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Egypt has unexpectedly banned the export of closed palm fronds, just in time for Israel’s annual Sukkot festival, in which the fronds are a traditional feature. The Egyptian decision to ban the export has forced Israel to seek ways to make up the shortfall — shipping fronds from as far away as Spain.  “In the past, Israeli dealers…

Between 50 and 60 million trees are consumed in India’s 7 million open-air Hindu cremations each year, worrying a group of environmentalists. The traditional Hindu funeral pyre — an ancient ritual that goes back thousands of years — poses a threat to the living, says Mokshda or “Salvation,” a Delhi-based non-governmental organization working to reduce the environmental impact of India’s funeral…

“Fanatical atheism is no worse and no better than fanatical religion, though it may be more bitterly ironic,” writes Brad Hirschfield in the Washington Post. “There is something pretty odd, dare I say hypocritical, about a bunch of people who call themselves ‘freethinkers’ and ‘humanists’ not only verbally abusing people of faith, but actually tearing…

She weighed 1 pound, 2 ounces at birth and spent her first three days on life support inside a plastic sandwich bag. Allegra Lategan was delivered during an emergency Caesarian on July 29 at 22 weeks. “South Africa’s miracle baby spent her first three days after birth tucked away in a plastic sandwich bag,” writes…

Hundreds of United Methodist clergy are expressing deep concerns over a pledge made by a renegade group of fellow ministers to marry same-sex couples. Their concern is that if the pledge is carried through, the future of the denomination is in jeopardy. “We do not know how many, if any, marriages or ‘holy unions’ of…

As many as 90 percent of Palestinians in some areas have close genetic ties to Jews, according to researchers. Ariella Oppenheim Ph.D., a researcher at Hebrew University and the Hadassah Medical School labs, has published the result of DNA studies which show that both the Palestinians and Jews are descended from the Kurds of Iraq…

Caution: Shaking your fist at the sky while proclaiming that God doesn’t exist and mocking the faith of His flock can be harmful to your health. “This isn’t about what happens to you in the hereafter,” writes Patrick Chisholm for the news website the Daily Caller. “It’s about what happens to you in the here and…

U.S. Embassy officials in Warsaw, Poland, under the Obama administration complained that Catholic Church doctrine is a major source of “homophobia” in the heavily Catholic country, according to diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks. The messages from the American embassy in Poland’s capital, marked “sensitive but unclassified,” were part of a dump of over 250,000 official government documents…

On the eve of 9/11, a Dutch Muslim politician has launched a campaign calling on Muslims around the world to stop blindly following decrees issued by a handful of extremists, and to start thinking for themselves, according to the British news agency Reuters. “Tofik Dibi, a member of parliament for the opposition GreenLeft Party, said…

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments Thursday over whether the Florida property management firm Hallmark Companies discriminated against a Christian couple when it fired them. Daniel and Sharon Dixon were managing an apartment complex in Lake City, Fla., but were fired after their supervisor told them they were “too religious,” writes Lillian Kwon…
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