Bihi's program is part of an emerging movement that Washington officials refer to as “CVE,” or “countering violent extremism.” The idea is simple: Inoculate young Muslims against the risks of radicalization by making them feel entrenched and happy in their communities. The execution is much more complex.

Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Wednesday celebrates his 76th birthday in Washington on a visit in which he will offer spiritual teachings to thousands and meet top US lawmakers. rganizers expect up to 10,000 people to flock to an arena in downtown Washington as the Dalai Lama leads a 10-day Buddhist ritual in which practitioners meditate and pray for world peace.

...[There] are a few faces looking less than confident about what comes next. Barbra Taylor, from Hawaii, and Terry Goldsmith, from Bury, Greater Manchester, are two of them. They're not Muslim, but guests for nine days. This is part of "Muslim for a Month" - a programme from social enterprise group The Blood Foundation where participants get to "test-drive" a religion.

As part of an ongoing foray into digital media, the Vatican will unveil an online portal for papal news and information. The portal, which will aggregate information from the Vatican's various print, online, radio and television media into a single, centralized destination for all things papal, will be the most extensive online venture that the Vatican has undertaken yet.

As part of an ongoing initiative by the British Council to explore how people all over the world can live peacefully amidst growing diversity- the Middle East's first Belief in Dialogue conference will focus on the convergence of science, culture and faith and will engage participants in a meaningful way about how these distinct yet linked forces are shaping the future of the region.

For the third time, Indonesian and Austrian civil society met in an interfaith dialogue. This year, dialogue took on a theme of “Religious Pluralism, Freedom of Religion – Responsibilities of the State, Society and Religious Communities”. The interfaith dialogue between Indonesia and Austria has become the model for many nations in establishing similar dialogue with Indonesia.

Pope Benedict XVI has given his strong backing to Croatia's bid to join the EU, on his first visit to the nation. He said he understood fears of a loss of cultural identity from joining the bloc but said Europe needs to be reminded of its Christian roots.

Jonathan Slye spent part of last summer at a Christian rock camp learning how to be a lead singer. But by November he had another thought: he should throw a rock show in his hometown. Slye wanted to do this as an outreach to his friends to show them Christian music could be cool and have a positive message.