
Why Muslims Are Converting to Christ in the Face of ISIS Atrocities
Former  Muslims, who once prayed five times a day as a duty, say they don’t  quite know how to describe the difference. "They say, 'Now with our relationship with God, we see a huge  difference; something has changed in our life,'” he said. "You can see  it on their faces. They say, 'Every time we pray, there’s a  difference.'”  
Death penalty for smuggling Bibles?
Several  Christian missionaries said they were seeking to confirm a recent  report by the Virginia-based Heart Cry Missionary Society that a new  death penalty law has been adopted citing an “official statement” in  Arabic on a Coptic Christian website called CoptsToday.  
Communists Win the Day. Frank Marshall Davis Would Be Proud Of Obama
To  reiterate my conclusion on Barack Obama’s world view and policy  objectives: to make the world safer, the United States must be less  safe. To make the world more stable, the United States must be less  stable. To make the world more prosperous, the United States must be  less prosperous.  
Yellen Makes It Clear That Fed's Patience on Rates Has Limits
Federal  Reserve Chair Janet Yellen restored clarity to the central bank’s  monetary policy plans, saying it was on course to raise interest rates,  though not right away, after officials issued a statement that some  Fed-watchers found confusing.  
Alphabetical list of all active volcanoes in the world
Abu (Honshu, Japan) shield volcano, 641 m / 2,103 ft Acamarachi (Northern Chile, Bolivia and Argentina, South America) stratovolcano, 6046 m / 19,836 ft Acatenango (Guatemala) Stratovolcano, 3976 m / 13,044 ft Continued:  
Sierra Leone to Search for Ebola Cases in Capital
With the disease now spreading fastest in Sierra Leone, authorities are ramping up their response.  
Russian Ruble Crisis Spreads Across US, Emerging Markets And BRIC Nations
“The  currency has collapsed, and it’s possible that the economy could also  collapse. They’ve become a wild card at this point, it’s a very  dangerous situation,” said Stephen Guilfoyle, chief economist at  Sarge986.com.  
Small earthquake shakes Greene County half a mile from epicenter of similar quake in November
Alabama  -- A magnitude 3.4 earthquake shook parts of Greene County Wednesday  afternoon, according to the United States Geological Survey. The quake  happened about 11 miles northwest of Eutaw, Ala. and 31 miles southwest  of Tuscaloosa, the USGS said. A similarly strong earthquake occurred in  November just half a mile away from Wednesday's epicenter.  
Texas plumber's old truck resurfaces in Syria, mounted with terrorists' guns
A  Texas plumber has been receiving threats after a photo emerged of  Islamic extremists in Syria firing a high-powered gun from the bed of  his old pickup, which still bears his company's logo on the door.  
From Sydney to Rome, until Islam rules the world
As  the Israeli-Arab conflict becomes more religious, solidarity with the  Israeli side grows; because now the war is not against Israel – it’s  against the entire Western world.  
Russia not fit to be part of international financial system – Cameron
“And  what the combination of the lower oil price and the sanctions are  showing that I think it isn’t possible for Russia to be part of the  international financial system, but try and opt out of the rules-based  international legal system,” Cameron said.  
Putin says Russia economy will be cured but offers no remedy
Under  pressure to show he has a plan to fix the economy, Putin told an  end-of-year news conference the actions of the central bank and  government had been "adequate" in a crisis he blamed on external  factors.  
Bookies suspend betting on Queen ABDICATING as Royal Family gather for pre-Christmas lunch
Favourable  odds of 10-1 were being offered on Her Majesty announcing she would  step down from the throne during her speech on December 25. However, after seeing a flurry of activity, bookmakers Coral have now  closed betting on a potential abdication.  
Nigeria sentences soldiers to death for refusing to fight Islamists
A  Nigerian military court on Wednesday sentenced 54 soldiers to death for  mutiny after they refused to deploy for an operation against Boko Haram  Islamists in the northeast, their lawyer said.  "They sentenced 54 to death and acquitted five," said prominent human  rights lawyer Femi Falana, following a court martial that began on  October 15 and was conducted behind closed doors.  
