A court has ruled that the Tokyo Metropolitan government must pay damages, and apologize, to Aleph — the successor of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult — for suggesting Aum was responsible for the attempted murder of Japan’s national chief of police.

Aum Shinrikyo is best known for its March 20, 1995 terrorist attack on the Tokyo subway system, during which cult members released nerve gas.

The late Ariel Ben Sherman was charged in a teen girl’s faith healing death, but he sought medical treatment for his own conditions.

Even after his death legal arguments in the case continue: still up before the appellate court to decide is whether the state’s spiritual exemption law that allows parents to forego medical treatment in favor of faith healing is in violation of the U.S. Constitution and its equal protection guarantees.

Belgium’s federal public prosecutors have decided to prosecute the Church of Scientology in Belgium and several of its high-ranking members.

The charges include extortion, fraud, illegal practice of medicine and violations of privacy legislation.

The Georgia state Department of Community Health has notified Narconon of Georgia it intends to revoke the clinic’s license for misrepresenting itself as a residential drug treatment facility.

The Scientology front group, which bases its treatments on the medical quackery of Scientology cult founder L. Ron Hubbard, has come under increasing scrutiny after the deaths of several of its customers.

In this edition of Religion News Briefs: Micah Moore is indicted for first-degree murder in the killing of Bethany Deaton. He is free on a $250,000 cash bond, and his next scheduled hearing is January 17.

The trial of Malcolm Fraser has been moved to January 16. Fraser is the assistant pastor of the contrversial ‘Sound Doctrine Church’ in Enumclaw, Washington.

Plus: a study by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life concludes that worldwide more than eight-in-ten people identify with a religious group — while one-in-six people have no religious affiliation.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court is hearing the case of Leilani and Dale Neumann, who in separate trials were convicted of second-degree reckless homicide in their daughter’s faith healing death.

The case poses questions for the justices about when the state’s responsibility to protect children trumps religious freedom.

Bugarach, a tiny farming village (population: 200) in the southwest of France, has been inundated with New Agers, UFO-enthousiasts, and other ‘esoterics’ who believe it is the only place on earth that will be safe from the ‘Apocalypse’ — which they expect will take place on December 21.

According to them aliens waiting inside the mountain will rescue them in their space ships.

The mayor is concerned, but locals are renting out their homes to those seeking salvation.

A man who confessed to the murder of a woman whose death had initially been considered a suicide made up the story, his defense attorney claimed in court on Wednesday.

Earlier this month Micah Moore told police he had killed Bethany Deaton at the instruction of her husband, his spiritual leader, to stop her from revealing she was being sexually assaulted by fellow members of her husband’s spiritual community.

The State of Texas on Wednesday took steps to seize the Yearning For Zion ranch where underage girls were involved in marriages to adult followers of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS).

Last year the cult’s leader, Warren Jeffs, was sentenced to life plus 20 years in prison for sexually assaulting two underage followers he took as brides in what the FLDS considers “spiritual marriages.”

Under Texas law, law enforcement can try to seize property that was used to commit or facilitate certain criminal conduct.

Bethany Deaton’s murder bears an eerie similarity to the murder of a woman in the fictional book, House of Lies.

The author says she has now come under attack by some people within the International House of Prayer.

Notorious for its abuse of the legal system, the Church of Scientology is about to be part of a secret court hearing in which lawyer Kennan Dandar expects the cult to cause his “utter financial ruin.”

The cult claims Dandar violated an agreement to never again be involved in a lawsuit against the Church of Scientology.

Dandar says his civil rights are being trampled by Scientology through its manipulation of the Florida court system.

The International House of Prayer in Kansas City, Missouri, has tried to distance itself further from Tyler Deaton, the leader of a controversial religious group whose wife was murdered — allegedly at his command.

Meanwhile, the media reports that people have long expressed concern at Deaton’s manipulative behavior

Micah Moore, a student at the International House of Prayer University — also a member of a ‘religious sexual community’ — confesses to murdering a female housemate to cover up sexual abuse.

The woman’s husband, Tyler Deaton, is said to be the cult’s spiritual leader. Authorities say he is also under investigation.

In today’s Religion News Briefs: A “guru” who brainwashed a family into parting with their fortune has been jailed.

Also: Tufts University curtails religious freedom in an effort to combat religious discrimination.

Plus: Rabid Muslim hate preacher Abu Qatada is free on bail after a UK court ruled he might not get a fair trial if deported to Jordan to face terrorism charges

A communal land trust once run by jailed U.S. polygamist cult leader Warren Jeffs should not be turned back to leaders of his breakaway Mormon sect because they were too late filing a legal challenge against Utah’s takeover of the assets, a federal appeals court ruled on Monday.

We provide background to the case, as well as an overview of other controversies surrounding the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

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