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News for: June 26, 2002
Top cult member to hang for "cruel and evil crimes"
Mainichi Daily News
"A former top member of AUM Shinrikyo involved in the cult's terror acts that killed 26 people was sentenced to death at the Tokyo District Court Wednesday. Tomomitsu Niimi, a former senior AUM member who still pledges his loyalty to its guru, Shoko Asahara, is the eighth cult member to receive a death sentence."
Tomomitsu Niimi
FLORIDA
Trial will weigh whether Muslim must remove veil for license photo
The Orlando Sentinel
ORLANDO -- A Muslim woman from Winter Park, Fla., is being "hypersensitive" because she refuses to show her full face for a drivers license picture and should be required to remove her veil for the photograph, a state attorney said in a recent court brief.
ILLINOIS
Temple keys
Museum in Illinois town has a set of 16 keys to first Nauvoo temple
Deseret News
NAUVOO -- As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints around the globe anticipate the dedication of the reconstructed temple here Thursday, many will reflect on the "keys" that early church leaders spoke of as the underlying purpose for such an edifice.
UTAH
Green Found Guilty of Raping Child-Bride When She Was 13
The Salt Lake Tribune
"NEPHI -- Tom Green now faces up to life in prison after a judge found him guilty Monday of first-degree felony child rape for impregnating his teen-age bride in 1986."
Also:
Green family hopes are now with appeals court
Deseret News
"PROVO - Last summer, a crush of news cameras from across the globe captured on film the fate of polygamist Tom Green when he was tried in court on charges of bigamy and criminal nonsupport."
FEATURE
The Bible and the Apocalypse
The biggest book of the summer is about the end of the world. It's also a sign of our troubled times
TIME
"What do you watch for, when you are watching the news? Signs that interest rates might be climbing, maybe it's time to refinance. Signs of global warming, maybe forget that new SUV. Signs of new terrorist activity, maybe think twice about that flight to Chicago."
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Ruben Ecleo, Jr -- Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association PHILIPPINES
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AFGHANISTAN
Charges dropped in Afghan blasphemy row
BBC News
"Afghanistan's Supreme Court has thrown out a blasphemy charge against outgoing Minister for Woman's Affairs Sima Samar, who is accused of insulting Islam."
CANADA
Alberta hearing into Jehovah's Witness blood transfusions delayed until fall
Canadian Press
"CALGARY -- A teenage girl who is being forced against her will to get blood transfusions to treat leukemia had her court fight delayed for four months Monday. Lawyer David Gnam said the girl, who is a Jehovah's Witness, desperately wants to tell a judge exactly why she wants her religious beliefs honoured and her blood transfusions stopped."
Also:
Transfusion teen facing quandary
Calgary Sun
"The Jehovah's Witness teen fighting against forced blood transfusions has been placed in a Catch-22 by a four-month delay in her case, her lawyer said yesterday."
CHINA
Falun Gong TV hijackers strike again in China
Reuters
BEIJING -- Members of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement commandeered the television airwaves in a Chinese city this week to again show footage trumpeting the virtues of their faith, police said on Wednesday.
Also:
Falun Gong Reportedly Interrupts TV
The Associated Press
"BEIJING -- Falun Gong supporters interrupted two local cable television programs in the past week, breaking in to show messages saying the spiritual sect is good, police and a human rights group said Wednesday."
INDIA
Indian police tackle sorcery
BBC News
"Police in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh have launched a massive campaign against superstition following several killings of suspected sorcerers. Officials in Ranga Reddy district said villagers were burning people suspected of practising witchcraft alive."
Seers in Ayodhya demand ban on VHP
Press Trust of India
Ayodhya -- Prominent saints and seers in Ayodhya on Tuesday demanded a ban on VHP saying the outfit's decision of not to abide by the court order on the Ram temple issue would "encourage the cult of religious terrorism".
Rats rule the roost at temple in Rajasthan
Reuters
"DESHNOKE -- They scurry across the marble floors, perch snoozing on the railings and snuggle into holes low down in the walls, their long tails poking out. Rats, hundreds and hundreds of them, are everywhere at the Karni Mata Hindu temple in Rajasthan and woe betide anyone who takes fright and steps on one. For according to legend, the sacred brown rodents are nothing less than incarnations of human beings from the local Charan tribe whose souls are temporarily inhabiting the body of a rat until their rebirth."
JAPAN
Doomsday Cult Member Gets Death
The Associated Press
"TOKYO -- A former doomsday cult leader was sentenced to death Wednesday for his involvement in numerous murders, including the nerve gas attack in the Tokyo subway that killed 12 people and sickened thousands."
Other News Agencies:
Japanese cult leader sentenced to death, BBC News
Aum Shinrikyo officer Niimi given death sentence for role in 26 murders, The Japan Times
Aum's Niimi gets death sentence for murders, Japan Today
Japanese court orders death sentence for cult member, Reuters
Aum Shinrikyo Leader Failed To Avoid retaliation: death penalty, Pravda
Anthrax recalls Tokyo's time of terror
BBC News
"As the fear of anthrax sweeps the world, in Japan it is a painful reminder of the 1995 biological attack on its civilians. Twelve people died when the doomsday Aum Shinrikyo cult released sarin gas on the Tokyo subway."
UGANDA
Remain Poor, Vegetarian, Asian Sect Urged
New Vision
KAMPALA -- The Jain Asian community in Uganda has been warned against eating beef burgers, amassing wealth and indulging in evil practices, reports Titus Kakembo. "Enrich your spiritual life in preparation for the next life. Read the Jain religion book. live a truthful life without smoking. have a vegetarian diet and do not eat any underground tuber or vegetable," the visiting pujya priest, Grudev Shree Kanji Swami, from India, said.
