The husbands and wives in the isolated polygamous commune of Bountiful, B.C., are about to learn whether the 121-year-old law that has overshadowed their lives violates their religious freedoms.

A British Columbia judge will rule Wednesday whether Canada's anti-polygamy law is consistent with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms

 

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A priest and five members of the African Gospel Church congregation in Humansdorp, South Africa, have been accused of murdering a seven-year-old girl during a bizarre exorcism ritual, believing that her epilepsy was caused by demons.

A postmortem showed the child had suffered both internal and external injuries.

 

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While Aum Shinrikyo's criminal masterminds await the hangman's noose on Japan's death row, splinter groups remain active and are showing signs of loyalty to guru Shoko Asahara.

Renamed Aleph the cult reportedly still celebrates Asahara's birthday with special events.

 

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Japan's top court on Monday rejected the final appeal against a death sentence meted out for the deadly 1995 nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway, leaving 13 members of the Aum Supreme Truth doomsday cult facing the gallows.

The supreme court threw out requests to spare the life of Seiichi Endo, the last of the cultists indicted over a series of attacks, including that on commuters which left 13 people dead -- one of the nation's worst mass-murders.

 

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