World scan

* Lutheran World Relief is helping provide emergency aid to about 32,000 families in the Indian state of Orissa following flooding. Unusually heavy monsoon rains caused the worst flooding since 1982. The families will receive food, clothing, blankets, kitchen utensils, temporary shelter materials, and water purification and sanitation materials.

* Mideast violence drains Christians from the region, reports a World Council of Churches delegation that toured the area. "The fear that the holy sites of Christianity will become museums is a very real one, as two to three Palestinian Christian families leave every week," the report says.

* On an 18-11 party-line vote the House Judiciary Committee on July 24 OK'd a bill to ban human cloning. But Democrats say they will fight to allow cloning for research when the full House votes on the measure. Under the bill, violators could face 10 years in federal prison, a $1 million fine or both. The committee rejected a Democratic alternative that would have banned cloning only when the purpose is to initiate pregnancy.

Under a law that gives legal recourse to American victims of terrorism abroad, a federal judge ordered Iran to pay $314.6 million to the family of Lawrence Jenco, a Roman Catholic priest and hostage from 1985-86. Jenco, former director of Catholic Relief Services in Beirut, Lebanon, died in 1996. Iran said the ruling has "no legal basis."

* On Aug. 5, Afghanistan's Taliban government charged 24 workers from Shelter Now International, a refugee relief group, with allegedly seeking Muslim converts to Christianity. The 16 Afghans and eight foreign workers could face the death penalty. One American and one Australian confessed to the charges and asked for pardons. Another American also was arrested. The government said a decision will be made soon.

* A study shows that while welfare rolls are declining, most who leave remain in poverty without the means to meet basic needs. About 46 percent of 893 people surveyed in 10 states reported annual household incomes of less than $8,500, said NETWORK, the national Catholic social justice lobby organization that released the report.

* Church leaders signed the Reuilly Agreement, which links Anglican churches in Britain and Ireland to Lutheran and Reformed churches in France. The statement commits the churches to sharing a "common life and mission" while taking steps toward "full visible unity."

* On June 21, the Church of Norway Bishops' Conference welcomed efforts by public authorities of many countries to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. The bishops emphasized the need for more investment in the development of medicines and vaccines that the poor can afford.

* Recently liberated slaves say Sudanese government troops and allied Arab militias rape, mutilate, beat and forcibly convert to Islam Christian and other non-Muslim women and girls after slave raids on northern Bahr El Ghazal villages. Christian Solidarity International says 82 percent of 51 freed female slaves reported they were repeatedly raped by Arab soldiers. Forty-seven percent said they had been gangraped and 16 percent said they were subjected to genital mutilation.

* The Evangelical [Lutheran] Church of the Augsburg Confession in the Slovak Republic and the country's Roman and Greek Catholic Churches signed an agreement on the mutual recognition of baptism June 4.

* The Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference called condoms an "immoral and misguided weapon" in South Africa's battle against AIDS. In a statement following their meeting in Pretoria, the bishops claimed condoms contributed to breaking down self-control and mutual trust. They urged young people to abstain from premarital sex and remain monogamous during marriage.

* Leaders of Sri Lanka's majority Buddhist population asked the government to ban conversions to Christianity, which are prevalent in rural areas. The monks say Buddhism loses about 23,000 people to Christianity each year.

* Christian music sales have outpaced the overall music industry's sales, increasing by 12 percent in the first half of 2001. The Christian Music Trade Association announced that contemporary Christian and gospel album sales totaled 19.8 million units between January and July 2001. SoundScan says 17.7 million units were sold during the same period in 2000.

* The Christian Coalition was ordered to stop retaliating against four African American employees who filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against the organization. The employees say they were subjected to "unlawful retaliation" after they joined six other African American employees in a $621 million lawsuit filed in February. In the lawsuit, the employees claimed their work hours were cut, their health benefits weren't the same as for white employees, they weren't allowed to use the same entrance or break room as white employees, and they were excluded from office parties and events.

* At least 70 percent of crops have been lost in El Salvador, according to the Lutheran World Federation in El Salvador. The Salvadoran government is studying whether an emergency situation should be decreed. So far, losses in grain crops are estimated at 92,000 tons and the World Food Program has assisted 15,000 people.