RELIGION

Faced with mounting international pressure over the death sentence handed out to Christian pastor Yucef Nadarkhani, Iran has said the charges were not related to apostasy but rape, extortion and threat to national security.

Gunmen shot and hacked to death 18 people in a village in northwest Nigeria on Sunday, police said.

The Book of Mormon debuted this year as a Broadway hit that won nine Tonys, and the 2012 race for the Republican presidential nomination features not one, but two candidates of the Mormon faith.

Iran said on Saturday that Christian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani was sentenced to death for rape, not for the crime of abandoning Islam.

The U.S. State Department issued a worldwide travel alert on Saturday warning of the possibility of anti-American attacks in response to the killing of two top al-Qaida members.

As the Occupy Wall Street protest in New York entered its third week Saturday, police arrested more than 700 protesters for closing down the Brooklyn Bridge and a lane of traffic for several hours.

Will rumor mills grind Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher's wedding into another tragedy, or can the age gap couple save their marriage?

Will rumor mills grind Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher's wedding into another tragedy, or can the age gap couple save their marriage?

His crime is not, as some claim, converting others to Christianity, Rezvani told Fars

While rumors are that Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore are splitting, the couples were spotted celebrating the Jewish New Year together at a Kabbalah Center in Los Angeles on Friday.

In a recent Rasmussen Report, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie carried 43% to President Obama's 44% of likely voters. But what exactly are his positions on some of the pivotal issues for 2012?

The imminent execution of an Iranian pastor, Youcef Nadarkhani, for the crime of apostasy (converting from Islam to Christianity) has prompted the wave of outrage and concern around the globe:

A health teacher also punished his students by lowering their grades.

The Obama administration Thursday condemned the conviction of Iranian pastor, Youcef Nadarkhani, who is facing execution in Tehran for refusing to convert to Islam from Christianity.

This morning, the death of terror boss Anwar al-Awlaki was reported by Yemen officials.

Youcef Naderkhani has refused to renounce his Christian faith in a case that has sparked global fury against Iran and appeals for clemency.

The fate of Christian pastor Yucef Nadarkhani hangs in the balance, with Iranian Supreme Court endorsing his death penalty on apostasy charges and giving him an ultimatum to recant his faith, failing which he will be hanged. Some Web sites have published articles that give a colorful account of his life, struggles with the Iranian establishment, the events leading up to his arrest in 2009 and the death sentence that looms over him now.

A high-ranking member of al-Qaeda and a radical Islamic cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki, was targeted and killed in Khashef town of Yemen's Jawf province, a statement from the country's foreign press office said.

Christian pastor Yucef Nadarkhani, who is facing execution in Iran on apostasy charges, could be put to death any time as he has refused to recant his Christian faith in court three times so far this week.

Ten controversial books for Banned Book Week.

Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, who led a 400-person congregation in Rasht just a few years ago, was arrested on apostasy charges in 2009. He was found guilty of the crime of abandoning Islam and sentenced to death a year later.