ATTLEBORO SECT TRIAL - "THE BODY" MASSACHUSETTS Testimony Begins In Murder Trial Of Sect Leader WCVB TheBostonChannel.com "Testimony is under way in the first-degree murder trial of Jacques Robidoux, 29, the leader of an Attleboro, Mass., religious sect charged with starving his baby son to death." Judge challenged The Sun Chronicle "FALL RIVER -- A state Supreme Judicial Court judge was expected to hear a challenge today by a media lawyer to the jury selection process in the murder trial of Attleboro sect member Jacques Robidoux." Corneaus to testify before grand jury The Sun Chronicle "ATTLEBORO -- Two jailed members of a religious cult say they will testify before a grand jury looking into the whereabouts of their newborn child, which the couple claims was a miscarriage." Cult tries secession to avoid charges The Boston Herald "An Attleboro cultist charged with starving his son to death claims he can't be tried for murder because he is a member of a sovereign nation not subject to American law." Lawyer: Couple in Sect Starved Son The Associated Press "TAUNTON -- A religious sect member and his wife slowly, knowingly starved their infant son to death in 1999 as he cried horrifically, a prosecutor said Wednesday as the man's murder trial opened."

CALIFORNIA
Parole Hearing for Manson Follower
The Associated Press
"SAN BERNARDINO -- A judge ordered a new parole hearing for former Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten, saying her good behavior behind bars should be considered."

MICHIGAN
Woman wins prayer-sign battle
WorldNetDaily.com
"The managers of a government-subsidized housing complex in Taylor, Mich., lost an attempt yesterday to kick a woman out of her home because of a religious sign she keeps in her window."

NEW YORK
Divorce rate extremely low in insular Hasidic village
The Buffalo News
"KIRYAS JOEL -- The percentage of divorced people living in this insular Hasidic village is as low as any place in the country, according to newly released Census 2000 figures."

UTAH
Lawyer ready to fight LDS
Deseret News
"A Minnesota attorney known for suing the Roman Catholic Church in sexual-abuse cases has set his sights on Utah and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."

Friend of Green's Tells of Child Marriage in Mexico
The Salt Lake Tribune
"NEPHI -- A witness testified Tuesday in an evidentiary hearing that he was present at the 1986 wedding of Utah polygamist Tom Green and his teen-age bride in Mexico."
ALSO:
Green's son is 'evidence' in child-rape trial
Mom was only 13 when polygamist fathered the boy
Deseret News
"NEPHI - Melvin Green stands smack in the middle of a child rape controversy in which he happens to be the biggest evidence. His father, polygamist Tom Green, gave his son a knowing nod as he was led in shackles into the courtroom Tuesday to continue the hearing that will determine if Utah has jurisdiction to prosecute Tom Green for fathering Melvin when his mother, Linda Kunz-Green, was 13 years old."

WASHINGTON, D.C.
Tribes seek upgrade in land protection
Martin's Cove sale's foes fear a precedent
Deseret News
WASHINGTON - Foes of the proposed federal sale to the LDS Church of a handcart pioneer disaster site have said it could set precedent to allow American Indians to buy federal lands they consider sacred."
ALSO:
Indian Leaders Urge Senators, Army to Protect Sacred Places
The Associated Press
"WASHINGTON -- American Indian leaders from the Great Plains, where the Missouri River was dammed by the Army Corps of Engineers nearly 50 years ago, told the Senate on Tuesday that federal agencies have a long history of disregarding sacred Indian sites."

CANADA
Harry Potter ban rejected
Canadian Press
"HAMILTON -- Roman Catholic students will continue to find Harry Potter on their school library shelves after a unanimous school board vote yesterday denied a parent's request to ban the popular books from the city's schools."

Media to appeal ban in Church of God trial
The London Free Press
"ST. THOMAS -- The first of seven Aylmer children removed from their home last summer spoke in court yesterday courtesy of a video made days after they were carried into the international spotlight."

ENGLAND
Hunting a ritual killer
National Post
"LONDON - Bodies are found in the River Thames all the time. Police fish out between 40 and 50 every year. Most are suicides, jumpers from one of the many bridges. Some are drunks who stumble into the water on their way home from the pub. And a few are murder victims."

NEW ZEALAND
Science, religion and a dying baby
New Zealand Herald
"What drove Jan and Deborah Moorhead to refuse life-saving treatment for their baby son? When Starship children's hospital paediatrician Dr Patrick Kelly saw Caleb Moorhead for the first time, he knew he didn't have long."

SOUTH AFRICA
Wife in muti murder case
News24.com
"PRETORIA - For nearly a year, a Pretoria woman used muti obtained from a sangoma to make her husband "disappear". Bettie Lotter (48) told the Pretoria High Court on Tuesday that she put muti into her husband's food and bath water to make him "disappear". Eventually she turned to a "stronger" sangoma, who promised to make her husband disappear within days - and a few days later he was found dead in his car."

Ritual murders spark riots
News24.com
"POLOKWANE -- The Northern Province education department on Friday met Ha-Tshivhase village police in an effort to resolve the ongoing boycott of classes by students in the area near Pietersburg (Polokwane)."

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