The alarming decline of the honey bee population in the European Union over the last decade and a half has prompted the European Commission to ban the use of some pesticides known as neonicotinoids for two years because they appear…

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott insisted that government authorities have not broken the law in working with the US NSA spy network. Australia is one of the “five eyes” that collaborate and share information with each other. The revelations of…

The Victorian state government’s report on clergy child sex abuse recommends sweeping changes to laws which the Catholic Church used to shelter itself and accused church leaders of trivializing the problem as a ‘‘short-term embarrassment”. Inquiry Chairwoman Georgie Crozier introduced…

Hawaii and Illinois have joined the growing list of states in the United States that now legally approve same-sex marriage. The dramatic shift in such a short period of time is not normally seen in other social issues. Sixteen states…

Polyamory, having simultaneous close emotional and sexual relationships with two or more other individuals, is increasingly being profiled as acceptable, especially since same-sex marriage has become increasingly normal in western societies. The polyandrous relationships may be straight, gay, lesbian, or…

A storm has killed 13 people in the UK and in Europe with Germany hit the hardest. Hurricane-force winds of up to 160 kph knocked down trees, flooded low areas and left hundreds of thousands without power.  At least five…

The United States must embrace the Vatican, wrote Francis Rooney, former U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See in a USA Today op ed. The “cordial but cooling relations” between the U.S. and the Vatican, he suggested, have not taken into…

The European Parliament has agreed to place approximately 150 of the EU’s largest banks under the oversight of the European Central Bank (ECB) beginning September 2014. The new system will be compulsory for Eurozone members, but will be open to…

The United Methodist Church’s highest court has been conducting trials that involve church policy toward gays and lesbians. While they do not change church policy, the trials encourage support of gays and lesbians as same-sex couples. In one case, the…

Evangelical Christians, pro-life groups and members of the Tea Party are a threat to the United States, and are “tearing the country apart,” soldiers were told in a pre-deployment briefing at Fort Hood. Any of them caught donating to those…

A Conservative Member of Parliament has said that the Guardian should be prosecuted for publishing stories about mass surveillance by the British security services revealed by whistleblower Edward Snowden. Julian Smith, MP said the newspaper had “broken the law” at a parliamentary…

Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament went to Rome to visit the Pope on October 11, 2013. After the audience a smiling Schulz said “it was an honour and a pleasure for me to be received by Pope Francis…