(CNN) — Militants with black masks stand by as 15-year-old Mohammed watches a video of fighters cutting off a man’s head. “This is jihad for the sake of God,” the men with Kalashnikov rifles say. Mohammed begins to feel lost, confused. “Does God want me to do jihad?” he wonders. This is Mohammed’s eyewitness account, […]
(RNS) World Vision tested its boundaries three months ago when it announced it would allow its employees to be in so-called homosexual ‘marriages’. The policy, however, was short-lived; the relief group reversed it within 48 hours after supporters threatened to pull donations. In the past, World Vision has requested that it be known as a […]
KHARTOUM, Sudan (RNS) – A Sudanese woman who was sentenced to death by hanging for refusing to convert to Islam has been freed after an appeals court canceled the death sentence, according to the state-run news agency SUNA. Meriam Ibrahim, a 27-year-old Roman Catholic and mother of two, had been sentenced to hang in April […]
BAGHDAD — As the Iraqi government bolstered Baghdad’s defenses Sunday, the Islamic militant group that captured two major cities last week posted graphic photos that appeared to show its fighters massacring dozens of captured Iraqi soldiers. The pictures on a militant website appear to show masked fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, […]
EDMONTON, Canada – A 12-year-old transgender Alberta girl has been granted a new birth certificate that recognizes her as male. Wren Kauffman was presented with the new document on Sunday in Edmonton during a Pride festival brunch hosted by the city’s mayor. The province’s culture minister, Heather Klimchuk, made the presentation. Continue reading this story […]
The civil war that erupted in Iraq last week has placed Christians in great peril and forced the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of civilians. The group known as ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) seized Mosul, a city of two million people, and Tikrit, the hometown of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. […]
(RNS) — Many Muslims leave Islam when they are told their sexuality and faith are incompatible. But a new photo exhibit of homosexual and queer Muslims challenges that notion. The exhibit, which opens June 18 at the Toronto Public Library, captures the humanity of subjects with close-up, intimate images. It’s the latest example of LGBT […]
DUNDEE, Scotland — Police in Scotland have dropped all charges against an American evangelist who was arrested earlier this week for offending a single bystander by allegedly making ‘homophobic comments.’ As previously reported, Evangelist Tony Miano, a retired police officer from California, was arrested for breach of peace in Dundee, Scotland in January following a complaint that […]
(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 […]
ROME — In an effort to encourage peace in the Middle East, Pope Francis hosted the leaders of the Israeli and Palestinian worlds at the Vatican on Sunday, presenting an ecumenical gathering that joined professing Christians and Catholics together with Muslims, Jews and Druze. Pope Francis, Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas […]