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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: monks

monks stories: 14 news summaries

(Newser) - The rich and poor alike may have despised Robin Hood in his day, the BBC reports. A note written by a monk in a medieval manuscript describes the famous thief—and giver to the needy—as having “infested” the countryside “with his accomplices.” The find also pinpoints... More »

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England • Robin Hood • thief • history • monks • Nottingham • Sherwood Forest • manuscript • Latin

Young Burmese Monks
Ready to Take Up Arms

Buddhist movement gets bolder; some suggest stockpiling weapons

Sep 20, 08 6:41 AM CDT
(Newser) - After seeing nonviolent protesters killed or detained in last year’s protests against the ruling junta, younger segments of Burma’s Buddhist monks are becoming more radical, embracing armed resistance and overt dissent, the Christian Science Monitor reports. "We need weapons,” one young monk said. “That is... More »

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revolution • political activism • Myanmar • Burma • Buddhist monks • Buddhism • monks • junta • repression

 Brutal Monk Beatings Shock Italy

Hooded attackers bound, gagged victims in Clockwork Orange-like attack

Aug 28, 08 1:16 PM CDT
(Newser) - A manhunt is under way to find the three hooded men who gagged, bound, and beat four Franciscan monks in an Italian monastery Tuesday night, the Times of London reports. Father Sergio Baldin, the monastery's 48-year-old guardian, was having dinner with three elderly monks when they were attacked. Baldin remains... More »

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crime • Italy • monks • Alps • Father Sergio Baldin • A Clockwork Orange

 Burma's Monks Forge 
 Secret Relief Network 

Monks lead aid effort pushed by government reluctance

May 23, 08 2:11 PM CDT
(Newser) - Although Burma’s junta relented today and allowed in foreign aid workers, weeks of delays and restrictions have led to the formation of an underground network of volunteers led by monks, Internet activists, and pro-democracy students. The Wall Street Journal looks at their efforts, which risk the wrath of the... More »

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Myanmar • Burma • monks • activists • monastery • emergency aid

 China Seals Off Tibetan Capital 

Crackdown comes after new protests, visit by foreign envoys

Mar 29, 08 2:51 PM CDT
(Newser) - Chinese police closed off Tibet's capital today after fresh protests broke out during a tightly-orchestrated visit by diplomats. “The whole area has been shut down,” said one London-based advocacy group. Authorities swarmed Lhasa’s main temples, as monks continued demonstrating and urged Beijing to begin talks with the... More »

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China • Henry Paulson • diplomat • Tibet • Dalai Lama • monks • Tibetan independence • Lhasa

 Austrian Monks Nab Record Deal

Austrian monks to record Gregorian chant album

Mar 23, 08 2:16 PM CDT
(Newser) - Amy Winehouse and Cistercian monks wouldn't seem to have much in common, but now they've got the same record label, the BBC reports. Universal Music's search for "sacred singers" to record a Gregorian chant album turned up an Austrian monastery dating back to 1133. "It was beautiful, beautiful... More »

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YouTube • Catholic Church • Universal Music Group • monks • album release • Gregorian chant • Cistercian order • Heiligenkreuz monastery • recording contract • monastery

Tibet Monks Protest China Rule

Dozens arrested in biggest demonstrations since 1989

Mar 11, 08 4:10 PM CDT
(Newser) - Tibetan monks staged the biggest protests against the Chinese government in 2 decades yesterday, reports the Times of London. The two sides clashed in Lhasa amid sporadic gunfire. Hundreds of monks and supporters marked the anniversary of a failed 1959 Tibetan uprising. Sources say police arrested as many as 60... More »

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China • 2008 Beijing Olympics • Tibet • Dalai Lama • monks • Tibetan independence • Lhasa • political protest • political demonstrations • Jokhang

Burma's Pens Mightier Than Censors

Info-starved population gets creative to bypass government's gags

Feb 13, 08 1:17 PM CST
(Newser) - Never shy about censorship, Burma has cracked down even more since September's monk uprising—no small event in a country that ranks 164th out of 168 on the Press Freedom Index. But information-starved citizens are finding creative ways to circumvent an extreme government that bans even benign news about soccer... More »

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censorship • poetry • Burma • monks • Burma protest • Democratic Voice of Burma

At 500, 1st 'America' Map Baffles

German monk closely mapped South America, unknown Pacific

Dec 4, 07 5:25 PM CST
(Newser) - The Library of Congress this week unveils the first map to use the name "America"—and the 500-year-old mysteries that go with it. The 1507 map by a German monk includes a surprisingly precise rendering of South America, Reuters reports, and seemingly predicts the contours of the continent's... More »

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maps • America • Library of Congress • South America • monks • Martin Waldseemuller • Amerigo Vespucci • Ptolemy • North America • Duke of Lorraine • Prince Johannes Waldburg Wolfegg • Magellan

Belgian Monks Balance Brewing and Benediction

'Insatiable' thirst complicates simple life

Nov 29, 07 6:42 PM CST
(Newser) - A Belgian monastery is struggling to balance the growing global craving for Westvleteren, the "holy grail of beers," with its devout way of life, the Wall Street Journal reports. Customers are limited to two cases per month of the St. Sixtus brew, which the monks neither label nor... More »

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Belgium • beer • monks • brewery

Burma Protests a 'Success,' Says Buddhist Leader

Famed anti-Vietnam agitator supports
monks on US tour

Oct 14, 07 7:07 PM CDT
(Newser) - Revered Buddhist spokesman Thich Nhat Hanh, famed for enlisting Martin Luther King's help against the Vietnam War, is supporting his spiritual brethren in Burma on a US tour. The monks' struggle against Burma is "already a success," he told Time, "because if monks are imprisoned or have... More »

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Vietnam • Dalai Lama • Myanmar • Burma • Buddhism • monks • military junta • Thich Nhat Hanh • meditation • Zen • Theravada • Mahayana • Vajrayana

Facebook Users Hook Up—With Fellow Burmese Monk Backers

300K mobilize through social networking site

Oct 5, 07 1:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - Mammoth networking site Facebook is triggering a massive mobilization of protesters around the world who will hit the streets this weekend in support of the Burmese monks, Wired writes. Nearly 300,000 people have joined the Facebook group "Support the Monks' Protest" since a story on the movement broke... More »

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social networking • Facebook • Mark Zuckerberg • protests • Myanmar • Burma • monks

Monasteries
Get Wired

No vocal cords
needed to sell
truffles or recruit brethren on the net

Sep 28, 07 5:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - Buddhist monks in Burma aren't the only religious brethren getting the word out on the internet these days: many American monasteries are so wired they not only correspond via email and sell-hand-crafted products over the internet, they use it to recruit new brothers. One web site, VocationsPlacement.org, matches religious... More »

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Internet • Kentucky • Burma • monks • monasteries

Monks Hold Burmese Officials Hostage

Incident ends in release as protests of fuel price hikes rage

Sep 7, 07 2:18 PM CDT
(Newser) - Hundreds of angry monks have released Burmese government officials they held hostage for over 5 hours yesterday, the Guardian reports, in protest of the military regime’s fuel price hikes. Reading Buddhist scriptures, nearly 500 monks burned the officials’ cars, locked them inside a monastery, and surrendered the prisoners... More »

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Asia • Burma • Buddhist monks • Buddhism • monks • hostage

14 Stories


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