Texas ex-officer is sentenced to 15 years for killing an unarmed teen
By Faith Karimi and Emanuella Grinberg, CNN (CNN) A Texas jury sentenced a former police officer to 15 years in prison Wednesday night for the shooting death of an unarmed […]
Moustapha Akkad: Director of the Movie: The Message — Mohammad, Messenger of God
Source: Wikipedia Moustapha Al Akkad (Arabic: مصطفى العقاد; July 1, 1930 – November 11, 2005) was a Syrian American film producer and director, best known for producing the original series of Halloween films and directing Mohammad, Messenger of God and Lion of the Desert. He was killed along with his daughter Rima Al Akkad Monla in the 2005 Amman bombings.[1][2] Contents […]
Ted Talk: Why people believe weird things | Michael Shermer
Why do people see the Virgin Mary on cheese sandwiches or hear demonic lyrics in “Stairway to Heaven”? Using video, images and music, professional skeptic Michael Shermer explores these and […]
More People Died in Hurricane Maria than on 911: Where is the Outrage?
Epigraph: Whoever saves a life, it would be as if he or she has saved the whole of humanity. (Al Quran 5:32/33) How Puerto Rico’s death toll climbed from 64 […]
Hindu Cow Vigilantes Showing the Whole World the Benefits of Secularism
‘I ward them off with a cricket bat’: Indian farmers despair over marauding cows Source: The Guardian By Amrit Dhillon in Uttar Pradesh Herds of cows abandoned by dairy farmers […]
Facebook Watch video service launches worldwide
Source: BBC News By Leo Kelion Image copyrightFACEBOOKImage captionFacebook hopes Watch will encourage users to spend longer within its app Facebook’s Watch video-streaming service is rolling out worldwide, just over […]
Alarming increase in STDs across America
Americans Are Getting STDs at Record Rates Source: Time By JAMIE DUCHARME Sexually transmitted disease (STD) rates in the U.S. are at a record high for the fourth year in a […]
Scott Morrison Is a New Kind of Australian Prime Minister: An Evangelical Christian
Source: The New York Times By Rick Rojas SYDNEY, Australia — At a regular Sunday morning service, before the praise songs and a sermon on resilience, a pastor at one […]
Ireland seeks Church reparations for mass baby burials
Source: Associated Press By SYLVIA HUI LONDON (AP) — An Irish government Cabinet minister has told Pope Francis that the Catholic Church “should contribute substantially” to funding reparations for survivors […]
Vatican erases pope’s remarks about psychiatric help for gay children
Source: The Guardian Agence France-Presse The Vatican has rolled back on a recommendation by Pope Francis that parents seek psychiatric help for children who show homosexual tendencies. The pope made the comments […]
Facebook bans Myanmar military chief, others to stop hate
Source: Associated Press By VICTORIA MILKO YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Facebook said Monday that it is banning Myanmar’s powerful military chief and 19 other individuals and organizations from its site […]
Petrol bomb attack on a Sikh temple in Edinburgh
Police investigate petrol bomb attack on Sikh temple in Edinburgh Source: BBC News A petrol bomb attack on a Sikh temple in Edinburgh is being treated as a hate crime. […]
Atheists in Nigeria trying to become more vocal
Africa, home to growing number of Christians and Muslims, contends with atheists, too Source: Religion News Service NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) — When the doors swing open every Sunday morning, churches […]
No turban, no sermon, just books for kids: meet Iran’s travelling cleric
Source: The Guardian BY Saeed Kamali Dehghan Iran correspondent “It was almost winter and Bear was getting sleepy,” the Iranian cleric reads aloud. He has taken off his clerical robe, put aside […]
Russia’s fleet to counter US moves ahead of Syrian offensive
Source: Asia Time Russia has beefed up its naval presence in the Mediterranean amid claims by Moscow that the United States is poised to launch a strike at Syrian forces preparing for a major offensive in Idlib. Up to 11 Russian warships have crossed the Bosphorus as tensions between the […]
Thailand’s Muslim insurgency roars back to life
Epigraph: Every human life is precious and sacred and killing one is like triggering a genocide. (Al Quran 5:32/33) Source: Asia Times The southern Thai province of Narathiwat, March 30, […]
The children of terror
Source: Dawn TWO years ago, the forces of the so-called Islamic State Group (IS) descended upon the Shingar mountain range in north-western Iraq bordering Syria. Barren and rising up above the surrounding alluvial plains, the range, particularly Mount Shingar itself, has long been revered by populations of humans, forming the […]
Ted Talk: Homeopathy, Quackery and Fraud
Legendary skeptic James Randi takes a fatal dose of homeopathic sleeping pills onstage, kicking off a searing 18-minute indictment of irrational beliefs. He throws out a challenge to the world’s […]
American Catholics’ demands for reform intensify after letter implicates Pope Francis in sex abuse coverup
Source: The Washington Post By Julie Zauzmer and Michelle Boorstein August 28 at 7:01 AM In the wake of a summer of sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic Church, topped this weekend […]
Pennsylvania AG: We Have Evidence the Vatican Knew About Clergy Abuse Cover-up
Source: NBC Philadelphia Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said his office has evidence that the Vatican knew about the cover-up of clergy abuse in the Catholic Church, but said he […]