Romanian Patriarch and Iranian Embassy Slam Satanic Verses Translation

News from Romania, via the Courier International:
For the first time, Romania has published a translation of Salman Rushdie’s novel, “The Satanic Verses.” Patriarch Daniel, head of Romania’s Orthodox Church, has criticized the book, which he says attacks the spiritual values and symbols of all religions. Sabina Fati [of Romania Libera] comments: “Not only does the [...]

Assassination of Marabout Heightens Senegal-Gambia Tension

The Gambia Echo reports on the murder of a politically-connected marabout (Muslim spiritual leader) in Senegal:
On Thursday, the eve of the Muslim feast of Idal-adha (locally called Tobaski), Samsedin Hydara, a member of staff of Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade was assassinated by a group of armed men who surrounded his compound at around 9 PM [...]

Rev Moon’s Breakaway Catholic Church Launched in Zambia

From The Times of Zambia
A SPLINTER Catholic Church called the Catholic Apostolic National Church of Zambia has been launched with Archbishop-elect, Luciano Mbewe, calling for more priests to join the church and fulfill their God-given role by marrying…Archbishop Mbewe said during the ceremony held at Peace Embassy that there were moments that the priests hoped [...]

Background to UK Creationist Theme Park Organisation

This one slipped past me from before Christmas:
The latest salvo in creationism’s increasingly ferocious battle with evolution is about to be fired in Lancashire. Not in a fiery sermon preached from the pulpit, but in the form of a giant Christian theme park that will champion the book of Genesis and make a multi-media case that God [...]

Commercial Break

A public service advert about firework safety, from Holland (hat tip to MediaWatchWatch, which has a couple more in the series):

An advert for high-definition televisions, from Israel (hat tip to Failed Messiah; it was pulled after a week or so).

Bethlehem Today

Religious Leaders Support Polio Vaccine in Yemen

…but conspiracy theories remain an obstacle in Pakistan
From the Yemen Observer, a few days ago:
The Yemeni government began on Saturday a nation-wide campaign to vaccinate more than 4 million children against polio.
…The anti-polio campaign came after the spread of the virus in Nigeria, India, Chad, Somalia and Sudan, said Yemen’s deputy minister of public health [...]

“War on Christmas” Hysteria: A Dispatch from the British Front

 
Bill O’Reilly and WorldNetDaily have nothing on the UK tabloids. From Private Eye magazine (1199, p.6), helpfully transcribed by blog Botherer:
In early December, Healey Primary School in Rochdale sent a note home to parents of 4 to 7-year-old pupils: “Please could parents send just one Christmas card to the whole class rather than asking school [...]

Pakistani NGOs Prominent at “One Family Under God” Event

Fauji Foundation director made “Ambassador for Peace” by Unification Church front organisation
From New Europe:
Bringing representatives from different faiths together on one platform, an “International Conference on Interfaith Dialogue towards Global Peace” unanimously passed a resolution last week “Brussels Peace Declaration on Religious Coexistence” at Peace Embassy Brussels, Belgium.
The conference brought together a number of organisations [...]

Witchcraft Hysteria in Nigeria Highlighted

London Observer notes role of film director/evangelist
Bad news from Nigeria, via This Day:
Two women have allegedly been killed by angry youths in Warri, after they were reportedly accused of causing the death of a two- year old girl through witchcraft…A large and wild mob of angry youths stormed homes of the two women, dragged them [...]