US-Cuba relations: Global praise for normalisation of ties
World  leaders have welcomed a historic move by the US to end more than 50  years of hostility towards Cuba and restore diplomatic relations.  Pope Francis joined leaders from Latin America and Europe in praising  the "historic" deal which saw the release of prisoners from both  countries.  But dozens of dissident Cubans oppose the move, which some Republicans  have labelled a "retreat" by the US.  
ISIS Attacks American Base In Iraq In First Ever Clash With U.S. Troops
American  troops in Iraq had their first actual battle with ISIS troops, after  the Islamist militants tried to overrun a base, an encounter that left  the ISIS troops decimated and in retreat.  The attack took place near the Ein al-Asad base, which includes close to  100 U.S. military advisers. The U.S. troops, armed with “light and  medium weapons,” and were able to inflict casualties against the ISIS  fighters, forcing them to retreat, Shafaq News reported.  
Opponent calls for Putin's exit as Russia slides into crisis
A  prominent opponent has warned Vladimir Putin his days in power are  numbered, as Russia awaits the president's response to the dramatic  decline of the rouble.  
A Dangerous Holiday
Holidays  are a calendar. They mark points in emotional and physical time. They  remind of us who we are. Many of those celebrating Chanukah celebrate a  holiday that does nothing more than celebrate ‘celebration’, the rituals  and rites of entertainment, a special food, a symbol whose meaning they  don’t remember and a little family fun. Chanukah is many things but it  is not a safe holiday. It is a victory celebration in a guerrilla war.  It is a reminder that Obama’s war on Jerusalem was preceded long before  him by Antiochus’s war on Jerusalem. It is a brief light in a period of  great darkness.  
Law Enforcement and National Security vs. Global Business Interests
Three  interesting processes are underway as a direct result of Edward  Snowden’s revelations about the extent of the access by US security  services to personal information stored and processed in the IT systems  of global American companies. One of these processes is essentially  technological, the second is legal, and the third is of a business  nature. All three processes are designed to constrict access by American  government agencies to personal information held by those companies, in  their effort to preserve national security and enforce the law.  
UN: Turning back the clock to pre-1948 is the real endgame
Apparently,  a direct attack on the legitimacy of the UN member state of Israel is  now interpreted in UN circles as consistent with the principles of the  United Nations. Incitement against the Jewish state is directly related  to the stabbings, raping and killing of Jews inside and outside of  Israel.  But doing something to stop it requires confronting a very  troubling fact: the global epicenter for incitement is the “human  rights” leviathan, the United Nations.  
Ruble collapse: Freakish Russian ruble rout is unlike any currency crisis in history
A  large part of Russia's problems today come from an over-reliance on oil  exports. Oil sales bring in 70% of Russia's exports value. As IBTimes  UK went to press, Brent crude oil dipped below $59 per barrel for the  first time since 2009.  Russia needs oil to be selling at $109 per  barrel in order to break even.  
America under dictatorship
Just  as Fidel Castro became Cuba’s dictator when he and his guerrillas  triumphantly entered Havana on January 7, 1959, President Barack Obama  became America’s dictator on Dec. 17, 2014. Swaggering into Havana dressed in army fatigues with his signature  cigar, Castro claimed the island as his own.  Like a thief making off  with a nation in the middle of the night, Obama waiting until Congress  was out of town, opened America to a Communist totalitarian state.  
Germany: 15,000 join anti-Islam protest in Dresden
Marking  a 50% rise in attendance since the demonstration last Monday, the  founder of the Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the  Occident (PEGIDA), Lutz Bachmann, addressed the protestors saying: "The  people are with us! Everywhere now.  
Palestinians set deadline for Israeli occupation
UNITED  NATIONS — Israel suffered back-to-back diplomatic setbacks in Europe on  Wednesday, while the Palestinians at the United Nations set a deadline  for an Israeli withdrawal from lands captured nearly 50 years ago by the  end of 2017.