See for details. Offer expires March 2011

The Islamic Republic Air Force (IRAF) has completed the third stage of its weeklong military maneuvers in the west of the country, a report says.

Following the issue of Vatican's new rules against pedophile priests, the Catholic Church says churches must respect local law when handling child abuse cases.

Church names prisoners to be freed in coming days in government deal to free 52 people.

Tearing of Islam's holy book of Quran by Israeli prison guards has sparked new outrage across Palestine against Tel Aviv regime's religious bigotry.

The state parliament of Lower Saxony has sworn in Ayguel Oezkan as minister of social affairs for the northern state, making her the first female Muslim minister in Germany.

The Human Rights Watch has criticized Belgium for planning to impose a ban on wearing veil, saying it violates the fundamental rights to freedom of religion.

Pope Benedict XVI has admitted that he is leading a "wounded and sinner" church, as revelations of clerical sex abuse continue to rock the Vatican.

A Muslim group say replica mosques being used by the Army on a North Yorkshire firing range should be removed.

The government's strategy to prevent violent extremism has alienated Muslims it wants to work with, MPs warn.

The leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland is facing further pressure to step down after admitting he knew about the sexual abuse of two children.

The leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland has rejected calls to resign after being accused of covering up allegations of child abuse in the 1970s.

There are weeks to go before a general election and the main parties are struggling. Cue the filthy politics of scapegoating and divide and rule.

If it were only the fascists of the British National Party and their street-fighting associates in the English Defence League it would be bad enough.

But so widespread and respectable has demonising Britain’s Muslim and immigrant communities become that unscrupulous mainstream politicians are tempted to slide from the gutter into that sewer.

Coincidentally - or maybe not - the Israeli intelligence services have warned of action to undermine the alliance between the left and Muslim communities in Britain, in London in particular, embodied in the movements against war and for Palestine.

An Islamic scholar turned up in London last week to deliver a religious ruling denouncing terrorism in all its forms - but what was it about him that made everyone sit up and listen?

George Galloway has written to Labour's General Secretary Ray Collins, MP Jim Fitzpatrick and Labour candidate Rushanara Ali, demanding Tower Hamlets Labour Party election agent and council candidate Graham Taylor should be sacked and disciplinary action taken against him and other members. This follows Islamophobic and racist comments appearing on Taylor's Facebook.

Taylor attended a meeting on election arrangements at Tower Hamlets Town Hall with the chief executive Kevan Collins, chief legal officer Isabella Freeman and chief elections officer Louise Stamp, on Monday evening.

Before going to the meeting he put out the following message on his Facebook group - "Graham Taylor is off to that centre of Islamic fundamentalism - Tower Hamlets Town Hall". A number of his Facebook friends then responded, including former councillor and Labour's council candidate for Stepney ward Judith Gardner. Gardner wrote "Give em hell!". Another friend wrote the disgusting racist comment: "Bring some pork scratchings" and another "Pork!".

"This is a disgraceful example of the Islamophobia and racism now infecting parts of Tower Hamlets Labour Party," said an outraged George Galloway. "The comments were made just before the Dispatches programme on Monday, which a number of Labour members co-operated with and in some cases inspired. These comments should have no place anywhere, never mind in a party claiming its commitment to opposing racism and respect for people of faith.

"I am demanding that Taylor is sacked as Rushanara Ali's election agent and his nomination for council candidate withdrawn. He is clearly not a fit and proper person to hold office in the Labour Party. And former councillor Judith Gardner should also be stood down. I don't know if the other contributors are Labour Party members but, if they are, they also should be subject to action by the Labour Party, up to and including their expulsion."

Jihadi Salafis preach global jihad, or holy war, adhere to an ultraconservative form of Islam and are becoming a headache even for Hamas, the Islamic militant group that rules Gaza. ...

A judge has dismisses a court case against a London Muslim accused of preparing terrorist acts, ruling there was no case to answer.

US Muslim prayer leader Luqman Ameen Abdullah had been shot 20 times by federal agents in Detroit last year, an autopsy report confirms.

Five mosques across Bristol are burgled in the past few weeks, with money stolen.

Christian, Muslim, Jewish and Sikh faith leaders sign a pledge opposing a planned march by The English Defence League (EDF) in Stoke-on-Trent.

The US State Department said Wednesday it lifted a ban on Swiss Muslim scholar Tariq Ramadan entering the country, six years after using the Patriot Act to revoke his visa.

Damaged graves and racist graffiti have been found in the Palestinian village of Awarta in the northern West Bank after a Jewish group visited the area.

Palestinians told an Israeli rights group they saw Jewish pilgrims and Israeli soldiers in the area which is also a Jewish burial site, on Tuesday.

The Israeli military has not yet responded to the incident.

On Tuesday 10 people from a nearby settlement were arrested and questioned over an arson attack on a mosque.

At least two tombstones were damaged in the cemetery outside the village, and food and rubbish were left on graves.

In the village, offensive slogans about Arabs were found scrawled in Hebrew, English and Russian.

Israelis are forbidden from entering Awarta, but the Israeli military occasionally organises group trips for settlers to visit nearby Jewish tombs.

Palestinians told the Israeli rights group B'tselem that such a visit had taken place on Tuesday night, and the damage was discovered on Wednesday morning.

An inquest in Gloucester heard a 10-week-old baby girl from Churchdown died from a rare undiagnosed heart disease.

President Obama spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast and explained how his policies are rooted in his religion. NBC’s Kristen Welker reports. (Nightly News)

15 year old Lidiane Carmo lost her entire family in a deadly Florida crash. But she may face another threat: deportation.

