Muslim Americans continue to give President Barack Obama the highest job approval rating of any major religious group in the U.S., while Mormons give the president the lowest ratings. The differences in Obama’s approval ratings across the religious groups included in this analysis have held fairly constant across time, even as Obama’s overall rating has fallen by 15 percentage points between... 

Patrick J. Buchanan is an American conservative political commentator, author, syndicated columnist, politician and broadcaster. In 21st century America, institutional racism and sexism remain great twin evils to be eradicated on our long journey to the wonderful world where, at last, all are equal. What are we to make, then, of a profession that rewards workers with fame and fortune, yet discriminates... 

Mosques in Italy will not receive a share of income tax revenue the Italian government allocates to religious faiths each year. Hindu and Buddhist temples, Greek Orthodox churches and Jehovah’s Witnesses will be eligible for the funds, according to a bill approved by the Italian cabinet in May and still must be approved by parliament. Until now, the government had earmarked 8 percent of income... 

There’s a petition floating around Sale Creek asking its 2,600 or so residents if they’d rather be part of Rhea County. So far, 100 people have signed, according Chris O’Keefe, the petition’s organizer. O’Keefe said he is fed up with mandatory car emissions tests and high property taxes in Hamilton County. The county services that Sale Creek receives don’t match what its residents pay... 

Residents stand behind a picture of Edelmiro Cavazos, the mayor of Santiago, Mexico, who was abducted and slain by a drug cartel The murder scarred a part of Mexico that was supposed to be reasonably safe from violence and crime. Santiago is a picturesque town of waterfalls, colonial churches and holiday homes for the rich. Its mayor, Edelmiro Cavazos, was a blue-eyed 38-year-old educated in the U.S.... 

An amazing discovery of 2000-4000 year old Caucasian descent mummies in the Tarim basin of Western China occurred in the early 90s. But more amazing than the discovery itself was the astonishing fact that the mummies were blond haired and long nosed. In 1993, Victor Mayer a college professor collected DNA from the mummies and his tests verified that the bodies were all of European genetic stock. Ancient... 

Click on the image to enlarge it Six years after his brother was beheaded by Iraqi insurgents, Riyad is still haunted by the memory of identifying the disfigured body and watching the mutilation on a video distributed by the killers. Yet Riyad now has fresh worries to contend with: the threat of deportation from Sweden, which recently rejected his application for asylum. “They murdered my brother... 

Turkish officials have told an American delegation that it has no intention of following unilateral US sanctions on Iran, a move likely to deepen a rift between the two NATO allies over the Islamic republic’s contentious nuclear program that Washington believes is aimed at developing nuclear weapons. Turkish and American officials have confirmed that a US delegation comprising representatives... 

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) forecasts the U.S. budget deficit will hit $1.3 trillion this year. An astronomical figure, to be sure, but that’s lower than was projected in March. It’s also less than last year’s record $1.41 trillion deficit, which was close to 10% of GDP. And, that’s the good news. As the deficit grows so does the national debt, which is currently more than... 

Goldman Sachs & Co., reviled in the U.S. for its role in the financial crisis, is now getting hammered in the world’s No. 2 economy with a sensationalist new book accusing the investment bank of trying to destroy China. The “Goldman Sachs Conspiracy,” which has sold over 100,000 copies since it was released in June, reaching popular website Sina.com’s top-10 list, follows... 

A beggar on the streets of Venice. The Italian remarks come hot on the heels of Roma expulsions in France. Italy has said it intends to expel citizens from other EU states if they are not able to support themselves, in a move apparently inspired by France’s current crackdown on Roma. Interior Minister Roberto Maroni told daily newspaper Corriere della Sera on Saturday (21 August) that French... 

We’re alive! TV images of Chilean miners 18 DAYS after being trapped… but it could be Christmas before they are rescued * Miners’ message from 2,300ft below: ‘All 33 of us are fine in the shelter’ * It will take months to get them out, say experts * Men are in a mine shaft shelter the size of a small apartment A team of 33 miners trapped underground have been told... 

Home comforts: A map showing the position of the family's £1million house in Cambridgeshire (circled, pictured below) and the camping field A carer said to have become so exasperated with trespassing traveller children that he fired a shot over their heads, has been arrested. Christopher Bayfield is understood to have suffered repeated petty thefts after 1,000 travellers arrived for a Christian... 

A Lithuanian court has cleared students carrying swastikas of illegally bearing symbols of Nazism. The judge’s ruling that the emblem is merely a sign with an ancient history has caused anger. Critics fear its another step towards the rehabilitation of fascist sympathizers.  Read More »

Governor Jan Brewer signing the SB 1070 anti-illegal immigration law during a press conference in Phoenix Arizona. Twenty-two states are now in the process of drafting or seeking to pass legislation similar to Arizona’s law against illegal immigration. This is occurring despite the fact that the Obama administration has filed a lawsuit against the Arizona law and a federal judge has ruled against...