A Christian is taking an art centre to court over an exhibition which included a statue of Jesus she believes was lewd and offensive. Civil rights activists say this is an attempt to reinstate blasphemy laws by the back door.

To cheers at Tate Liverpool gallery, 48-year-old artist Mark Wallinger won the 2007 Turner Prize, the world's premier art award, and dedicated his win to campaigner Brian Haw, whose anti-Iraq war protest shaped his work 'State Britain'.

A narrator in Japanese traditional puppet theatre, a composite art form known as Bunraku, has performed a special piece called 'The Gospel in Bunraku at a church in Sapporo, on Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido.

The Ecumenical Church of Sudan will open a landmark art exhibition in the Malakal region of southern Sudan on 28 October 2007, aimed at promoting peace in an area devastated by 21 years of civil war. It is being backed by Christian Aid.