Malaysian devotees throng to see ‘tree deity’

KUALA LUMPUR – Hundreds of Hindu devotees have been going to the Midlands Estate in Shah Alam near here to see a “tree deity” that has come to be known as Amman.

It all began when some devotees noticed a light emitting from the “face” on a mango tree at night.
This prompted many more people …. Original article on Gaea Times at  : Malaysian devotees throng to see ‘tree deity’.

Former priest in sex abuse settlement suspended from volunteer post with Mo. Special Olympics

Mo. Special Olympics ousts ex-priest over abuse

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A former Catholic priest whose admitted abuse of boys in the 1980s led to a $5 million settlement in Wisconsin has been suspended as a volunteer with Special Olympics Missouri.
Tom Ericksen of Kansas City was suspended last week when Special Olympics Missouri learned of his …. Original article  : Former priest in sex abuse settlement suspended from volunteer post with Mo. Special Olympics.

Iraqi cleric meets with PM candidate in Syria as Iraqis face pressure to form new government

Iraqi cleric meets with PM candidate in Syria

DAMASCUS, Syria – A leading anti-American Iraqi cleric has met with one of two Iraqi politicians vying to lead the country’s next government.
Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr met with former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi in neighboring Syria.
Allawi and current Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki are locked in a power … Read more »»».

Ramakrishna Mission chief’s condition stable

KOLKATA – The condition of Ramakrishna Mutt and Ramakrishna Mission president Swami Atwasthananda, admitted to a private hospital following stomach pain and urine infection, is now stable, a mission official said Monday.

“He is fine and stable,” said an official spokesperson of the Ramkrishna Mission
Swami Atwasthananda was admitted to the Ramakrishna Mission Seva Pratishthan Friday …. Original source  : Ramakrishna Mission chief’s condition stable.

Dalai Lama to visit Kargil

DHARAMSALA – Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, will visit forward areas in Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir bordering China this week to attend religious functions, an aide said here Monday.

“His Holiness the Dalai Lama is reaching the Nubra Valley in Kargil for a week from July 21 where he will bless his followers and … Original article on : Dalai Lama to visit Kargil.

Indonesian clerics: Our mistake _ you’re facing the wrong direction during Islamic prayers

Indonesian Muslims facing Africa during prayers

JAKARTA, Indonesia – People in the world’s most populous Muslim nation have been facing Africa – not Mecca – while praying.
Indonesia’s highest Islamic body acknowledged Monday it made a mistake when issuing an edict in March saying the holy city in Saudi Arabia was to the country’s west. It has …. Original article  : Indonesian clerics: Our mistake _ you’re facing the wrong direction during Islamic prayers.

Maryland tries to balance security, sensitivity to faith in death row inmates’ final moments

Md. weighs allowing inmates’ own clergy at death

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Maryland is considering becoming one of the few states to allow condemned inmates to choose a clergy member not employed by the state to be in the execution chamber when they die.
Corrections officials must balance the sensitive issues of security during one of the gravest …. Source  : Maryland tries to balance security, sensitivity to faith in death row inmates’ final moments.

Burqa empowers women, says British minister

LONDON – As debate intensifies across Europe on banning the Islamic full-body veil at public places, a British minister has defended a Muslim woman’s right to wear the burqa and says it is empowering.

Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman said women were “empowered” by the freedom to wear the face coverings.
Her comments came after her …. Source  : Burqa empowers women, says British minister.

Centuries-old festival takes Tripura on spiritual journey

AGARTALA – A centuries-old tradition comes alive in Tripura as the idols of 14 Hindu deities, kept locked in a room throughout the year, are brought out for worshipping during the tribal Kharchi festival from Monday – a spectacle witnessed by hundreds of thousands of devotees from India as well as Bangladesh.

Year after year, it … Read more >>.

Leisure time in Gaza takes latest of many hits as Hamas bars women from smoking water pipes

Some Gaza women smolder over Hamas’ water-pipe ban

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – There are few pleasures left for Gaza’s 1.5 million people, squeezed by both a blockade and Hamas efforts to impose its strict Muslim lifestyle. And women here just lost another one.
Gaza’s Hamas rulers have banned women from smoking water pipes in cafes, sending …. Read the original article  : Leisure time in Gaza takes latest of many hits as Hamas bars women from smoking water pipes.

