Visit our Web site to view this week's headlines, search our archive by topic or keyword, or to send us your feedback.

Obama and McCain step up efforts to meet religious leaders and reach religious voters.

Young American doctors are going to Africa to treat patients and train local providers.

The wedding rituals of a Hindu-Sikh couple honor the religious traditions of both.

("FoxNews", November 20, 2008)

Washington, USA - CIA personnel lied to Congress in April 2001 about a missionary plane shot down in Peru that killed a woman and her 7-month-old daughter, the CIA inspector general revealed in a report being released by California Rep. Pete Hoekstra on Thursday.

By Jacqueline L. Salmon ("Washington Post", November 19, 2008)

Washington, USA - Washington National Cathedral plans to slash its budget dramatically and lay off 30 percent of its staff to close a widening budget gap, leaders said yesterday.

(AP, November 20, 2008)

Stockholm, Sweden - A Swedish feminist party will push for abortion to be recognized as a human right as the group tries to gain a seat in the European Union parliament next year.

By Sarah Brumfield (AP, November 19, 2008)

Baltimore, USA - Recognized widely for his catchphrase _ "the family that prays together stays together" _ the late Rev. Patrick Peyton spread his message to millions by radio and later television, using Hollywood stars to emphasize prayer and moral values.

By Douglas Hamilton (Reuters, November 19, 2008)

Eli, Israel - When God ordered Abraham to slaughter a son, the angel of the Lord stepped in at the last minute to stay his hand. Was it a test of faith, or had Abraham's imagination simply run away with him?

(BBC, November 20, 2008)

Cardiff, UK - The most senior members of the Church in Wales are joining forces with Welsh police chiefs in an attempt to cut binge drinking.

By Malcolm Brabant (BBC, November 20, 2008)

Athens, Greece - A 14th Century Byzantine icon, valued at £1m (1.2m euros) and stolen from a Greek monastery 30 years ago, has been returned to Athens from Britain.

By Lucy Williamson (BBC, November 19, 2008)

Jakarta, Indonesia - The Indonesian government says it has called on a blogging website to take down two cartoons which depict Muslim Prophet Muhammad in sexual situations.

(AP, November 20, 2008)

Pittsburgh, USA - The state American Civil Liberties Union said in a lawsuit that a western Pennsylvania borough violated a church's religious freedom by refusing to allow the house of worship to shelter homeless people.

By Jade Ortego ("The Lariat Online", November 19, 2008)

Austin, USA - A study released Tuesday reported that 95 percent of surveyed science professors at Texas universities say that evolution -- not intelligent design -- should be taught in public schools.

By Chris Hawley ("The Arizona Republic", November 20, 2008)

New Jerusalem, Mexico - The bell towers and domes rise like a vision out of the sugarcane fields, a medieval city sprouting from the hills of western Mexico.

By Carole Mikita ("KSL", November 19, 2008)

Salt Lake City, USA - A new book shows Mormons have a problem: an image problem. Dr. Gary Lawrence -- who is a Latter-day Saint, a political pollster and market researcher based in California -- says recent news events are not the problem. Rather, it's the way Latter-day Saints talk about their faith.

By Tom Heneghan (Reuters, November 19, 2008)

Washington, USA - The “Is Obama a Christian?” discussion is starting up again, this time not by people who suspect he’s a Muslim but those who think he’s a phony follower of Jesus Christ. The occasion for this is the posting on Beliefnet of an interview he gave to the Chicago Sun Times in 2004, while he was still an Illinois state senator. Conservative Christians have taken his religious views as proof he’s not a real Christian, but there’s support from a more liberal corner for his views.

By Lindsay Whitehurst ("The Salt Lake Tribune", November 20, 2008)

Provo, USA - A suicidal man triggered a brief standoff with police at the Provo LDS Temple late Wednesday, but he was taken into custody after negotiators talked him into surrendering.

By Ruben Castaneda ("Washington Post", November 20, 2008)

Laurel, USA - A federal judge this month upheld a jury verdict that awarded more than $3.7 million to a Seventh-day Adventist church after jurors found that the Prince George's County government discriminated against the church by blocking its efforts to build a sanctuary in Laurel.

By Manny Mogato (Reuters, November 20, 2008)

Manila, Philippines - Powerful Roman Catholic bishops in the Philippines are drafting their own version of a bill on maternal health care, rejecting a pending bill that also promotes artificial contraception.