story

BEIRUT – In the Arab world, where several nations have seen killings of gay men in recent months, it can be startling to see a rainbow flag unfurled in public. But the region’s only overt gay rights organization, based in Lebanon, says it is slowly making progress in preventing discrimination …

ISLAMABAD – The Taliban left so many mutilated bodies at the crossing — some hanging from trees with threatening notes — that Pakistanis in the Swat Valley’s main town took to calling it “bloody intersection.” On Sunday, the army said that spot and seven other major crossings in Mingora were …

MONTVILLE, N.J. – A New Jersey high school student has been suspended for organizing a contest in which boys voted on the school’s best-looking girls in a bracket modeled on the NCAA basketball tournament. Mike Butrym, of Towaco, says he was continuing a Montville High School tradition and believes his …

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – An airman in Alaska has been sentenced to almost 10 years behind bars after being found guilty of trying to force his wife to miscarry by lacing her food with ulcer medication. Airman 1st Class Scott Boie of Milton, Wis., had faced more than 26 years confinement …

INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana’s attorney general is warning of a telephone scam offering the sale of “mandatory swine flu kits.” Attorney General Greg Zoeller says telephone solicitors are telling people that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the Department of Homeland Security are requiring the purchase of the …

NEW YORK – Dutch right-wing lawmaker Geert Wilders warned of the growing threat of Islamization to America in an address before a low-key audience at Columbia University. Wilders, who has outraged Muslims by comparing the Koran to Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” and calling for an end to Muslim immigration to …

JERUSALEM – Turkey has called off an international military drill because it opposed Israel’s participation, Israeli defense officials said Sunday, a move that sent strained relations between the two nations to a new low. Turkey has long been the Jewish state’s best friend in the Muslim world. But ties have …

Five suspects were in custody early Wednesday in northern California in the gang rape, robbery and beating of a 15-year-old girl outside her high school homecoming dance, KTVU.com reported. Authorities in Richmond, Calif., said they arrested two adults and three juveniles and were searching for others believed to be involved …

A Somalian Islamic group reportedly has started whipping women in public for wearing bras that violate Islam, the Daily Mail reports. Residents claim insurgent group Al Shabaab sent gunmen into the streets to round up women who appeared to have a firm bust. The women are inspected to see if …

VILLE PLATTE, La. – A Louisiana couple admitted giving an exotic bird to a woman in exchange for two children, a district attorney said Wednesday. Paul and Brandy Romero, of Eunice, pleaded guilty to two felony counts of sale of a minor child, Evangeline Parish District Attorney Trent Brignac’s office …