PARIS – The government has refused on February 2 to grant citizenship to a foreign national on the grounds that he compelled his French wife to wear the full Islamic veil, the BBC reported on February 3.  Immigration Minister Eric Besson said citizenship was refused because “It became apparent during the regulation investigation and the prior interview that this person was compelling his wife to wear the all-covering veil, depriving her of the freedom to come and go with her face uncovered, and rejected the principles of secularism and equality between men and women,” and he stressed that French law requires anyone seeking naturalization to demonstrate their desire for integration.

A NY Times article reports on the continued dangers Shiite pilgrims face in Iraq despite government attempts to offer protection.  At least 20 people were killed and more than a 100 people were wounded on February 3 in Karbala when a bomb was detonated near a sacred Shiite shrine during a week in which millions of pilgrims converge on the holy city.  This is the second attack against Shiite pilgrims this week.

MINSK – Ivan Mikhailov, a Messianic Jew, was sentenced on February 1 to a three-month jail term for refusing compulsory military service, Forum 18 reported on February 1.  Mikhailov’s lawyer, Svetlana Gorbatok, argued that the absence of an Alternative Service Law is not a legal basis for violating Mikhailov’s rights.  Also present in court was Mikhail Pashkevich of ‘For Alternative Civilian Service,’ an organization that has launched a civic society petition calling for civilian alternative service.

KUALA LUMPUR – Prosecutors in Malaysia have charged three Muslim men with firebombing a church in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, on January 8, the BBC reported on January 29.  The men are the first suspects to appear in court in connection with a series of attacks on Christian places of worship following a High Court ruling that a Roman Catholic newspaper had the right to use the word Allah in reference to God.

LUCERNE – Sura al-Shawk, a Muslim woman, has failed to overturn a ban preventing her from wearing a headscarf during league basketball matches, the BBC reported on January 28.  A local court in Lucerne has upheld the ruling on safety grounds, while the basketball association (ProBasket) argued the sport needed to stay religiously neutral.

A NY Times article examines the continual hardships faced by the Baha’i community in Iran and the current trial of seven of the religious community’s leaders.  Reszvan Tavakkoli, the brother of one of the leaders being held, is interviewed in the article. In 1980, all nine members of the National Spiritual Assembly of Iran’s Bahais disappeared and were presumed murdered. Eight Bahais elected to replace them were arrested and executed the next year. Months later, six members of the local assembly for Tehran, all Bahais, were killed.

LONDON – The House of Lords has blocked elements of the government’s Equality Bill which church groups said could have exposed them to legal challenges if they refused to hire homosexuals or transsexuals, Reuters reported on January 26.  The Church of England called for a return to the status quo, which allows it to reject candidates for senior lay or unordained posts such as senior youth workers or pastoral assistants if they cannot demonstrate an ability to “live a life consistent with the ethos of the religion, as well as sharing the faith.”  “We are pleased that the Lords appreciated the potential problems for churches,” a spokesman for the Church of England told Reuters.

DHAKA – The Election Commission has begun the process to ban religion-based political parties by issuing a directive to three Islamic parties to amend their charters found to be in conflict with the nation’s constitution, RTT News reported on January 26.  The Election Commission’s move came after Law Minister Shafique Ahmed said earlier this month that the government would ban all religion-based political parties after the Supreme Court upheld a 2005 High Court ruling that threw out the fifth amendment to the country’s Constitution, which had facilitated religion-based politics.

KUALA LUMPUR – Police reported that two pig’s heads were found at a mosque, close to a neighborhood hit by an ethnic clash in 2001, following a series of arson and firebomb attacks on churches, Reuters reported on January 26.  Eleven churches, a Catholic school, a Sikh temple, two mosques and two Muslim prayer rooms so far have been hit by arson and vandalism attacks in recent weeks over the use of the word “Allah” by Christians.

PARIS – A parliamentary panel announced on January 26 its recommendation that the Muslim veil be banned from public facilities, including hospitals and mass transit, and a leading panel member said he foresees such an interdiction by the end of 2010, the AP reported on January 26.  In the panel’s report, there was also the recommendation to refuse residences cards and citizenship to anyone with visible signs of “radical religious practice.”  The panel did not call for an outright ban of the religious garb, a move that would have run the risk of being deemed unconstitutional.