Christmas Day Bombings Sweep Nigeria, At Least 39 Dead
It was a bloody Christmas in Nigeria where at least four bomb blasts killed 39 people, including dozens at a Catholic church near Abuja. The radical Islamic group Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is sinful," claimed responsibility for what appeared to have been coordinated attacks.

Honor Killings On The Rise In Pakistan
Pakistan has taken steps to counter the troubling rise of "honor killings," but recently enacted laws were not enough to save 675 women. That is the number of women who died in honor killings in the first nine months of 2011, according to Pakistan's leading human-rights watchdog, putting the county on track to exceed the record number of such killings recorded in 2010.

Will U.S. Move On Global Gay Rights Hurt, Or Help?
Is the United States upholding human rights, or meddling in other people's business? That may be the question in many countries following a coordinated call by President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for governments around the world to do more to protect gay rights.

It is Still Morning in America
Joe Pitts
As we celebrate the 100th birthday of President Ronald Reagan, those who knew and admired him remember his consistent optimism. Reagan was no Pollyanna, but he saw that the best days of our country lay ahead of us. In his first inaugural address he spoke encouraging words to a nation that felt it was in an unstoppable decline: "With all the creative energy at our command, let us begin an era of national renewal."

Armenian Awakening: Revival of a Church
The voices of a small Armenian choir reverberate off the ancient walls of a 17th century church in the rugged hills of Yerevan. Outside the tiny parish, churchgoers huddle, clamoring to get a peek of the evening service. It is Christmas Eve, and nearly 20 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Armenian Church has once again come alive.

Democracies Confront Their Own Growing Censorship Tendencies
Arch Puddington
The murders of journalists in Russia, the jailing of bloggers in China, and the crackdown on the media in Iran regularly remind us that freedom of expression is under duress, even in an era of expanding global communications. However, considerably less attention has been paid to a new, more insidious threat to this fundamental human right.

US Archive Report Details Nazi-Muslim Connections
A report published Friday by the US National Archives reveals that during the Second World War, the Nazi government in Berlin paid "a fortune" to grand mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, for his help against the British who at that time had jurisdiction over much of the Middle East.

Western Wall Controversy Resurfaces
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate in the West Bank on Monday gave a vote of solidarity to Al-Mutawakel Taha, the senior Palestinian Authority Ministry of Information official who recently published a "study" denying any connection between Jews and the Western Wall in Jerusalem. The "extremist right-wing government in Israel allows and supports hostile settler actions, but can’t accept a scientific study written by a Palestinian poet," a statement by the Journalists Syndicate said, adding that Israel’s condemnation "exposed its false claim to be democratic."

America the Generous
Jon Kyl
This is the season of giving, when many Americans donate their time and money to help the less fortunate. According to American Enterprise Institute president Arthur Brooks, author of the book Who Really Cares, three out of four families give to charity each year. The average donation from these families is $1,800. These Americans give to churches and to education, health, and social welfare programs.

UN Agency Reports Exodus of Iraqi Christians
The U.N. refugee agency says there has been what it calls an "exodus" of Iraqi Christians from Baghdad and Mosul since a deadly October attack on a Christian church in the capital and subsequent attacks. Agency spokeswoman Melissa Fleming says about 1,000 families from the two cities have arrived in the Kurdistan region and Nineveh since early November.

The Importance of Civics Education
Jon Kyl
Noah Webster, one of America’s most renowned educators and author of our nation’s first textbooks, wrote in 1788 that, "Every child in America should be acquainted with his own country." The purpose of education, he believed, is not just to teach reading, writing, and math, but to disseminate important information about our rights as Americans and "implant in the minds of the American youth the principles of virtue and of liberty."

Egyptian Christians Continue To Be Persecuted
On Wednesday morning Egyptian police shot and killed one Christian and wounded dozens of others in a new clash between Christian and Muslims in Egypt. This time the violence erupted as over 200 Copts were demonstrating against the government’s decision to halt the building of a Coptic church close to the pyramids.

Giving Thanks in America
Joe Pitts
While we typically associate the Pilgrims in Massachusetts with the first American Thanksgiving, the first recorded day set aside for thanks was decreed in the Virginia colony in 1619. The settlers recognized the day their ship landed in the new world as an annual day of thanksgiving to God for a safe journey. Two years later the settlers at Plymouth Colony would commemorate their first Thanksgiving.