for "religion and ethics for "religion and ethics news weekly," i'm lucky severson in the foothills of mount kilimanjaro. >>> on our calendar, for muslims, ramadan begins this coming week with the sighting of the new moon, expected on friday. during the month-long observance, muslims who are able to do so fast every day from dawn to sunset and offer special prayers and gifts to the poor, all to become closer to god and neighbor. they often break their fast with traditional treats, such as dates. throughout the year, devout muslims are required to pray five times a day, while facing the holy city of mecca, in saudi arabia. but some muslims say it can be difficult to figure out just where mecca is. now, for the directionally-challenged believer, a designer from the uk has created an illuminating prayer rug. it has an internal compass that lights up when facing mecca. the designer hopes to begin mass production of the rug soon. >>> finally, pope benedict xvi celebrated the feast day of st. benedict with a private concert held at his summer residence, castle gandolfo. a selection of beetho

for "religion & ethics newsweekly," i'm lucky severson in washington. >>> the spiralling violence in syria has affected all are of li there, inudinrelious life. the syrian desert monastery deir mar musa, north of damascus, was once a center of pilgrimage and interfaith dialogue, but the catholic priest who leads the monastery was expelled from syria last month, and the future of his ministry is uncertain. fred de sam lazaro visited before the violence exploded and has our report about deir mar musa and the work once done there. >>> so this is where st. moses the abyssinian actually prayed? >> yes. this is his house. >> about three decades ago, father paolo dall'oglio happened upon these caves about 60 miles north of syria's capital damascus. it was in these remote mountains that a group of monks from ethiopia first made a hermitage back in the 6th century a.d. >> you see this is one of the grottos of the ancient hermits in this mountain. now here we have formed this place in a chapel. >> back in 1982, this italian jesuit, then 28, was studying arabic in neighboring lebanon when he hi

we have a lucky severson story today about what must be one of the farthest frontiers of the missionary movement, among the masai tribe of east africa. by western standards, masai culture is primitive and superstitious. but over recent years hundreds of masais have been converted. >> reporter: early morning in a remote part of tanzania at the foot of ol doinyo lengai, known to the maasai as the mountain of god, the center of their universe. when it spews lava, the maasai think god is angry. the last angry eruption was in 2007. legend has it that centuries ago, god dropped cows from the sky as a gift to the maasai and now all the cows on earth belong to them. christian missionaries have proselytized the maasai for over 150 years with little success. but within the last decade, the tribe started converting. now as many as a quarter of the maasai have become christians. >> through this area we've had 700 new christians in the last two years. >> reporter: gary woods has been preaching in the bush for 25 years. >> when we first came into this community the witch doctors were very strong here

chuck severson has the details. >> some couldn't believe how fast the massive storm formed. >> oh, my god! >> it came quick! >> i had to go inside because if i would have come down the steps that's correct tree would have got me. >> the fierce winds raced across twelve states, and topped 90 miles an hour in some places. >> it got very black and very windy and my vehicle was rocking. >> carnage and death in several states. virginia was particularly hard-hit. >> unfortunately so far we've been able to confirm six fatalities in virginia. all of them have been due to trees coming down. >> 27-year-old keith is one of the victims. a father of two was driving home from school at the height of the storm when a tree fell on to his car, killing him. >> in new jersey tragedy at the state campground. two cousins, age 2 and , were killed when a pine tree fell on their tent. >> two families camping together. they were in two tents. during the storm it got very scary for them. they combined in one tent at some point and the tree fell on the tent that was occupied. >> trees fell on many power lines,

chuck severson, abc news, new york. >> so coming up this morning at 8:00, abc's "this week" it is anction special with former obama white house chief of staff, chicago mayor ron emanuele and a senator that could become mitt romney's choice for vp. they will square off over lightning rod issues like romney's time at bain and the president's handling of the economy. don't miss "this week" with george stephanopoulos this morning at 8:00 on abc seven. >> strong winds are fanning flames making it difficult for two thousand firefighters on the scene and it's force people to evacuate their homes. it's only 20% contained. meteorologist lisa lisa area ise now talking about our up and down weather forecast. >> notice the cloudy start again with the mist and drizzle. airport delays, but we are clear inland. that will lead to some warming and i will explain next. >> thank you. also ahead, tim lincecum rises to the occasion with a strong outing at at&t park with his spot in the rotation on the line. rick swan was the highlights coming up in sports. >> it was so warm last week will you lisa argen

