New York – Religious leaders are warning that the global financial crisis threatens progress made against poverty and world hunger, and urged political leaders not to ignore the poor while debating how to solve the current international financial panic. “It’s a teachable moment to move the agenda of hunger and inequality in the world,” said…

Beijing – China issued a government report Thursday praising its rule over Tibet and accusing the Dalai Lama of wanting to restore a backward feudal system in the Himalayan region. The white paper, published six months after riots and protests rocked Tibet, said the government had spent vast sums of money and manpower to protect…

In Parma, Ohio, an organizer for Barack Obama arrived at a recent “Catholic house party,” a campaign-sponsored chat about values, prepared to answer questions about abortion. The conversation instead lurched into the battered state of the local economy – not surprising in a community where laid-off Ford auto workers are now greeters at Wal-Mart. Across…

WASHINGTON – Several medical associations and 13 state attorneys general voiced their opposition Wednesday to a proposed federal rule that they fear would open the door for hospitals and physicians to deny access to contraception. In late August, the Bush administration proposed stronger job protections for doctors and other health care workers who refuse to…

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