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The four Americans aboard a yacht hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia are dead, CBS News has learned. Hijacked last Friday off Oman, the Quest was being piloted toward the Somali coast - and was being shadowed by a U.S. Navy warship. CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports that gunshots aboard the yacht were heard, and the warship took action. All 4 Americans were dead, killed apparently by their captors. There were more than a dozen pirates on board, some dead and others captured, Martin reports.

A new poll taken for the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible reveals that a majority of those under 35 in the United Kingdom don't even know about the work, which has been described as a significant part of the estimated 100 million Bible sales annually, making it the best best-seller, ever. "Yet this is a work which was far more influential than Shakespeare in the development and spread of English," a spokesman for the King James Bible Trust told the Christian Institute in a recent report. The Christian Institute's report said the translation, which will...

KABUL | Tue May 5, 2009 4:15pm IST KABUL (Reuters) - Bibles in Afghan languages sent to a U.S. soldier at a base in Afghanistan were confiscated and destroyed to ensure that troops did not breach regulations which forbid proselytising, a military spokeswoman said. The U.S. military has denied its soldiers tried to convert Afghans to Christianity, after Qatar-based Al Jazeera television showed soldiers at a bible class on a base with a stack of bibles translated into the local Pashto and Dari languages. "I can now confirm that the Bibles shown on Al Jazeera's clip were, in fact, collected...

The U.S. military is confirming that it has destroyed some Bibles belonging to an American soldier serving in Afghanistan. Reuters News says the Bibles were confiscated and destroyed after Qatar-based Al Jazeer television showed soldiers at a Bible class on a base with a stack of Bibles translated into the local Pashto and Dari languages. The U.S. military forbids its members on active duty -- including those based in places like Afghanistan -- from trying to convert people to another religion. Reuters quotes Maj. Jennifer Willis at the Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul, who said "I can now confirm...

This comes to mind in light of General Petraeus's warning "against" the planned Koran burning protest by an independent fringe church in Florida. The wrong way to protest.In Afghanistan, where General Petraeus is the new commander, Bibles were confiscated by U.S. military authorities from a soldier and burned last year. That was an absoluely repugnant action. One that every U.S. citizen in this country should have protested and denounced. And why did our U.S. military authorities in Afghanistan do that?-because Al-jazerra reported it's "concern" that the Bibles could be given to Muslims and used to share with them the Good News of forgiveness of sins through Yeshua [ Jesus], the Messiah. The U.S. military authorities...

"Medical charity: 6 Americans among 10 killed by militants in remote area of N Afghanistan" KABUL, AFGHANISTAN SNIPPET: "KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Six Americans and two other foreigners on a medical mission were shot and killed by the Taliban who ambushed their vehicles in a remote part of northern Afghanistan, a charity said Saturday. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told The Associated Press in Pakistan that they killed the foreigners because they were "spying for the Americans" and "preaching Christianity.""

Have you been anxiously awaiting word that the Bibles you sponsored have successfully reached their destination in North Korea? Wait no more! Bibles Unbound is pleased to announce the successful completion of the operation. Thanks to your help, 10,000 Bibles have made it into the hands of believing and non-believing North Korean men and women. Mr. Lee, one man who received a Bible through this operation, explained that before he defected to China he believed Bibles were evil. As a young boy he had been taught that American missionaries did bad things and that the books they carried were bad,...

First, let me take a moment to say THANK YOU for your participation in Bibles Unbound, packing and mailing New Testaments into restricted and hostile nations. With your help we’ve been able to send more than 1.2 million New Testaments into restricted nations. We know these “seeds,” though planted in hostile soil, will produce fruit. I am writing to give you some important updates about Bibles Unbound; in doing so I have good news and bad news. Part of the good news is that Bibles Unbound continues to be very effective at getting God’s Word into restricted nations. We know...

Internet wide, atheists are taking umbrage at the fact that a Christian organization is providing free solar powered audio Bibles to Haitians. Such atheists complain that money is being wasted on a waste of a book, the Bible (actually, a compilation of books) when the Haitians are in real and material need…. Convoy of Hope, a disaster relief organization and ministry partner of Faith Comes By Hearing, feeds the hungry and provides pure drinking water to people in need across the United States and around the world. To date, the organization has provided help to 28 million people in 112...

MIAMI (Reuters) - As international aid agencies rush food, water and medicine to Haiti's earthquake victims, a U.S. faith-based group is sending Bibles to Haitians in their hour of need. Not any Bible. These are solar-powered audible Bibles that can broadcast the holy scriptures in Haitian Creole to 300 people at a time. Called the "Proclaimer," the audio Bible delivers "digital quality" and is designed for "poor and illiterate people," the Faith Comes By Hearing group said. It added 600 of the devices were already on their way to Haiti.

