Free Republic

The son of the Libya’s Defence Minister, Abdullah Al-Thini, was abducted yesterday afternoon, ... He was kidnapped in Janzour, but the reasons behind the abduction are still unknown. ....

TAnia Lisewska, a 21-year-old Polish woman, has stated her intention to sleep with 100,000 men from around the world. However, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has made it clear that she is not wanted in the country: A source within the kingdom's interior ministry confirmed Sunday that her visa request was denied. ... He then went on to denounce Lisewska and slammed her request to have sexual relations with a Jordanian man. ...He further noted that a respectful letter of apology was sent to her on behalf of the regime. ...

One of the world's oldest monasteries has been forced to close its doors because of the deteriorating security situation in Egypt, devastating the economy of the remote surrounding area, it has emerged. ...

Jaipur: A caste council in Rajasthan has ordered the parents of a six-year-old rape victim to get her married to the eight-year-old son of the man accused of the rape, police said Thursday. The incident occurred at Keshavpura in Kota, 250 km from Jaipur. The 40-year-old man, identified as Kailash, raped the girl who lives in his neighbourhood about a fortnight ago, police said. ...

Within an hour of its online debut, the number of viewers of Reza Aslan’s now notorious interview with Fox News’ Lauren Green had far exceeded the number of Israelites who crossed the Red Sea under the leadership of the father of all Jewish nationalist zealots, Moses. Aslan was being interviewed on the occasion of the appearance of his book that places Jesus of Nazareth at the top of a long list of subsequent, rabidly nationalist messianic Jewish zealots. ...

Recently, while discussing the role of fictional stories in spiritual formation with my students, I found myself returning to the works of C.S. Lewis as an example. While I did not discuss The Chronicles of Narnia, I can undeniably say that the fictional works of Lewis have shaped me spiritually. From a young age, I have read and reread the Narnian stories. They have become a part of my spiritual formation and of many others as well. Lewis has had this effect on Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury, as well. He also confesses to repeatedly reading and studying the...

US Secretary of State John Kerry assured the war-weary American people on Friday that any decision the US would make on a military action in Syria would be a "limited and tailored response" and would not in any way resemble ...

Libya's largest western oilfields closed when an armed group shut down the pipeline linking them to ports, its deputy oil minister said on Tuesday, reducing its oil output to a trickle. ...

A recent study has found that global warming is causing apples to lose some of their crunch. The study which was published on Scientific Reports, analysed data gathered from 1970 to 2010 at two orchards in Japan and ...

Al-Qaeda-linked rebels in Syria have killed an Italian Jesuit priest who disappeared in the east of the country late last month, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Wednesday. Paolo Dall’Oglio, a vocal supporter of the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and some Islamist rebel groups, disappeared ...

WASHINGTON - A nearly 2,600-year-old clay cylinder described as the world's first human rights declaration is being shown for the first time in the United States. The Cyrus Cylinder from ancient Babylon ... The cylinder carries an account, written in cuneiform, of how Persian King Cyrus conquered Babylon in 539 B.C. and would allow freedom of worship and abolish forced labour. The account also confirms a story from the Bible's Old Testament, describing how Cyrus released people held captive to go back to their homes, including the Jews' return to Jerusalem to build the Temple.

A series of explosions has rocked a propane gas plant in central Florida, with local media reporting multiple deaths and injuries. At least 15 people are unaccounted for ..

(Reuters) - Al Qaeda-linked fighters in a rebel-held eastern Syrian city on Monday abducted a prominent Italian Jesuit priest who championed the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad ...

"Not a day goes by when we don't here a report about terror attacks in Sinai, and our concern is that the guns will be turned on us," Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon said Tuesday during a tour of the Israeli-Egyptian border. ...

There's bad news from Russia for caviar connoisseurs - prices of even the cheaper alternatives are up 70%, it's reported. Red caviar - or salmon roe - is usually at the more affordable end of the market, at less than a 10th of the price of the prized beluga in the UK. However, in Kamchatka territory, which produces up to 60% of Russian caviar each year, wholesale prices have jumped ...

A Norwegian musician with links to mass killer Anders Behring Breivik has been arrested in France on "suspicion he was preparing a major terrorist act". ...

Former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri blamed Israel on Tuesday for the “terrorist explosion” that rocked a Hezbollah stronghold in southern Beirut, Lebanon’s Daily Star reported. ...

A new book has been published which collects all CS Lewis’ references to his Ulster childhood and the possible role of such places in inspiring many of his greatest works. CS Lewis – And The Island Of His Birth, by Sandy Smith, lifts the lid on CS Lewis’ early life in Belfast and allows the reader to walk in Lewis’ footsteps on a journey that covers Belfast and Ireland north and south, encapsulating the places that many believe were the inspiration for some of his greatest works. Lewis mentioned parts of Northern Ireland at various times in his writing. “That...

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- A 49-year-old Syrian priest and hermit was killed June 23, apparently when a group of rebels attacked the Franciscan Convent of St. Anthony in Ghassanieh, a village in the north near the Turkish border. Franciscan Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the head of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, told Vatican Radio June 24 that Father Francois Murad was not a Franciscan, but had taken refuge in the convent when it became clear he was not safe ...

Of the six people killed during a shooting rampage in Santa Monica, California, on Friday, all but two of the victims are believed to have been randomly targeted by a gunman, city Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks told reporters. ...