RELIGION

A human-rights body of the United Nations has expressed its support for a Sikh man in France in his battle to wear his turban in defiance of French laws against religious headgear.

One YouTube user, Jefferson Bethke, has created a video dubbed as controversial and conversation-sparking about why Jesus is the answer but not religion, in a viral video entitled, Why I Hate Religion But Love Jesus. The video, which was uploaded to YouTube on Jan. 10, is nearing 6 million views and has amassed more than 64,000 comments as of Friday morning.

Religion is an important issue to the Republican voters and this is posing a challenge to Republican front runner Mitt Romney in the conservative South Carolina state.

A federal appeals court's ruling against a proposed constitutional amendment to ban Oklahoma courts from using Islamic Sharia law represents more than a setback to the measure's proponents. Experts say that the decision also reveals how such laws fall somewhere between impractical and unconstitutional.

The video is somewhat reminiscent of the abuses of Iraqi prisoners in the Abu Ghraib jail by American troops.

Nicolas Steno, the 17th century Danish father of geology, was honored Wednesday with a Google Doodle commemorating what would have been the genius' 374th birthday. Steno, whose name means rock in Danish, pioneered research in both anatomy and geology helping to discover a groundbreaking theory to explain how fossils function in layers of rock.

A Muslim cleric from Iran has claimed that the social networking site Facebook is un-Islamic and being a member of it is a sin, the ISNA news agency reported last week.

In the wake of the New Hampshire primary victory, Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, is on course to become the first Mormon to secure nomination as the Republican presidential candidate.

A mosque and an Islamic school were set on fire in Benin City, Nigeria this week. Christians and Muslims -- traditionally at odds in Nigeria -- are increasingly antagonistic and these retaliatory attacks are a bad sign of what could be to come.

A video that describes GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul helping an interracial couple in Texas in 1972 went viral following its release on YouTube on Dec. 28. The video, titled The Compassion of Dr. Ron Paul, highlighted the Texas congressman and medical doctor's personal generosity and support of free market health care.

The outspoken comedian has been mum on Twitter.

Some Conservative Muslim groups are calling for a boycott of Sawiris' many companies.

Nigeria is in the midst of a general strike and nationwide protests against the government, which removed a fuel subsidy at the start of the year. Is there a movement and is it growing in strength?

Most of the Republican presidential candidates laid out their credentials as social conservatives in a debate on Saturday as the 2012 campaign prepares to move from New Hampshire to South Carolina. With another debate to be hosted by NBC's Meet the Press, they can do it all over again on Sunday.

How does Canadian pop singer Justin Bieber flaunt his new tattoo? Well... by going to the beach and having fun. Bieber was seen at a beach in Los Angeles on Friday, with his father, a friend and a new tattoo... that of Jesus Christ!

If Mitt Romney wins the Republican nomination, he'll not only be the first Mormon to do so: he'll also be the first presidential candidate whose father was born in Mexico. Much of his family still lives across the border in Colonia Dublan, where Romney's grandfather fled to avoid being prosecuted for polygamy. Romney's relatives down south hope that as the election continues, he will embrace both his Mormonism and his Mexican background more openly.

For those of you who have never heard of a Bark Mitzvah for dogs, word on the street is that it's not the latest trend, but a quite a long-existing tradition to celebrate the coming of age of a dog. The fad has gained steam again after The Associated Press released new footage of a New Jersey dog named Nicky, photographed wearing a kippah for a ceremony attended by his owner and friends.

Hundreds of thousands of Burmese Ronhingya are currently living in neighboring Bangladesh, where they are unwanted refugees

A group of file-sharers in Sweden has managed to get the government to recognize it as a religious community.

It could be that the act of writing down values and beliefs is the next big fat-buster, as part of a mental diet strategy.

A sect of self-proclaimed digital pirates, which believes information is holy and copying is a sacrament, has been recognized as an official religion in Sweden.