JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A closed-door trial began Tuesday for the first of five janitors accused of raping a kindergartner in a bathroom at a prestigious international school in Indonesia that is facing a storm of controversy following more abuse allegations. The custodians contracted to work at the school were arrested in April — five […]

Two polls released this week both ask a question that you would hope wouldn’t need asking: how many people support the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)? Unfortunately, in all four countries surveyed, the answer is greater than zero, and by a lot. Here is a chart of the results of the polls. The […]

The Obama administration on Friday announced new measures meant to accommodate religious nonprofits and some private employers who don’t want to pay for birth control under ObamaCare, on the heels of Supreme Court rulings that weakened the law’s so-called contraceptive mandate. The changes had been expected, particularly after the Supreme Court ruled in June that […]

(Reuters) — The number of foreigners traveling to Switzerland to commit assisted suicide doubled over a four-year period, a study published in the Journal of Medical Ethics said on Thursday. In 2012, 172 foreigners took their lives in Switzerland, which has liberal euthanasia rules, up from 86 in 2009, with citizens from Germany and Britain making up […]

It is the last thing Iran’s religious rulers want to talk about, but they may just have to. An official report has documented the nation’s worst-kept secret: sex of every kind is taking place outside the marital bed in the Islamic Republic. Something, in the ruling ayatollahs’ view, must be done. An 82-page document recently issued […]

(WND) – The images of atrocities by members of the Islamic State jihadist group, also known as ISIS, against their soldier and civilian enemies in Iraq and Syria have been have circulating for some time. There have been reports, many documented in images and even videos, of ISIS crucifixions, executions, mass burials and worse. But now […]

JOS, Nigeria (Morning Star News) – After weeks of sacking villages and destroying church buildings around Nigeria’s northeastern town of Gwoza, Islamic extremist group Boko Haram on Wednesday killed an estimated 100 people in the predominantly Christian town, sources said. The shooting, fire-bombing and slashing of men, women and children in Gwoza, Borno state, as initially the […]

Hundreds of thousands of children are having to split their time between parents in different homes, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have shown. The ONS said it is “increasingly likely that dependent children will be sharing their time between two different parental addresses” because of an increase in cohabitation and divorce. Analysing […]

(RNS) — The nation’s second largest Christian book retailer has pulled Mark Driscoll’s books from its website and 186 stores. Leaders at the Southern Baptist Convention’s LifeWay Christian Resources, informed stores on Friday to stop selling books by the Seattle pastor who has been in hot water. Last week, leaders of the church planting network […]

UDHAGAMANDALAM (TN) — A 900-year-old tree is still being revered and worshiped as “God” by the Kota tribe in Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu. The tribe, with a population of some 3,000 people, including 1700 women, in seven villages, perform prayers in front of the 250-foot tall tree on auspicious occasions such as marriage, construction of […]