CALIFORNIA

Chocolate Bunny Survived but 'Wiccagate' Probe Still Urged
The Los Angeles Times
"On the shivery evening of the spring equinox, 50 hooded pagans formed a circle in the parking lot behind the Witches Grove gift store in downtown Lancaster. After praying to their gods, they prepared a ritual sacrifice: a white chocolate bunny destined for a fondue pot."

FLORIDA

Scientology foes continue rancor
St Petersburg Times
"CLEARWATER -- Millionaire Scientology critic Robert Minton has expanded his criticism of the lawyer fighting the Church of Scientology over the death of Lisa McPherson."
UPDATE:
Allegations won't alter church suit, St. Petersburg Times

A psychic challenge for Miss Cleo
The Sun-Sentinel
"Reacting to the attention that followed the recent release of Miss Cleo's birth certificate showing she wasn't born in Jamaica, her lawyer tried to convince the news media that the document was a non-issue."

ILLINOIS

Nauvoo Temple - a vision of the past
Local residents and the media get tour before open house
Deseret News
"NAUVOO - After six years of construction, much of it guarded at gunpoint by pioneer craftsmen, the LDS Church's original Nauvoo Temple was dedicated 156 years ago today as most of its constituency had already been forced to migrate West."

Good will is gaining in Nauvoo
Deseret News
"NAUVOO - For skeptics who question the reality of warming relations among historic foes, a glance at Wednesday's edition of the Fort Madison Daily Democrat literally says it all."

NEW JERSEY

Body snatching is mark of a cult
New Jersey Star-Ledger
"The two men slipped into Newark's Holy Sepulchre Cemetery on a January night in 1999 and crept through the cold stillness of gravestones and crypts. They came upon the mausoleum of Leonard Perna, a bar owner from Orange whose body had lain undisturbed for 13 years."

OKLAHOMA

Rabbi Scandal Upsets Okla. Community
The Associated Press
"Oklahoma City -- The small, close-knit Jewish community in this Bible Belt city was used to seeing Rabbi Richard Marcovitz presiding over weddings, funerals and bar mitzvahs. So they were shocked to see TV images of him with his hands behind his back in handcuffs, arrested for allegedly groping two girls and two young women at a Jewish day school."
UPDATE:
Rabbi's case dividing Jewish community, NewsOK.com

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Buddhism's pedophile monks
United Press International
"WASHINGTON -- Sex between clergymen and boys is by no means a uniquely Catholic phenomenon, a noted American scholar said Wednesday -- it's been going on in Buddhist monasteries in Asia for centuries."

WYOMING

Martin's Cove hearing moved
The Associated Press
CASPER - Saturday's congressional field hearing on the proposed sale of federally owned Martin's Cove to the Mormon church has been moved to a larger arena.

AUSTRALIA

Couple knew killer, says psychic
The Herald Sun
"Psychics are among the hundreds of people who have called Crime Stoppers offering information about the murder of Armadale couple Margaret Wales-King and Paul King."

ENGLAND

Europe's Jews in Cross Hairs
The Associated Press
"LONDON -- Firebombs hurled at Jewish schools and synagogues in France. Orthodox Jews assaulted on the streets of north London. Protesters at a Rome demonstration dressed as suicide bombers."

ISRAEL

Arab Christian clergymen call Jews 'satanic'
WorldNetDaily.com
"Outraged by the protracted standoff between Israelis and Palestinians at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, a considerable number of Arab Christian clergymen - including some heads of various churches - are publicly condemning not only Jews and Israel, but Christians in the West - especially in the United States - for siding with Israel."

JAPAN

Kyoto's oldest Zen temple displays its treasures
Daily Yomiuri
"Kenninji, the oldest Zen temple in Kyoto, is a treasure trove for students and researchers of zen buddhism. Now the public can also catch a glimpse of the temple's treasures at an exhibition being held at kyoto national museum in kyoto."

KENYA

Spiritual Leader of Religious Sect Arrested in Kenya
Xinhuanet
"NAIROBI -- The spiritual leader of a religious sect, "Tent of the Living God", and over 30 members of his group have been arrested here after attending an illegal demonstration, the Kenya Times reported Wednesday."
Update:
Sect members to remain in custody
The Daily Nation

MEXICO

Town expels priests, breaks ties with church
The Associated Press
"SAN JUAN CHAMULA -- Leaders of this Maya Indian town said Tuesday they have expelled Roman Catholic priests and broken ties with the local diocese, re-igniting one of the most stubborn religious controversies in the hemisphere."

New book alleges ties between Mexican church officials and major narcotics ring
The Associated Press
"MEXICO CITY - A new book by a former attorney general says Mexican churchmen acted as intermediaries between the government and a major narcotics ring."

Priest denies faking drug king's alibi in case of cardinal's death
The Associated Press
"ENSENADA - A Catholic priest yesterday denied recently published reports that he provided a false alibi for drug trafficker Benjamín Arellano Félix after the Arellano cartel was linked to the 1993 killing of Guadalajara's Roman Catholic cardinal."

NIGERIA

Muslim Group Adopts Sharia in Southern State
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
"A Muslim group in Nigeria's southern state of Oyo has said it was adopting the Islamic legal code of Sharia after the state government ignored their demands to implement the legal system."

PHILIPPINES

Terror attack on Tarlac jeep terminal foiled
The Manila Times
"The Philippine National Police (PNP) said it thwarted terrorist attacks to coincide with yesterday’s Labor Day celebration with the killing of a suspected member of a cult led by a Saudi Arabian and the arrest of his cohort in a jeepney terminal in Tarlac City late Tuesday night." UPDATE:
Police find ‘terror’ camps in Tarlac, Pangasinan,The Manilla Times

Cagayan Oro City Council investigates cult’s Holy Oil
The Manila Times
"CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY - The city council would start on Monday an official inquiry into the sale of fake pharmaceutical drugs and herbal medicines, including the Back to Christ-Discovery Crusade cult’s controversial Banal na Langis, that have reportedly flooded the local market."

RUSSIA

Church of Scientology Wins Ruling
The Associated Press
"MOSCOW - The Church of Scientology has won a ruling in a Moscow court preventing authorities from using a widely criticized religion law to stop the group from registering, church officials said Wednesday."

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