IPS Inter Press Service - Religion in the NewsReligion plays a big and in some cases growing role in the socio-political dynamics within countries and often is a factor in civil and cross-border conflict, conflict resolution and peace building. From Burmese monks' marches to the role of religious fundamentalism, this dedicated site gathers IPS stories about how religion affects our world, from daily life to geo-politics.MEDIA-INDIA: Columnists Support Kashmir&39;s Secession- September 28, 2008 NEW DELHI, Sep 4 (IPS) - "Anti-national" is the charge hurled in India at the usual radical suspects who argue for the right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people.http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43782 BOOKS-US: Revelations of an Abu Ghraib Interrogator- September 28, 2008 SAN FRANCISCO, Sep 4 (IPS) - Few people have thought as much about the morality of the U.S. occupation of Iraq than Joshua Casteel, a former U.S. Army interrogator who served at Abu Ghraib prison in the wake of the detainee abuse scandal there.http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43787 RIGHTS: Betancourt Wants Political Niche for Guerrillas- (Found September 28, 2008 ) ROME, Sep 5 (IPS) - Resolution of the conflict in Colombia can only come through "dialogue and openness," says Ingrid Betancourt, the former presidential candidate held hostage by leftist guerrillas for more than six years before being rescued by the Colombian military in July.http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43800 COLOMBIA: Oil Palms, Right Abuses Hand in Hand in Northwest- (Found September 28, 2008 ) BOGOTA, , Sep 5 (IPS) - As of this week, there is one less human rights defender in the northwestern Colombian region of Bajo Atrato. Jimmy Jansasoy of the Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission was forced to flee the area, where oil palm plantations have encroached on the collectively-owned jungle territories of traditional black communities.http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43813 AUSTRALIA: Winning 'Hearts and Minds' in Afghanistan- (Found September 28, 2008 ) MELBOURNE, Sep 9 (IPS) - Responses by defence officials in the wake of a recent inquiry into claims that Australian soldiers mistreated detainees in Afghanistan undermine efforts to win the battle for hearts and minds in that war-ravaged country.http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43829 MIDEAST: Israel Moves to Judaise East Jerusalem- (Found September 28, 2008 ) EAST JERUSALEM, Sep 9 (IPS) - The Israeli government is attempting to Judaise Palestinian East Jerusalem, and maintain a Jewish majority against the demographic threat of a higher Palestinian birth rate.http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43833 POLITICS: Slow Sunni Integration Could Derail Iraq Successes- (Found September 28, 2008 ) WASHINGTON, Sep 10 (IPS) - Amid reports that the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has launched a campaign to disband the so-called Awakening Movement, or Sahwa, concerns among analysts and policy makers here is growing that such an effort could result in a resumption of sectarian violence, if not civil war.http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43838 CULTURE-NIGERIA: Writers, Film-makers Defy Censors- September 28, 2008 KANO, Sep 12 (IPS) - "I don&39;t sell cocaine," says the video vendor in Kano&39;s Rimi market when I ask for Adam Zango&39;s music video CD Bahaushiya. He is not referring to the white powder, but instead a new illegal substance -- Hausa films that have not passed through the Kano State Censors Board.http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43857 RIGHTS-PAKISTAN: Live Burial of Women - Activists Demand Action- (Found September 28, 2008 ) KARACHI, Sep 15 (IPS) - Prominent civil rights activists are demanding that the government act against those responsible for the burial alive of five women in Balochistan, in July, that politicians from the province have defended as an age-old custom.http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43873 RIGHTS: Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia on the Rise in Europe- September 28, 2008 WASHINGTON, Sep 18 (IPS) - Both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia have risen in Europe over the last four years, according to a survey conducted earlier this year and released here Thursday by the Pew Research Centre.http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43929 |