Minority Christian communities

Two features examine the culture of minority Christian communities in the Near and Middle East, past and present

•  The InterPress Service News Agency looks at the problems facing the Mandaean community in contemporary Iraq 

•  Today's Zaman looks at the historic Syriac heritage of Tur Abdin in Turkey

Jainism in 2nd century India

Article from the online edition of the Indian newspaper The Hindu reports on the discovery of a fragment bearing Tamil-Brahmin script at Pattanam in the Ernakulam district of Kerala that establishes the presence of Jainism on the west coast of India in the 2nd century AD.