http://www.mail.com/subjects/1564-religion.html Mail.com - the best personalized free web-based Email en en http://sec-s.uicdn.com/mail.com/2.23/img/mailcom_logo_rss.png http://www.mail.com/subjects/1564-religion.html http://www.mail.com/scitech/health/1862168-obama-offers-faith-groups-birth-control-rule.html WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing a wave of lawsuits over what government can tell religious groups to do, the Obama administration is proposing a compromise for faith-based nonprofits that object to covering birth control in their employee health plans. Some of the lawsuits appear headed for the Supreme Court, threatening another divisive legal battle over Presid... Sat, 02 Feb 2013 07:23:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/scitech/health/1862168-obama-offers-faith-groups-birth-control-rule.html 2013-02-02T07:23:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/1861522-palace-egypt-protesters-police-clash.html CAIRO (AP) — Protesters denouncing Egypt's Islamist president hurled stones and firebombs through the gates of his palace gates on Friday, clashing with security forces who fired tear gas and water cannons, as more than a week of political violence came to Mohammed Morsi's symbolic doorstep for the first time. The streets outside the presidential palace w... Fri, 01 Feb 2013 22:31:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/1861522-palace-egypt-protesters-police-clash.html 2013-02-01T22:31:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/us/1862016-mahony-defends-legacy-church-abuse-blog.html LOS ANGELES (AP) — Retired Roman Catholic Cardinal Roger Mahony defended his tattered legacy in a sharply worded letter to his successor, a day after Archbishop Jose Gomez stripped him of his administrative duties and bowed to a court order to release thousands of pages of confidential files on sexually abusive priests. In a letter posted Friday on his pe... Sat, 02 Feb 2013 08:46:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/us/1862016-mahony-defends-legacy-church-abuse-blog.html 2013-02-02T08:46:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/1861288-syrian-rebels-slam-assad-inaction-israeli-raid.html BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian opposition leaders and rebels on Friday slammed President Bashar Assad for not responding to a rare Israeli airstrike near Damascus, calling it proof of his weakness and acquiescence to the Jewish State. The opposition's sharp reaction underlines how those seeking to topple the Syrian leader might be more prepared to tangle with Israe... Fri, 01 Feb 2013 19:03:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/1861288-syrian-rebels-slam-assad-inaction-israeli-raid.html 2013-02-01T19:03:00Z http://www.mail.com/scitech/news/1828252-priest-sheik-marriage-lebanon.html BEIRUT (AP) — She was an English language tutor with an easy smile and an independent streak. He was a gym receptionist who wanted to better himself. They met for English lessons, swapped views on life and fell in love. Three months ago, a notary married them before their friends and family — but not in the eyes of the Lebanese government. The government ... Fri, 01 Feb 2013 19:01:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/scitech/news/1828252-priest-sheik-marriage-lebanon.html 2013-02-01T19:01:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/1861236-iraq-sunnis-protest-al-qaida-front-calls-to-arms.html BAGHDAD (AP) — Tens of thousands of Sunni protesters blocked a major highway in western Iraq on Friday, as an al-Qaida-affiliated group called on Sunnis to take up arms against the Shiite-led government. The rally comes at a time of mounting sectarian tensions in Iraq. Minority Sunnis complain of official discrimination against them, and the arrests of bo... Fri, 01 Feb 2013 15:51:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/1861236-iraq-sunnis-protest-al-qaida-front-calls-to-arms.html 2013-02-01T15:51:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/1861778-arabs-tuaregs-mali-face-hostility-amid-war.html MOPTI, Mali (AP) — Bawba Mint Baba Ahmed's dress-making teacher singled her out in front of the class, telling her: "You look like a rebel." Others threatened to slit her throat, she says, drawing a finger across her neck. Now the 29-year-old has dropped out of school and spends her days hiding inside her mud-walled home with her mother and two sisters, f... Fri, 01 Feb 2013 21:06:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/1861778-arabs-tuaregs-mali-face-hostility-amid-war.html 2013-02-01T21:06:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/1861264-militants-attack-pakistani-army-camp-6-killed.html PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Militants attacked an army