World Vision Aid Workers Killed |

      FEDERAL WAY, Wash.   (AP) - Federal Way-based World Vision has suspended operations in Pakistan after militants attacked an office of the Christian humanitarian group and killed six people and wounded seven others.   World Vision calls the attack "brutal and senseless.  " World Vision has been helping survivors of the 2005 earthquake in Kashmir.

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Slain pastor's widow speaks at service on shooting anniversary | |

      MARYVILLE, Ill.   (AP) - The wife of an Illinois pastor who was fatally shot during a Sunday sermon one year ago says she looks forward to seeing him again in heaven.  
     
     Cindy Winters spoke at two Sunday services at the First Baptist Church of Maryville.  
     
     Her husband, the Rev.   Fred Winters, was gunned down on March 8, 2009.  
     
     Cindy Winters told the congregation that in her anguish that day, she felt God telling her, "Cindy, what happened here was sheer evil, and it was orchestrated by Satan.   "
     
     Winters says she responded aloud, "Then Satan will not win.   "
     
     Terry Sedlacek was charged with first-degree murder, but has been declared mentally unfit to stand trial.   He's in the custody of the Illinois Department of Human Services.  

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Christian pilgrims killed in Philippine bus accident |

      SAN FERNANDO, Philippines (AP) - A bus carrying Christian pilgrims from a Philippine mountain resort has slammed into a tree after its brakes apparently failed, killing 12 people and injuring 14 others.  
     
      Police Senior Superintendent Noli Talino said Sunday that the driver rammed the bus into the tree to prevent the vehicle from falling into a deep ravine.  
     
      He says the impact pinned 10 passengers inside the bus, killing them, while two other passengers were thrown out of the bus by the impact and fell to their deaths in the ravine.  
     
      The accident happened Saturday in the northern Philippines as the group returned from a pilgrimage to Catholic churches and a visit to tourist spots.

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US Muslim group rejects al-Qaida call to violence |

      WASHINGTON (AP) - American Muslim groups are rejecting a call by an Al-Qaida spokesman for Muslims in the U.  S.   armed forces to emulate an Army major charged with killing 13 people at Fort Hood.  
     
      The Muslim Public Affairs Council says the statement by American-born Adam Gadahn is a failed attempt to deliver Al-Qaida's bankrupt ideology to Western Muslims.  
     
      The Council on American Islamic Relations says American Muslims repudiate "all those who would promote or condone terrorism anywhere in the world.  "
     
      Pakistani officials said Sunday that Gadahn has been arrested but there's been no U.  S.   confirmation.  
     
      Gadahn described the man accused of the Fort Hood attacks, Maj.   Nidal Hasan, as a role model for other Muslims, especially those serving in Western militaries.

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Hundreds dead in Nigerian religious violence |

      JOS, Nigeria (AP) - Security forces have imposed a curfew in central Nigeria after rioters armed with machetes slaughtered more than 200 people in renewed violence between Muslims and Christians.  
     
      Hundreds of people have fled their homes, fearing reprisal attacks.  
     
      Local journalists and a civil rights group say the bodies of the dead lined the streets of three mostly Christian villages south of the regional capital of Jos.  
     
      The city lies in a region separating Nigeria's Muslim north from the predominantly Christian south.  
     
      Witnesses who escaped the massacre said they believed the attackers were Muslims.  
     
      The Red Cross says Nigerian military units are surrounding the three affected villages.

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School district settles lawsuit over religion |

      NASHVILLE, Tenn.   (AP) - A Tennessee school district has agreed to end the promotion of religion by teachers and officials during school hours.  
     
      The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee announced the settlement after the Cheatham County school board voted on Monday night to approve it.  
     
      The ACLU sued the school district in November after six months of negotiations failed.  
     
      The settlement prohibits the distribution of Bibles during the school day and bars school officials from citing "the Bible or other sacred texts as authority for historical or scientific fact.  "
     
      ACLU of Tennessee Executive Director Hedy Weinberg has said that for religion in school to be legal it must be student-led and cannot be compulsory.

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