chuck severson, abc news, new york. >> firefighters are making progress on two of the most destructive wildfires in colorado history. authorities now say the waldo canyon fire near colorado springs is 45% contained. today people whose homes were burned are going to be allowed to tour the destruction. crews also expect to have that massive wildfire burning west of fort collins fully contained today. that fire has destroyed more than 87,000 acres. >>> rodney king, the man who asked can we all just get along? he has been laid to rest in los angeles. as you know his beating by l.a. pd officers was captured on video back in 1991. the acquittal of four white officers led to riots. king was found dead in the pool of his home two weeks ago. he was 47 years old. ted kennedy's widow, vicki kennedy, appears on "this week" today. she gives her opinions on healthcare, a cause her husband championed, but did not live to see. don't miss it at 8:00 this morning with george stephanopoulos right here on abc7. frances dinglasan is here now with a preview of the accuweather forecast. >> yeah. i think we h

chuck severson has the latest. >> the extreme heat was blamed for a transformer fire in midtown, manhattanaturday that could have turned into a major disaster. a manhole exploded, igniting a mini van and soon flames engulfed a busy street corner, climbing 15 stories up the side of an apartment building. >> the car was completely in flames. and black smoke up to the top of the building. >> 22 states were under heat advisory saturday, affecting 115 million americans. >> i am like suffering and not forming coherent thoughts and i kind of wander around. >> even if you made the best of it, the drought-like conditions are driving up food prices for everyone. less than half the u.s. corn crop is in good condition. vegetables farmers in wisconsin, cattle farmers in oklahoma. both say the heat will cause the food to rise. >> i've had to sell off capital assets, it's either it is that or watch the animals rise. >> the heat index will still be brutal in many nations. by monday there will be relief. temperatures in the 80s. but first more severe wet weather, rain, hail and winds that could reach near

chuck severson has the latest. >> the extreme heat was blamed for a transformer fire in midtown, manhattan saturday that could have turned into a major disaster. a manhole exploded, igniting a mini van and soon flames engulfed a busy street corner, climbing 15 stories up the side of an apartment building. >> the carcass completely in names. and flack smoke up to the top of the building. >> 22 states were under heat advisory saturday, affecting 115 million americans. >> i am like suffering and not forming coherent thoughts and i kind of wander around. >> even if you made the best of particular the drought-like conditions are driving up food prices for everyone. less than half the u.s. corn crop is in good condition. vegetables farmners wisconsin, cattle farmers in oklahoma. both says the heat will cause the food to rise. >> i've had to sell off capital assets, it's either 1t is that or watch the animals rise. >> the heat index will still be brutal in many nations. by monday there will be relief. temperatures in the 80s. but first more severe wet weather, rain, hale and winds that could reac

abc's chuck severson said even romney's own party is now turning up the heat on him. >> while presidential candidate mitt romney was working on his ipad at his vacation home in new hampshire and taking a powerboat trip with his family, the storm clouds gathered over his leadership in the 1990s of the private hedge fund bain capital. a blistering new tv ad released on saturday turns romney's leadership of the financial firm into a campaign issue. president obama added fuel to the political fire on saturday. he accused his rival of eliminating jobs in the u.s. >> whereas my opponent, in his private business, was investing in companies that the wshington post called pioneers of outsourcing. i believe in insourcing. >> romney has repeatedly touted his years at bain capital as an asset for managing the economy. now some republicans even fear that may turn into a liability. >> the best thing to do is to get everything out in the open and say i have nothing to hide and i'm going release my tax returns. >> just on friday he slammed the president for airing political ads that he said distort his bu

the weakness of the bowles- severson plan is some of the medicare proposals have serious problems and many injured people in the lower part of a scale. there were thrown together at the end of the day. for a variety of reasons, the optimal package is at the same point you have x months to produce tax reform and a parallel track, you do the entitlement changes. you have targets for them, too. not only is it better to get designed entitlement changes, what we really want a is to knit the -- what we really want is to knit the pieces together. the democrats and i get the revenue increases of less -- do not get the revenue increases, as the entitlement changes. >> i would like to say that i hate to find myself agreeing with bob. it is going to tarnish my reputation. but i think he is dead right. i think taxes and entitlements have got to walk hand in hand. they are the whole essence of the problem. democrats defending entitlements, republicans defending no tax increases. what ever has to be done, they have to be done together. with respect to the question, i am with alice and ron. i believ

the weakness of the bowles- severson plan is some of the medicare proposals have serious problems and many injured people in the lower part of a scale. there were thrown together at the end of the day. for a variety of reasons, the optimal package is at the same point you have x months to produce tax reform and a parallel track, you do the entitlement changes. you have targets for them, too. not only is it better to get designed entitlement changes, what we really want a is to knit the -- what we really want is to knit the pieces together. the democrats and i get the revenue increases of less -- do not get the revenue increases, as the entitlement changes. >> i would like to say that i hate to find myself agreeing with bob. it is going to tarnish my reputation. but i think he is dead right. i think taxes and entitlements have got to walk hand in hand. they are the whole essence of the problem. democrats defending entitlements, republicans defending no tax increases. what ever has to be done, they have to be done together. with respect to the question, i am with alice and ron. i believ