Even as you read this, persecuted Christians from around the world are gathering names and addresses from their local communities. These names are then submitted to Bibles Unbound where members have the opportunity to mail New Testaments in the appropriate language directly to the field. This unique program gives you the ability to stand alongside our persecuted brothers and sisters and help create a witness for Jesus Christ in hostile lands right from your own home. We invite you to read about current ministry operations to the right and consider joining today. For a donation of only $30.00 per month...

The top-selling Bible in North America will undergo its first revision in 25 years, modernizing the language in some sections and promising to reopen a contentious debate about changing gender terms in the sacred text. The New International Version, the Bible of choice for conservative evangelicals, will be revised to reflect changes in English usage and advances in Biblical scholarship, it was announced Tuesday. The revision is scheduled to be completed late next year and published in 2011.

The top-selling Bible in North America will undergo its first revision in 25 years, modernizing the language in some sections and promising to reopen a contentious debate about changing gender terms in the sacred text. The New International Version, the Bible of choice for conservative evangelicals, will be revised to reflect changes in English usage and advances in Biblical scholarship, it was announced Tuesday. The revision is scheduled to be completed late next year and published in 2011. "We want to reach English speakers across the globe with a Bible that is accurate, accessible and that speaks to its readers...

PENTAGON BURNS OUR SOLDIERS BIBLES BREAKING NEWS: Pentagon Burns Soldiers Bibles - Military Chaplains Attacked BY CHAPLAIN GORDON JAMES KLINGENSCHMITT, UPDATED 5 JULY 09 A Pentagon spokesman under the Obama Administration recently acknowledged and defended seizing and burning the privately owned Bibles of American soldiers serving in Afghanistan. The Bibles had been printed in the local Pashto and Dari languages, and sent by private donors last year (under the Bush Administration) to American Christian soldiers and chaplains, for distribution to American troops on overseas military bases during optionally-attended Christian worship services. Had the Bibles not been recently seized and destroyed...

Brian and Doris Johnson have passed out free Bibles at the Twin Cities Pride Festival for 11 years, but this year their free gifts got them arrested. After being told they couldn't have a booth at this year's festival, the family came anyway and ended up behind bars for trespassing. The Pride Festival started Saturday in Loring Park and is considered the third-largest GLBT celebration in the nation. Since the festival rented out the entire park, police said they could choose which vendors to allow in the park. The Johnsons are born-again Christians and believe homosexuality is a sin. Pride...

BEIJING – By all accounts, Shi Weihan was a model Chinese citizen. A kind-hearted man with a sense of social responsibility, he donated funds to send poor kids to school, raised money for those suffering from congenital heart disease, and when the Sichuan earthquake hit, worked tirelessly for the emergency relief effort. But Shi had a fatal flaw. He printed Bibles – and gave them out for free. This week a criminal court in Beijing sentenced him to three years in jail.

On May 4, Al Jazeera English ran a report suggesting that U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan may have been violating anti-proselytizing rules by distributing Dari-and Pashto-language New Testament Bibles. Central Command General Order No. 1 specifically forbids “proselytizing of any faith, religion or practice.” The footage came from documentary filmmaker Brian Hughes The report showed a service from approximately a year ago, with the head U.S. military chaplain in Afghanistan, Lt. Colonel Gary Hensley, talking about the need to spread the Gospel. "The special forces guys -- they hunt men basically," Hensley said. "We do the same things as Christians, we...

CBNNews.com - The U.S. military says some Bibles in Afghanistan have been confiscated and destroyed, Reuters reported. Their decision to destroy them came after Al Jazeera television showed U.S. soldiers at a Bible class with a stack of Bibles translated into the local languages.It's illegal to proselytize in Afghanistan and military officials forbid troops to convert Afghans to Christianity.The military says the Bibles were brought to the Bible class by an Evangelical Christian solider who received them from his home church.

The U.S. military is confirming that it has destroyed some Bibles belonging to an American soldier serving in Afghanistan. Reuters News says the Bibles were confiscated and destroyed after Qatar-based Al Jazeera television showed soldiers at a Bible class on a base with a stack of Bibles translated into the local Pashto and Dari languages. The U.S. military forbids its members on active duty -- including those based in places like Afghanistan -- from trying to convert people to another religion. Reuters quotes Maj. Jennifer Willis at the Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul, who said "I can now confirm...