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Associated Press – March 24, 2008 WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court has turned down an appeal from a county sheriff who objects to transporting jail inmates for elective abortions. An Arizona sheriff wanted the justices to allow him to enforce a jail policy that bars transporting inmates for abortions without a court order. Arizona courts…

Associated Press – March 24, 2008 WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday urged China to consider a new policy to address Tibetans’ grievances and to start talks with the Dalai Lama. A Chinese dialogue with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, Rice said, “is going to be the only policy that is…

By Andrea Useem Religion News Service With Islam so much in the news today, experts and pundits are frequently called upon to explain the views of Muslims worldwide. But according to Dalia Mogahed, executive director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies, Muslims should be able to speak for themselves. In the new book, “Who…

By Daniel Burke Religion News Service When Deacon Ken Finn is counseling prisoners, he often tells the story of St. Dismas. “He was the guy crucified on the right side of Christ,” Finn says. “He never took a course in (Catholic doctrine) but he gets to skip purgatory and go straight to heaven.” Finn, 72,…

Associated Press Cairo, Egypt – Osama bin Laden accused Pope Benedict XVI of helping in a “new Crusade” against Islam and warned of a “severe” reaction to European publications of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that insulted many Muslims. Bin Laden’s new audiotape message raised concerns al-Qaida was plotting new attacks in Europe. Some experts…

Associated Press – March 18, 2008 DENVER – The provocative sermons of Barack Obama’s pastor come out of a tradition of using the black church to challenge its members and confront what preachers view as a racist society. Yet while the Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s racially tinged messages still resonate in some black churches, evidence also…

Associated Press – March 18, 2008 SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – A group of pharmacists asked the Illinois Supreme Court on Tuesday to throw out a rule that forces them to dispense emergency contraception despite moral objections, claiming it amounts to illegal coercion. Gov. Rod Blagojevich issued the rule in 2005, prohibiting pharmacies from turning away women…

Associated Press – March 19, 2008 DHARMSALA, India – The Dalai Lama asked Tibetan activists to end their confrontational march to Tibet on Wednesday while exiles pressed ahead with peaceful protests in northern India and New Delhi. The Tibetan spiritual and political leader met with members of the five groups organizing the march to Lhasa,…

Associated Press Jerusalem – Germany’s chancellor told Israel’s parliament Tuesday that Germans are filled with shame over the Nazi Holocaust and that she bows before the victims. Chancellor Angela Merkel delivered the speech in German on the last day of an Israel visit marked by extraordinary warmth. Israel has given a red carpet welcome to…

Associated Press Washington – Democratic Sen. Barack Obama waded into America’s troubled racial history Tuesday, seeking in his most revealing campaign remarks on race to stem accumulating political damage done by the words of his former pastor. Obama confronted what he called “incendiary language” by Rev. Jeremiah Wright that presented a “profoundly distorted view” of…

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