GAZA CITY, Oct 7, 2007 (AFP) - A Christian activist was found dead in Hamas-run Gaza Strip on Sunday with signs of torture on his body after receiving threats and being followed by strangers, medics and his family said.

The body of Rami Khader Ayyad was found by Hamas police at a farm near Gaza City, a day after he was reportedly kidnapped. Medics said the 31-year-old died of two gunshot wounds to his head and his body showed signs of torture.

PARIS, Sept 17, 2007 (AFP) - France's biggest mail order company said Monday it had stopped sales of a necklace after dozens of its Christian customers complained that is was blasphemous.

The small jewel, representing a crowned skeleton and stamped with the brand name Corpus Christi, was added to La Redoute's fashion catalogue in July.

'We decided to withdraw the pendant on Friday, after several dozen customers contacted our call centre to voice their upset about the name given to the jewel,' said a spokesman for La Redoute.

BEIJING, Sept 17, 2007 (AFP) - China has released a leader of the nation's underground Protestant church after being detained for three years for illegal possession of thousands of Bibles, a Christian activist group said Monday.

Cai Zhuohua from Beijing was freed September 10, according to a statement from the US-based China Aid Association, having lost more than 20 kilogrammes (44 pounds) but in otherwise good health.

DRONKA, Egypt, Aug 22, 2007 (AFP) - Hundreds of thousands of poor Coptic pilgrims and a handful of Muslims converged on the southern Egyptian village of Dronka on Wednesday where they believe the Holy Family stayed 2,000 years ago.

'May God have mercy on us, He knows what we are enduring,' cried Father Jacob, a monk, as a steady stream of pilgrims shuffled past to the cave overlooking the Nile where they believe Jesus, Mary and Joseph once sheltered.

GENEVA, Aug 15, 2007 (AFP) - Roman Catholic and other Christian Churches will start drafting a code of conduct guiding efforts to seek religious converts next year, the World Council of Churches said Wednesday.

The WCC, which groups the main Protestant and Orthodox faiths, and the Vatican are aiming to finalise a code by 2010, the council said in a statement.

The issue has come to the fore in recent years in Afghanistan, where 23 South Koreans who were on an evangelical mission in the fervently Muslim country were abducted by the Taliban last month.

CAIRO, Aug 9, 2007 (AFP) - Two Coptic Christian rights activists have been arrested in Egypt for allegedly insulting Prophet Mohammed on a British-based website, their lawyer and a judicial source said on Thursday.

Security forces on Wednesday arrested the Egyptian country director of the Middle East Christian Association (MECA) Adel Fawzi, 61, and the association's photographer Peter Ezzat, 35, their lawyer Naguib Guebrail told AFP.

'They were arrested at home in Cairo and were still being held on Thursday morning,' said Guebrail.

CAIRO, July 24, 2007 (AFP) - The body headed by Egypt`s official religious advisor on Tuesday denied he had said that Muslims were free to change their faith, as had been reported by a US Washington Post-Newsweek forum on Islam.

'The quotes attributed to the mufti were never said during the interview published by the Washington Post,' Dar al-Iftaa said in a statement carried by the official Egyptian news agency MENA.

GENEVA, July 24, 2007 (AFP) - Switzerland`s second largest banking group, Credit Suisse said on Tuesday that it has launched a specialised investment fund that caters for devout Christian customers.

The 'Christian Values Fund' launched at the beginning of July will not include any investments in companies producing or dealing with weapons, alcohol, pornography or games of chance.

'We have clients that are sensitive to the values of Christianity,' a Credit Suisse spokesman told AFP.

CAIRO, July 24, 2007 (AFP) - Egypt`s official religious advisor has ruled that Muslims are free to change their faith as it is a matter between an individual and God, in a move which could have far-reaching implications for the country`s Christians.

'The essential question before us is can a person who is Muslim choose a religion other than Islam? The answer is yes, they can,' Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa said in a posting on a Washington Post-Newsweek forum picked up by the Egyptian press on Tuesday.