camp in northwestern Pakistan with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades before dawn on Saturday, killing six members of the security forces, officials said. The attack followed a suicide bombing at a Shiite Muslim mosque elsewhere in the northwest on Friday that killed 23 people and wounded m... Sat, 02 Feb 2013 04:03:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/1861264-militants-attack-pakistani-army-camp-6-killed.html 2013-02-02T04:03:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/us/1858708-la-archbishop-relieves-retired-cardinal-duties.html LOS ANGELES (AP) — Retired Cardinal Roger Mahony, the former head of the nation's largest Roman Catholic diocese, was stripped of his duties Thursday by his successor as the Los Angeles archdiocese released thousands of pages of personnel files of priests accused of child molestation. "I find these files to be brutal and painful reading," Archbishop Jose ... Fri, 01 Feb 2013 07:17:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/us/1858708-la-archbishop-relieves-retired-cardinal-duties.html 2013-02-01T07:17:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1861032-iraqi-presidents-absence-leaves-political-hole.html BAGHDAD (AP) — President Jalal Talabani's unexpected exit from Iraqi politics couldn't have come at a worse time for his nation, threatened by mounting antagonism among Kurds, Sunnis and Shiites. The 79-year-old Talabani, who suffered a stroke six weeks ago, had assumed the role of father figure, the only leader seemingly capable of transcending Iraq's se... Fri, 01 Feb 2013 06:02:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1861032-iraqi-presidents-absence-leaves-political-hole.html 2013-02-01T06:02:00Z http://www.mail.com/entertainment/lifestyle/1860496-freedom-returns-to-storied-city-timbuktu.html TIMBUKTU, Mali (AP) — On the morning French commandos parachuted onto the sand just north of this storied city and ended 10 months of Islamic rule, Hawi Traore folded up her veil. On the next day, she wore heels. On the day after, she put on her sparkly earrings, got her hair braided and tried her mother's perfume. Finally on Thursday, the 12-year-old gir... Thu, 31 Jan 2013 23:31:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/entertainment/lifestyle/1860496-freedom-returns-to-storied-city-timbuktu.html 2013-01-31T23:31:00Z http://www.mail.com/entertainment/lifestyle/1860306-evangelical-churches-refine-message-gay-issues.html NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Rev. Robert Jeffress has changed the way he talks about homosexuality from the pulpit. The pastor of the 11,000-member First Baptist Dallas hasn't stopped preaching that homosexual sex is sinful, but he no longer singles it out for special condemnation. Now, Jeffress says he usually talks about homosexuality within "a bigger co... Thu, 31 Jan 2013 21:50:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/entertainment/lifestyle/1860306-evangelical-churches-refine-message-gay-issues.html 2013-01-31T21:50:00Z http://www.mail.com/business/economy/1860372-furor-proposed-shift-scouts-no-gays-policy.html NEW YORK (AP) — The Boy Scouts of America faces intensifying criticism from the left and right over a proposal to move away from a mandatory no-gays membership policy and allow troop sponsors to decide the matter for themselves. The Human Rights Campaign, a major gay-rights group that initially welcomed the BSA's possible shift, said Thursday that it was ... Thu, 31 Jan 2013 21:13:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/business/economy/1860372-furor-proposed-shift-scouts-no-gays-policy.html 2013-01-31T21:13:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/1860082-egypts-police-regain-mubarak-era-notoriety.html CAIRO (AP) — With near impunity and the backing of the Islamist president, Egyptian police have been accused of firing wildly at protesters, beating them and lashing out with deadly force in clashes across much of the country the past week, regaining their Hosni Mubarak-era notoriety as a tool of repression. In the process, nearly 60 people have been kill... Thu, 31 Jan 2013 19:58:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/1860082-egypts-police-regain-mubarak-era-notoriety.html 2013-01-31T19:58:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/1859142-egypts-political-factions-denounce-violence.html CAIRO (AP) — Representatives from across Egypt's political spectrum held a rare meeting Thursday to denounce violence, hours before a fresh call for a new wave of mass protests across the country aimed at pressuring Islamist President Mohammed Morsi to accept opposition demands to form a national government and amend the constitution. Hosted by Egypt's pr... Thu, 31 Jan 2013 