Flydubai to reimburse travel costs during Ramadan

Dubai, July 18 (IANS/WAM) Dubai’s low cost airline flydubai Sunday announced the full reimbursement – minus taxes – of the travel costs of its passengers during the holy month of Ramadan between Aug 15 and Sep 6.

The offer will be on all flydubai flights to and from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, … Read : Flydubai to reimburse travel costs during Ramadan.

President of Ramkrishna Mission stable

KOLKATA – Ramakrishna Mutt and Ramakrishna Mission president Swami Atwasthananda, admitted to a private hospital following stomach pain and urine infection, is now better and he is responding to treatment, a mission official said.

“He is now better. He is responding to treatment,” said Swami Bimalatmananda, private secretary to the president.
Swami Atwasthananda was admitted to … Read more >>>.

Spanish parliament set to debate restricting burqas in public, opposition party says

Spanish parliament to debate ban on public burqas

MADRID – Spanish lawmakers will debate barring burqas in public, joining other European countries considering similar moves on the grounds that the body-covering garments are degrading to women, the leading opposition party said Sunday.
Top officials of the ruling Socialist Party have indicated they will support the proposal by …. Source article on Gaea Times at  : Spanish parliament set to debate restricting burqas in public, opposition party says.

British minister terms burqa ban un-British

LONDON – Banning the burqa, the Islamic full-body veil for women, will be “un-British” and contrary to a “tolerant and mutually respectful society”, Britain’s Immigration Minister Damian Green has said.

According to The Sunday Telegraph, Green said it would be “undesirable” for the British parliament to vote on a burqa ban and that there was no [..] Read the original article: here.

Gaza’s Hamas police ban women from smoking water pipes in cafes, claim it leads to divorce

Hamas bans women from smoking water pipes in cafes

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Gaza’s Hamas rulers have banned women from smoking water pipes in cafes, calling it a practice that destroys marriages and sullies the image of the Palestinian people.
The ban marks the Islamist militant group’s latest effort to impose their harsh Muslim lifestyle in … Read more : Gaza’s Hamas police ban women from smoking water pipes in cafes, claim it leads to divorce.

Spanish parliament set to debate restricting use of burqas in public

Spain to consider banning burqas in public

MADRID – Spain’s leading opposition party said Sunday the country’s parliament will debate a proposal to bar the use of burqas in public, joining other European countries considering similar moves on the grounds that such garments are degrading to women.
The Popular Party tabled a motion to debate total body-covering … Read more >>.

Israel’s Netanyahu says he will oppose conversion bill, fearing rift in Jewish world

Netanyahu says he will oppose conversion bill

JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Sunday that he would oppose a conversion bill that has rekindled the age-old debate over who is a Jew and has provoked an angry response among liberal Jewish groups abroad whose support is critical to Israel.
Last week, an Israeli parliamentary committee … Read more : Israel’s Netanyahu says he will oppose conversion bill, fearing rift in Jewish world.

67 percent Britons want burqa ban

LONDON – A majority of Britons – around 67 percent – want to see the burqa banned in the country.

Earlier in the week, members of parliament in France voted to outlaw the full Islamic veil in public. A poll by YouGov showed that two-thirds of the British public would like to see their government follow … Read more »»».

Ramakrishna Mission chief hospitalised

KOLKATA – The president of the Ramakrishna Mutt and Ramakrishna Mission, Swami Atwashtananda has been admitted to a private hospital run by the mission following stomach pain.

“He was admitted Friday night. He is undergoing tests,” a Ramakrishna Mission spokesman Saturday said.
A team of specialists is treating Swami Atwashtananda, who is on restricted diet.
… Read : Ramakrishna Mission chief hospitalised.

India-born archbishop named Vatican’s top UN envoy

VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI Saturday named a India-born archbishop, Francis Assisi Chullikatt, as the Vatican’s top envoy at the UN.

Chullikat, 57, takes up the position of Holy See Permanent Observer at the UN, replacing Archbishop Celestino Migliore who last month was named the Vatican’s apostolic nuncio to Poland.
Born in Bolghatty, in the …. Source article on Gaea Times at  : India-born archbishop named Vatican’s top UN envoy.