Former PM Tony Blair is meeting religious leaders confidentially to establish plans for an international inter-faith foundation to promote greater cooperation between the faiths and to work against extremism practiced in the name of religion.

Evangelical Christians across Europe have been urged by their leader not to demonize Islam or to fear the presence of Muslims across the continent. Instead they have been urged to see it as an opportunity to witness to the Gospel message.

A World Council of Churches economist has criticised the global economic system for creating "material and spiritual poverty" and called for a people-centred economy in which morality replaces mathematics in tackling problems caused by global capital.

The leader of the Anglican church in Myanmar (Burma) has offered support and prayers for the nation as thousands of Buddhist monks are taking to the streets of the capital in non-violent protests - and facing military repression.

A new wave of religious freedom is sweeping across Libya, say Christians in the north African country. This follows three decades during which the tiny community faced restrictions due to the nation's hostile stance towards the West - which people identified with Christianity.

Though the god Richard Dawkins seeks to demolish is a caricature and often based on ill-informed analysis, says Richard Skinner, it is uncomfortably close to the idol some Christians have chosen to worship.