19:04:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/1859142-egypts-political-factions-denounce-violence.html 2013-01-31T19:04:00Z http://www.mail.com/business/economy/1858804-activists-try-to-save-warsaw-ghetto-building.html WARSAW, Poland (AP) — It was the place where Jewish women did their ritual bathing. It was a tuberculosis clinic. It survived the German onslaught and became a gathering point for Holocaust survivors. Now "the white building," the headquarters of the Jewish community and one of the few surviving remnants of the infamous Warsaw Ghetto, could be torn down t... Thu, 31 Jan 2013 10:12:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/business/economy/1858804-activists-try-to-save-warsaw-ghetto-building.html 2013-01-31T10:12:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/us/1857430-victim-portrayed-contradiction-ariz-trial.html PHOENIX (AP) — Attorneys for a woman charged with killing her lover worked Wednesday at her trial to portray the victim as a liar and cheat who repeatedly deceived his girlfriends, friends and family members in the months before his death. Jodi Arias, 32, is accused of fatally shooting and stabbing Travis Alexander in June 2008 at his suburban Phoenix hom... Wed, 30 Jan 2013 23:41:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/us/1857430-victim-portrayed-contradiction-ariz-trial.html 2013-01-30T23:41:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/us/1857340-priest-teacher-convicted-pa-church-abuse-case.html PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A jury on Wednesday convicted a priest and teacher in a pivotal church-abuse case that rocked the Philadelphia archdiocese and sent a church official to prison for child endangerment. The verdict upholds the stunning account from a troubled 24-year-old policeman's son that he was sexually abused as a boy by two priests and his sixth-gr... Wed, 30 Jan 2013 23:19:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/us/1857340-priest-teacher-convicted-pa-church-abuse-case.html 2013-01-30T23:19:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/1857360-week-unrest-weakens-egypts-islamist-leader.html CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's Islamist president has been significantly weakened by a week of violent protests across much of the country, with his popularity eroding, the powerful military implicitly criticizing him and some of his ultraconservative Islamist backers distancing themselves from him. In his seven months since becoming Egypt's first freely elected pr... Wed, 30 Jan 2013 19:57:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/1857360-week-unrest-weakens-egypts-islamist-leader.html 2013-01-30T19:57:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/1857210-morsi-germany-defends-comments-jews.html BERLIN (AP) — Egypt's Islamist president turned aside repeated criticism of his past comments referring to Jews as "the descendants of apes and pigs" as he visited Germany on Wednesday, insisting that the remarks were taken out of context and were aimed at criticizing Israeli attacks on Palestinians. A key focus of Mohammed Morsi's one-day visit to Berlin... Wed, 30 Jan 2013 18:54:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/1857210-morsi-germany-defends-comments-jews.html 2013-01-30T18:54:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/1855836-egypt-liberals-islamists-add-pressure-morsi.html CAIRO (AP) — A hardline Islamist party normally allied to Egypt's president joined the liberal opposition on Wednesday in calling for a national unity government as part of a plan aimed at ending the eruption of political violence that has shaken the country and left more than 60 dead the past week. The unusual joint call puts further pressure on Islamist... Wed, 30 Jan 2013 18:04:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/1855836-egypt-liberals-islamists-add-pressure-morsi.html 2013-01-30T18:04:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/1856700-2-israeli-parties-endorse-netanyahu-term.html JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's two largest political parties endorsed Benjamin Netanyahu for prime minister Wednesday, all but guaranteeing him a third term at the beginning of the post-election process of forming a new government. Netanyahu's Likud Party and the new Yesh Atid Party made their recommendations to President Shimon Peres, who consults with all 12... Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:55:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/1856700-2-israeli-parties-endorse-netanyahu-term.html 2013-01-30T17:55:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/us/1856846-france-takes-key-mali-cities-hard.html JOHANNESBURG (AP) — French-led forces have wrested control of three key cities in northern Mali from al-Qaida-linked militants, but the fighters have escaped with their weapons into a desert region the size of Texas and are poised to mount counterattacks. New military strategies will be needed to rout the jihadists from their desert hideouts. When the Fre... Wed, 30 Jan 2013 16:53:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/us/1856846-france-takes-key-mali-cities-hard.html 2013-01-30T16:53:00Z http://www.mail.com/entertainment/music/1856010-pussy-riot-cathedral-video-banned-extremism.html MOSCOW (AP) — Footage of feminist rockers Pussy Riot's irreverent protest against President Vladimir Putin in Moscow's main cathedral last year has been banned in Russia and must be removed from the country's Internet. Moscow City Court on Wednesday rejected band member Yekaterina Samutsevich's appeal of a lower court's ruling in November, meaning that it... Wed, 30 Jan 2013 12:13:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/entertainment/music/1856010-pussy-riot-cathedral-video-banned-extremism.html 2013-01-30T12:13:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/us/1854380-mexico-breaks-up-alleged-border-sex-slavery-cult.html MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican officials broke up a bizarre cult that allegedly ran a sex-slavery ring among its followers on the U.S. border, Mexican immigration authorities said Tuesday. The "Defensores de Cristo" or "Defenders of Christ" allegedly recruited women to have sex with a Spanish man who claimed he was the reincarnation of Christ, according to an... Wed, 30 Jan 2013 08:24:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/us/1854380-mexico-breaks-up-alleged-border-sex-slavery-cult.html 2013-01-30T08:24:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/1855556-iran-zoroastrians-celebrate-ancient-feast-fire.html TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Followers of Iran's minority Zoroastrian religion gathered after sunset to mark Sadeh — an ancient mid-winter feast dating to Iran's pre-Islamic past that is also drawing new interest from Muslims. Zoroastrian priests, dressed in white to symbolize purity, recited verses from Avesta, the holy Zoroastrian book, before more than 2,000 pe... Wed, 30 Jan 2013 06:16:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/1855556-iran-zoroastrians-celebrate-ancient-feast-fire.html 2013-01-30T06:16:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/1850354-egypt-army-chief-warns-collapse.html PORT SAID, Egypt (AP) — Residents of this Mediterranean coastal city burying their dead from Egypt's wave of political violence vented their fury at Egypt's Islamist president and the Muslim Brotherhood on Tuesday, demanding his ouster and virtually declaring a revolt against his rule, as the head of the military warned Egypt may collapse under the weight of its turmoil. ... Tue, 29 Jan 2013 23:13:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/1850354-egypt-army-chief-warns-collapse.html 2013-01-29T23:13:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1854740-scouts-future-uncertain-ban-gays-dropped.html NEW YORK (AP) — The Boy Scouts of America's proposed move away from its no-gays membership policy has outraged some longtime admirers, gratified many critics and raised intriguing questions about the iconic organization's future. Will the Scouts now be split between troops with gay-friendly policies and those that keep the ban? What will a National Jambor... Tue, 29 Jan 2013 21:06:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/politics/1854740-scouts-future-uncertain-ban-gays-dropped.html 2013-01-29T21:06:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/world/1854476-whos-who-egypts-latest-political-crisis.html CAIRO (AP) — Following are the main players in Egypt's latest political crisis, which began around the time of the second anniversary of the start of the uprising against Hosni Mubarak's rule. At least 60 people have died so far in political violence. — President Mohammed Morsi, the longtime Muslim Brotherhood figure who became Egypt's first freely electe... Tue, 29 Jan 2013 20:51:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/world/1854476-whos-who-egypts-latest-political-crisis.html 2013-01-29T20:51:00Z http://www.mail.com/news/us/1852876-under-pressure-boy-scouts-ease-no-gays-policy.html NEW YORK (AP) — Facing diverse and ceaseless protests, the Boy Scouts of America is signaling its readiness to end the nationwide exclusion of gays as scouts or leaders and give the sponsors of local troops the freedom to decide the matter for themselves. If approved by the Scouts' national executive board, possibly as soon as next week, the change would ... Tue, 29 Jan 2013 10:47:00 GMT http://www.mail.com/news/us/1852876-under-pressure-boy-scouts-ease-no-gays-policy.html 2013-01-29T10:47:00Z