By DAVID OLSON, The Press-Enterprise

Federal agents are raiding thousands of homes of criminal illegal immigrants under Obama administration directives that emphasize apprehending dangerous criminals over arresting nonviolent illegal residents.

Hajj, the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, is the spiritual high point of many Muslims' lives, an event that some say changes them forever and fills them with an inexpressible joy.

The Rev. Alton Vance's 8:30 a.m. Sunday worship service is punctuated with the sound of snorting, the odor of manure and the sight of congregants decked out in cowboy hats and spurs.

Omar Gonzalez's grandfather is ill and his condition is getting worse. The Perris, Calif. man doesn't know how much time his grandfather has to live.
He traveled to Cuba in August to visit him. But U.S. law prohibits another visit until 2011. Cuban-Americans can only visit family members once every three years.

A Wisconsin group recently sued the city of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. for its alleged role in the removal of a billboard promoting atheism.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation filed the lawsuit in U.S. district court in Los Angeles against the city and the director of its redevelopment agency, Linda Daniels.

Michael Imel wants to put his girlfriend on his health-insurance policy. But the Bermuda Dunes, Calif. man's employer declined his request because the couple is not married. To Thomas Coleman, Imel's case exemplifies how unmarried people face pervasive discrimination under federal, state and local laws.

When Sen. Barack Obama takes the stage at the Democratic National Convention in Denver on Thursday night, he will be heralded as the first black candidate to accept a major-party presidential nomination.

A Temecula, Calif., group has launched a Muslim version of YouTube.MuslimChannels.tv aims to educate non-Muslims about Islam and provide an Internet site for Muslims to view videos without worrying about anti-Islamic tirades or sexually explicit content, said Tarek Ayoub, a volunteer for the site and for the site's nonprofit founder, Islam the Answer Corp.

An anti-illegal-immigration group wants the Mexican consulate in San Bernadino, Calif., to stop providing off-site services and issuing identification cards that can be used by undocumented immigrants. The Minuteman Project believes the consulate's mobile units violate U.S. sovereignty and that the cards encourage illegal immigration.

Chief Fama chanted as she stood on a straw mat in a bamboo-walled room behind her home near San Bernardino, Calif.