MOSCOW — A throng of thousands led by priests in black robes surged through police cordons in downtown Tbilisi, Georgia, on Friday and attacked a group of about 50 gay rights demonstrators. Carrying banners reading “No to mental genocide” and “No to gays,” the masses of mostly young men began …
Catholic Church officials have been likened to outlaw motorcycle gangs, drug cartels and people smugglers in an explosive speech delivered at a legal conference in Victoria. Lawyer and lobbyist Bryan Keon-Cohen said the church, currently at the centre of a royal commission into the handling of child sex abuse complaints, …
N JUNE 2008 Alicia Gali took a job in the UAE at a luxury hotel operated in Dubai by one of the world’s biggest hotel chains, Starwood. Gali was using her laptop in the hotel’s staff bar when her drink was spiked. Alone and frightened, she took herself to hospital. …
The announcement comes just weeks after the Afghan government launched a new campaign to immunise more than eight million children between six months and five years old throughout the country. It said it had trained 46,000 volunteers to conduct the campaign which is funded by the American aid agency USAID, …
An Islamic city council in the Indonesian province of Aceh, which follows Sharia, has banned female citizens from passing gas. Sayyid Yahia, mayor of the city, told media that a ban was needed, as farting does not go well with the Islamic values of modesty. “Muslim women are not allowed …
Hmmm pissing off Slayer fans, I thinks the world may soon be a few Westbro nutters shorter The Westboro Baptist Church has announced that they plan to protest the funeral of Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman. The fundamentalist Christian group has a history of picketing outside funerals of dead US soldiers …
Family First NZ says it will be deregistered as a charity because of its views on gay marriage. National director of Family First Bob McCoskrie said the group has received notification the Charities Commission intends to deregister the organisation. He said the decision was highly politicised and showed groups that …
Hundreds of thousands of hardline Islamists demanding a new blasphemy law on Sunday blocked highways and fought running battles with police, leaving four people dead and hundreds injured in the Bangladeshi capital. Chanting “Allahu Akbar!” (“God is greatest!”) and “One point, One demand: Atheists must be hanged”, activists from Hefajat-e-Islam …
The Christian Brothers Catholic order spent more than $1 million defending serial paedophile Robert Best, the order has told the Victorian inquiry into how the churches handled child sexual abuse. But the brothers appearing on behalf of the order denied there were cultural problems within it. It apologised for the …
The Catholic Church in Ballarat ”effectively facilitated” child sexual abuse by leaving known paedophiles in ministry and was ”unChristlike”, former Ballarat Bishop Peter Connors conceded on Monday. His predecessor, Bishop Ronald Mulkearns, made ”terrible errors” and showed ”great naivety” in moving paedophiles Gerald Ridsdale and Paul David Ryan from parish …
A Philadelphia couple – serving 10 years’ probation for the 2009 death of their toddler after they turned to prayer instead of a doctor – has violated their probation now that another of their children has died. Continue reading Herbert and Catherine Schaible belong to a fundamentalist Christian church that …
Fred Nile has pulled his crucial support for state government legislation after Premier Barry O’Farrell’s public comments in favour of same-sex marriage. In a letter sent to Mr O’Farrell on Monday night, the Reverend Nile said he was “very upset at the Premier’s public support for homosexual marriage and his …
Vatican City, April 20: In a further sign of his desire for a “poor church”, Pope Francis has cancelled the annual stipend of 25,000 euros (around $33,000) paid to each of five cardinals who oversee the Vatican Bank. The Vatican Bank has come under fire in recent years for alleged …
A 17-year-old Jehovah’s Witness suffering from a lethal form of blood cancer and refusing treatment threatened to rip the IV needle out of his arm if doctors attempted a blood transfusion. But the NSW Supreme Court has overruled the wishes of the patient, known only as ”X”, and his parents, …
Julian Assange’s WikiLeaks released a new archive of 1.3 million diplomatic cables and intelligence records last Monday encompassing the years 1973 through 1976, dubbed “The Kissinger Cables.” The database includes documents revealing the ruthless operations led by the US worldwide, at a time when the international working class was on …
Apparently it’s university publication made by students. Latest issue of Tharunka hits stands today! Our cover story is about attempts by Christian Democrats MP Fred Nile to restrict the control women have over their bodies. It’s packed cover to cover with campus news, opinions, our regular features, crosswords and art. …
A Tunisian Salafi preacher has called for a 19-year old girl who posted her topless pictures on Facebook to be “quarantined” and stoned to death before she starts “an epidemic.” Tunisian newspaper AssabahNews quoted Salafi preacher Alami Adel, who heads the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of …
Some horrific events over the past few months, including the shooting of a Pakistani schoolgirl and the rape and murder of a young Indian physiotherapy student, should have been an alert for the world to unite in preventing violence against women. But if a conference now under way at the …
When Dawa said yes to a party held by American friends in the city of Xining, she expected music, drinks, and a chance to practice her English. But it soon transpired that there would be more to the evening’s activities. “When we arrived one person said loudly: ‘Lord!’ and started …
After a wave of church scandals, the government there is now in the midst of rolling out a plan that would initiate a gradual shift away from having church authorities act as the official patrons of virtually all public schools — something that would limit teachings of Catholic sacraments and …