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• Religious liberty under threat in Europe, Pope says | Pope John Paul said on Monday religious freedom might be threatened in some European countries that confused the official separation of church and state with a ban on religion in the public sphere (Reuters)

Religious liberty in the U.S.:

• Cypress okays a Costco on once-disputed site | The superstore will be built where the city rejected a proposed church, spawning a fierce legal battle (Los Angeles Times)
• Student prevented from giving out church fliers sues Broward School Board | Christine Curran, 15, was a student at Driftwood Middle in Hollywood last year when she tried to promote a church youth group conference by distributing literature in the hallway (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)
• Religious Freedom Day 2004: Marking America's defining moment | 1786 Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom marked the first time in history that church, state were fully separated by law (Charles Haynes, First Amendment Center)

Religious displays:

• Town prunes back holiday displays | Seeking to unify a community bitterly divided over town-sanctioned holiday season displays, the Town Council has decided it will no longer include religious symbols — menorahs and Nativity scenes alike — in its displays (Palm Beach Daily News)
• Lawyer: Court ruling permits multiple symbols | Although the Town Council voted Tuesday to remove religious symbols from its future holiday displays, the town could include a Nativity, a menorah and a Christmas tree without violating the Constitution, said the attorney who successfully argued the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that set guidelines for public holiday displays (Palm Beach Daily News)
• Nativity scene suit forces Town of Palm Beach to remove all holiday displays | Sued by two women wanting to place to display a Nativity scene alongside a menorah and a Christmas tree in a Palm Beach park, the town has decided to do away with all holiday decoration (Associated Press)
• Palm Beach drops nativity, menorah and Christmas tree from public property | Not only won't there be a Nativity scene on Royal Poinciana Way next December, there won't be a town-sponsored Christmas tree or menorah either (Palm Beach Post)
• Mount Shasta to return nativity scene, display site undecided | The Mount Shasta city council voted 5-0 to return the city's nativity scene to it's original donor, the Mount Shasta Christian Ministerial Association, to relieve the city from First Amendment liability (Mount Shasta News, Calif.)
• West Lantana community orders resident to stop flying Hindu prayer flag | The Rivermill homeowners association board voted last year to ban religious symbols from all 377 of the community's front yards, except during a few weeks around official holidays such as Christmas (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)
• Nativity vandals won't face public | Church pondering penalty for youths (The Times-Picayune, New Orleans)

Jack Kelley:

• USA Today seeks 'loose ends' on Kelley | The top editors of USA Today are now welcoming allegations about Jack Kelley's past reporting as the former correspondent denies a new charge that he had plagiarized a story from The Washington Post (The Washington Post)
• Discredited USA Today reporter's story based on real report | Serbian activist Natasa Kandic confirms existence of ethnic cleansing report in Yugoslav officer's notebook (Reuters)

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January (Web-only) 2004, Vol. 48