Faith and religion contributor, Father Edward Beck, talks to Charlie Rose and Erica Hill about charges against a New York woman accused of stealing over a million dollars from the New York Archdiocese.

A 67-year-old New York woman has been accused of stealing over a million dollars from the New York Archdiocese. CBS News correspondent Michelle Miller reports.

Among the 10 people who died in Sunday’s massive pileup, five were from the same church in Georgia. NBC’s Brian Williams reports. (Nightly News)

Catholics across the U.S. are angered by a new HHS mandate on contraceptives. WLUK reports.

A youth group from Orange Congregational Church has participated in the "Freeze out" event the past four years.

CNN's Ali Velshi says religious issues distract from the United States' #1 problem: the economy.

CNN's Dan Gilgoff explains tithing in the Mormon church and breaks down that part of Romney's tax returns.

Giving 10% of one's salary to the church isn't exclusive to Mormonism, but Mormon tithing is still unique.

Rick Santorum told reporters at a campaign stop in Florida that its not his job to correct voters he speaks with who misidentify President Obama as Muslim.

An audience member calls President Barack Obama on "avowed Muslim" at a Rick Santorum campaign event in Florida.

A video poem posted on YouTube by Seattle 22-year-old Jefferson Bethke about religion and Jesus has been viewed over 16 million times. Bethke and CBS News faith and religion contributor Father Beck discuss the video.

CNN.com's Dan Gilgoff shares his take on a viral video by a 22-year-old poet.

A church on the Italian island of Giglio serves as a safe haven for survivors and families of the Concordia disaster.

Europeans scratch their heads at the out-sized role of religion in American politics. CNN's Jonathan Mann explains.

Pet lovers in Madrid brought their animals to church for an annual blessing. TODAY.com's Alex Witt reports. (TODAY)

Gov. Rick Perry tells CNN's Wolf Blitzer he is standing by comments that Turkey is run by Islamic terrorists.

Pastors in New York protest city rules that will kick churches out of schools on Sundays. CNN's Ken Borland reports.

Charlie Rose asks Lakewood Church senior pastor Joel Osteen about his views on Mormonism, and how he defines it within the Christian community.

Lakewood Church Senior Pastor Joel Osteen speaks with Charlie Rose and Gayle King about preaching, prayer and politics. He also offers thoughts on Mitt Romney, Mormonism and Tim Tebow.

Pastor Ed Young and his wife spend 24 hours in bed on top of a church to promote healthier marital sex.

After being targeted by arson in 2008, a Massachusetts church rebuilds. CNN's Bob Crowley reports.

Is the Golden Globes host threatening to steal the spotlight? Kim Serafin talks with Rosemary Church.

The senior pastor at Katy Perry's dads church speaks to Showbbiz Tonight about the scandal surrounding the singer's father.

Erin Burnett looks at how a GOP field filled with Catholics and Mormons shows how far the country has come since JFK.

Newt Gingrich opens up about his religion and how candidates should present their religion to the voters.

Prosecutors describe Samir Osmakac, arrested after a three-month undercover investigation by the FBI, as a one-man terror cell intent on extracting revenge for Muslims. Bob Orr reports.

The church once banned truffles for their purported aphrodisiac properties, chef Patricia Wells says. The ban was lifted, but the question remains: do these fungi have amorous powers?

Archbishop Dolan, leader of the Roman Catholic Diocese of New York, was profiled by Morley Safer back in March of 2011.

A Flint township, Michigan church holds the occasional wrestling match and has its own tattoo parlor.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney talks about his core values: his family, his religion and his country.

TODAY’s Matt Lauer congratulates Archbishop Timothy Dolan, who was recently elevated to Cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI and steps into new responsibilities with the church. (TODAY)

The Faith and Freedom Coalition chairman looks at how religion will play a role in New Hampshire and South Carolina.

The Archdiocese of Hartford said it's implementing a new program that ministers to people with same-sex attractions.

Journalist Gina Smith discusses how Mitt Romney's religion might affect him in South Carolina's GOP primary.

Matthew Schultz, Iowa's Secretary of State, explains how important religion is for Iowa voters.

Eric Cantor says President Obama should take a more consistent stand against the spread of radical Islam.

Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, on claims the NYPD spies on Muslim communities.

At the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, Greek and Armenian monks fought each other with broomsticks during the church's annual cleaning. NBC’s Harry Smith reports. (Nightly News)

Police broke up a fight between priests wielding broomsticks at the annual cleaning of the Church of the Nativity.

Professor Lee Chung-Min of Yonei University discusses with CNN's Rosemary Church the future of Kim Jong Un regime.

A new study shows charismatic churches are growing globally. CNN's Stacey Samuel reports.

Dr. Calvin Butts, pastor of New York's Abyssinian Baptist Church, who helped usher in the modern-day Harlem renaissance, spoke with Scott Pelley about how to get America's economy growing again.

Bombing of Catholic churches attributed to growing tribe of radical Islamists.

Hundreds attended morning mass at the Nativity Church in the holy city of Bethlehem in Israel. Terrell Brown reports.

The first family shared Christmas with troops at a Marine Corps base church in Hawaii. But President Barack Obama will return soon to tough political battles in Washington and a heated fight to see who will get to try to unseat him. NBC’s Kristen Welker reports. (Nightly News)

From St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York to the Vatican in Rome, and in millions of churches and homes around the world, Christians celebrated Christmas on Sunday in a variety of ways. NBC's Duncan Golestani reports. (TODAY)

The senior pastor of Lakewood Church discusses why it’s important for people to stay focused on what they can give during the Christmas season, and how embracing God’s goodness will help those struggling. (TODAY)

Author Eugene Rogan on the impact of "new Islamic politics" he sees emerging in the Arab world.