WASHINGTON (RNS) — A Christian, a Muslim and a Jew turn up together on a Washington, D.C., bus. It’s no joke. They’re the faces of a new ad campaign by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil liberties group. And the ad is the latest volley between Muslim and non-Muslim groups that has played […]
(Reuters) — The U.S. citizen detained in North Korea, Jeffrey Fowle, 56, is a father of three with a passion for adventure who was in the country as part of a vacation tour, his lawyer said on Monday. “Jeffrey loves to travel and loves the adventure of experiencing different cultures and seeing new places,” his […]
(CNN) — Texas Republicans have adopted a party platform that includes support for voluntary psychological “therapy” targeted at converting homosexuals to heterosexuals. Almost 10,000 attendees gathered in Fort Worth at the annual Texas GOP Convention to vote on a platform ahead of the 2016 race for the White House. Supporters of “conversion” or “reparative” therapy […]
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — One of the five Taliban leaders freed from Guantanamo Bay in return for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s release has pledged to return to fight Americans in Afghanistan, according to a fellow militant and a relative. “After arriving in Qatar, Noorullah Noori kept insisting he would go to Afghanistan and fight American forces there,” […]
A California pastor is being extradited to Nevada on a murder charge in the death of a man outside a Las Vegas sports bar — despite claims by witnesses that the father of two was acting in self-defense. Robert Cox, of Manteca, Calif., claims he did not throw a punch at Link Ellingson, knocking him […]
A research study published in the latest Journal of American Medical Association: Psychiatry concludes that the more pornography a person watches, the less gray matter, connectivity and activity they have in their brain. Numerous negative effects of pornography are already well documented. For instance, boys who consume pornography daily show more interest in deviant and […]
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (RNS) — For years, opponents of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro vowed to take their legal fight to shut down the mosque all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. That fight ended Monday (June 2), when the nation’s highest court declined to hear their case. The four-year conflict over construction of the […]
A Catawba County trial judge has been scolded by the N.C. Court of Appeals for invoking Christian teachings into a lecture during a defendant’s sentencing phase. In its opinion released yesterday, however, the court ruled that the judge’s word choice did not violate the due process of the defendant, Max Earls, who was sentenced to […]
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria – Boko Haram militants dressed as soldiers slaughtered at least 200 civilians in three villages in northeastern Nigeria and the military failed to intervene even though it was warned that an attack was imminent, witnesses said on Thursday. A community leader who witnessed the killings on Monday said residents of the Gwoza local […]
RIO DE JANEIRO (RNS) As Brazil counts down to the opening of the World Cup on June 12, churches in cities hosting the international soccer tournament are not content to sit on the sidelines and cheer. They’ve launched a nationwide campaign to raise awareness of the hundreds of vulnerable children at risk of sexual exploitation […]