Sharia principles are to become enshrined in the UK legal system for the first time, with The Law Society publishing guidelines for drawing up documents according to Islamic rules, which would exclude non-believers and encroach on women’s rights. The new guidelines were produced by The Law Society earlier this month. Under the guidance, High Street solicitors will be able to write Islamic wills... 

Kenya’s parliament has passed a bill allowing men to marry as many women as they want, prompting a furious backlash from female politicians. The bill, which amended existing marriage legislation, was passed late on Thursday to formalise customary law about marrying more than one person. The proposed bill had initially given a wife the right to veto the husband’s choice, but male members... 

America is a nation of killers. It always has been, from the first Pilgrims who set foot in Massachusetts and later murdered the very people who had saved them from starvation. The entire American population is trapped in a self-delusion that they are heroes, fighting an endless string of evil enemies. But in fact their targeted enemies have always been innocent people, usually minding their own business,... 

Performers during Bolivian Carnival The Bolivian government says 70 people have died, most of them in road accidents, during carnival festivities in the Andean country. Interior Minister Carlos Romero said on Wednesday that police reported 70 deaths, including 37 in traffic accidents, AFP reported. That toll did not include another five people killed in an incident where an overloaded footbridge collapsed... 

Arizona governor Jan Brewer held a press conference on Wednesday night to announce she had vetoed a controversial bill which would have permitted businesses to refuse service based on an owner’s religious beliefs. Brewer, a Republican known nationally for her conservative stance on immigration and abortion rights, said she would not sign the law, SB 1062, because of vague language that could have... 

The nation that put the first man on the Moon is failing to make the grade today when it comes to basic knowledge of the solar system and other fundamental scientific insight. That’s according to a new survey which concludes that while most Americans have a world of information at their fingertips, and show tremendous enthusiasm for new technology, they also lack fundamental knowledge of basic science. Out... 

Top officials from North Korea and the neighboring South have held the highest-level government talks in years, ahead of the planned reunion of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War. Talks between the two sides were held on Wednesday at the border truce village of Panmunjom on the southern side of the border. The last official high-level meetings between North and South Korea were held in December... 

Approximately 2,300 years ago the ancient Chinese wrote the world’s oldest decimal multiplication table on bamboo sticks. According to experts, it was a very effective calculator that let one do the calculations not only with integers but also fractions. No country in the world had similar calculators at that time. Five years ago, Beijing Tsinghua University received a gift of nearly two and... 

On January 28, at the meeting of the Federation Council dedicated to XXII Christmas Readings, the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill demanded Russian senators thwart any aspirations to legalize same-sex marriages in Russia. The head of the Russian Orthodox Church defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman that is concluded for procreation. The ROC stands firmly for traditional Christian... 

Pope Francis on Sunday prayed for the start of a “constructive dialogue” in Ukraine, releasing two white doves to symbolize the hope for peace. However, the doves were immediately attacked by a crow and a seagull. Addressing tens of thousands of people gathered in Vatican City’s St. Peter’s Square for the Pope’s weekly Angelus prayer, the pontiff said that his thoughts and prayers were with... 

Pope Francis has proclaimed the internet a “gift from God,” lauding its ability to connect disparate groups and foster communication across religious, economic, and political divides. The comments were part of his message for World Communications Day. “A culture of encounter demands that we be ready not only to give, but also to receive,” read the pontiff’s statement. He outlined ways in... 

The American army conducted experiments with biological weapons aimed at destroying rice crops on the Japanese island of Okinawa in the 60s, Kyodo news agency reports. The alleged target of the tests was the China and Southeast Asia region. Citing classified US documents, Japanese news agency Kyodo said the US military carried out experiments on their sovereign territory between 1961 and 1962. At... 

Reason TV’s Kennedy throws lumps of coal at the most un-libertarian Christmas movies and specials of all time, a list that includes A Charlie Brown Christmas, A Christmas Memory, Love Actually, White Christmas, and Miracle on 34th Street[*]. On the flip side, she explains why Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, It’s a Wonderfu Life, and The Sound of Music are her favorite fare when snuggling up to... 

The inventor of the iconic AK-47 assault rifle, Mikhail Kalashnikov, has died at the age of 94. His ingenuity earned him widespread admiration, but his legacy became more controversial when his weapons were used in some of the world’s bloodiest conflicts. “Mikhail Kalashnikov’s entire life is a shining example of dedication to serving your country,” said a statement from Defense... 

A curious report written by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoF) circulating in the Kremlin today is describing what can only be termed as a Kafkaesque [having a nightmarishly complex, bizarre, or illogical quality] Plot instigated by United States President Barack Obama this past November to “destroy” an American reality television programme called the Duck Dynasty. According to this report,...