Hundreds of Muslims on Friday defied a new French ban on outdoor group prayer, filling the streets and sidewalks of  some neighborhoods to kneel on prayer rugs and observe the Islamic requirement for five-times-daily prayer while facing Mecca. The ban came into effect on Friday, which is the Muslim weekly holy day — the equivalent…

Two American hikers imprisoned in Iran for more than two years are about to be released as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad prepares for his annual trip to the United Nations. Shane Bauer, Josh Fattal and Sarah Shourd were arrested and convicted of espionage when they strayed across the Iraqi-Iranian border in July 2009. Their arrest was seen as…

Al Fadi, a Saudi native now living in America, says the truth must be proclaimed about the religion in which he was raised. However, because he has been candid, his life is at risk, he says. Speaking on the Christian Broadcasting Network’s 700 Club, he says his message is sure to inspire controversy. Fadi converted…

Mustafa Abdul Jalil, the chairman of the National Transitional Council, has a message for Libyans: Fear not, Sharia law is on the way. In a broadcast on the Arabic cable channel al-Jazeera, he assured a cheering crowd that the new rulers of Libya are neither secular nor liberal, but will establish an Islamic republic. In…

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