CALIFORNIA
New Book Sees Christian Imagery in Harry Potter
The Arizona Republic
LOS ANGELES -- Harry Potter may carry a wand, ride a broomstick and count a werewolf among his friends but a new book claims the boy wizard's adventures are really full of Christian imagery and morals.

MICHIGAN
Farrakhan kicks off anti-war campaign in Detroit
Detroit Free Press
Minister Louis Farrakhan, head of the controversial Chicago-based Nation of Islam, kicked off a three-day, anti-war campaign in metro Detroit on Tuesday by calling President George W. Bush a greater threat to world peace than Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

NEVADA
Woman pursues human cloning
Las Vegan part of movement inspired by Christ's resurrection
Las Vegas Review-Journal
Jesus was cloned. At least according to a Las Vegas woman who claims to be on the verge of the first cloning of a human. Brigitte Boisselier is part of a movement that believes human beings -- and the resurrection of Christ -- are the result of an alien cloning experiment.

NEW JERSEY
Two Arrested After Raid On NJ Home Uncovers Stolen Remains, Temple
WABC
NEWARK - In a disturbing case, a father and son were arrested in Newark, accused of robbing graves. The two men say they were taking bodies from cemeteries to conduct religious ceremonies. A word of warning: Details of this story are graphic.

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Other news agencies:
Remains Found in Temple Basement, The Associated Press

NEW YORK
US Jewish population shrinking, aging survey
The Jerusalem Post
NEW YORK -- The Jewish population in the US has shrunk by more than 5 percent in the past decade and aged by four years, according to the results of the largest study of American Jewry ever conducted.

School Anti-Violence Program Accused Of Hiding Religious Agenda
CNSNews.com
The Anti-Defamation League is accusing an evangelical Christian group of using manipulative tactics in public schools to lure unsuspecting students to their faith.

OREGON
2 sisters' suit against church alleges abuse
The Associated Press
PORTLAND -- Two sisters have filed a $10 million lawsuit, accusing an LDS high priest of abusing them in their home, his truck and at their chapel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Portland.

PENNSYLVANIA
Ex-Einhorn Girlfriend Testifies
The Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA -- Jurors deciding whether former hippie guru Ira Einhorn murdered his girlfriend 25 years ago heard another woman testify Tuesday that she nearly suffered the same fate.

UTAH
Polygamist officer's charges unsealed
Deseret News
ST. GEORGE -- Criminal charges filed in secret against a polygamous police officer were unsealed Monday. In a probable-cause statement the state attorney general filed under seal Thursday in 5th District Court, Rodney Holm is charged with three counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a 16- or 17-year-old when he was more than 10 years older than her. He also is charged with one count of bigamy.
Other news agencies:
Polygamist charged with bigamy, sexual misconduct with girl, The Associated Press

Plural Wife Charged Along With Polygamist
The Salt Lake Tribune
Secret court documents unsealed Monday revealed bigamy charges against a polygamous southern Utah police officer and his first plural wife -- believed to be the first woman prosecuted for polygamy in Utah history.

Anti-polygamists: Prosecuting plural wives long overdue
The Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY -- A polygamist's wife whose younger sister married her husband has been charged with abetting unlawful sexual conduct, an action anti-polygamy activists say was long overdue.

Coercion Alleged in Polygamy Case
The Salt Lake Tribune
Four years ago, teenager Ruth Stubbs was warned by her religious leaders that she would "burn in hell" if she refused to marry a southern Utah police officer twice her age, her Arizona attorney said Tuesday.

Comparisons to Green unfair, Holm's lawyer says
Deseret News
ST. GEORGE - Comparisons between convicted child rapist and polygamist Tom Green and a Hildale police officer charged with bigamy and unlawful sexual conduct with a minor are unfair, an attorney in the officer's case said Monday.

5 Utah judges privately reprimanded
Deseret News
One Utah municipal court judge called former President Clinton "the Antichrist" at a protest rally, another showed an obscene hand gesture to law enforcement officers in a courtroom, yet another told people who appeared in court to get Christ into their lives.

WASHINGTON, D.C.
Report on religion bias cites France, Germany
The Chicago Tribune
While the State Department's annual Report on International Religious Freedom chastised the usual suspects for repressing the faithful--Burma, China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea and Vietnam--it also accused Western democracies of discriminating against minority religions. France, Belgium and Germany "have undertaken policies resulting in the stigmatization of minority religions," which they indiscriminately label as dangerous "sects" or "cults," said the report, released Monday.

CANADA
Minister launches polygamist probe
The Calgary Sun
OTTAWA -- Immigration Minister Denis Coderre launched a probe yesterday into his staff's decision to allow a B.C. polygamist's three wives to move to Canada.

CHINA
Chinese Christians win re-trial
BBC News
BEIJING -- Five Chinese Christians sentenced to death for involvement in an "evil cult" have had their sentences overturned and will be re-tried, according to activists.
Other news agencies:
Chinese provincial high court overturns death sentences for Christian group, The Associated Press

ENGLAND
Cloning Company Claims 'Viable' Pregnancies
CNSNews.com
LONDON -- The head of a science company backed by a shadowy cult claimed Tuesday that the organization has implanted several women with cloned embryos and will produce the world's first cloned human late this year or early in 2003.

Churches recruit Harry Potter
The London Telegraph
Harry Potter, demonised by evangelicals for glamorising the occult is to be used by Church leaders to spread the Christian message. J K Rowling's creation, who is more usually associated with wizardry than worship, features in a new mission guide endorsed by the main Christian Churches.

GERMANY
Publishers Hail Harry Potter and Jesus Christ
Reuters
FRANKFURT -- Publishers hailed Jesus Christ and Harry Potter on Tuesday as saviors of their industry in tough economic times. The search for spiritual sustenance after last year's September 11 attacks has boosted the profits of religious publishers while children have demonstrated an insatiable appetite for the exploits of a boy wizard.

INDIA
Christians, Muslims flay decree on conversion
Press Trust of India
NEW DELHI -- Christian and Muslim organisations on Monday sharply reacted to Tamil Nadu Government's Ordinance banning use of force or inducement in religious conversions in the state. The All India Christian Council (AICC) has also threatened to challenge the measure in court.

ITALY
Pope canonizes controversial Opus Dei founder before one of largest Vatican crowds in history
Reuters
VATICAN CITY -- Pope John Paul made a saint on Sunday of Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer, the controversial founder of the conservative Roman Catholic group Opus Dei, before one of the biggest crowds ever to flood the Vatican.

JAPAN
Extension sought for Aum watch
The Japan Times
The Justice Ministry's Public Security Investigation Agency will ask the Public Security Examination Commission for permission to keep Aum Shinrikyo under surveillance for another three years, sources said Monday.

KENYA
You betrayed us, Mungiki accuses MPs
The Nation
The outlawed Mungiki sect has accused two MPs of betraying it by denouncing it. National coordinator Ndura Waruinge claimed Juja MP Stephen Ndicho and his Gatundu North counterpart Patrick Muiruri offered the sect financial and logistic support during its recent public demonstrations.
Related article:
Churches Back Uhuru On Mungiki, The East African Standard

NIGERIA
Nigera clerics to stone a woman to death
The World Today
This is a transcript of The World Today broadcast at 1200 AEST on local radio.
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