Fighting between the Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah in the Gaza Strip has highlighted the urgent need for the international community to end the isolation and blockade on the Palestinian government, say churches and NGOs.

A Malaysian woman who converted to Christianity faces jail or the rejection of her religion because the Muslim-majority country's highest court ruled she does not have a legal right to convert from Islam to another religion.

Simon Barrow gives an overview of three scholarly contributions by Kenneth Cragg, perhaps the world's leading interpreter of the relations between the Semitic faiths and their encounters with Western culture.

New government guidelines will prohibit te wearing of full-face veils in schools where they restrict teaching and social interaction. But they back consideration for religious dress sensibilities.