July 10 2000

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Two Christian brothers in Pakistan, Rasheed and Saleem Masih, will have to serve 35 years in prison for blasphemy, according to a lower-court ruling in the Punjab province on May 11. The charges arose when a vendor refused to serve the Christians ice cream in the same bowls used by Muslims. The vendor later filed a complaint with police, claiming the brothers had made "bad remarks" against Muhammad and Islam. Both of the men are married. Rasheed, 33, has five children and Saleem, 29, has three children. Pakistan's military leader had announced in April that he would restrict misuse of the country's blasphemy law, then abruptly reversed his decision May 16 amid protests by extremist Muslims (CT, June 12, p. 27).The whale-shaped Pavilion of Hope has been voted the official landmark pavilion of the World Exposition (EXPO 2000) in Hanover, Germany. The Christian youth pavilion, designed to remind attendees of the biblical story of Jonah, is organized by the German Evangelical Alliance, World Vision, and the German Young Men's Christian Association.