Lebanon has announced the launch of an operation to drive out the Islamic State terror group from two Christian villages and other areas near the Syrian border.

Pakistani authorities have arrested an 18-year-old Christian on blasphemy charges for allegedly burning pages of the Quran outside a shrine.

Spanish security forces have discovered an abandoned plan to blow up a church in Barcelona during a raid on the headquarters of terrorists believed to be responsible for the van attack in Las Ramblas on Thursday.

Grace Ng Chau-mei, the mother of pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong, has written a letter to her son to remind him to be courageous like his namesake Joshua from the Old Testament.

Hillsong Church Senior Pastor Brian Houston has reiterated his support for the Biblical definition of marriage as a union between one man and one woman, but he criticized Christians who are quick to condemn homosexuals.

The High Court in Northern Ireland has dismissed two cases challenging a law banning same-sex marriage in the region.

China has decried the U.S. State Department's annual religious freedom report that criticizes the Communist government for its persecution of Christians and adherents of other religions.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has warned that Islamic State fighters must either "surrender or die" as he announced the launch of the offensive to liberate the city of Tal Afar.

Church leaders in Spain and across the world have condemned the two terror attacks in Barcelona that resulted in the deaths of at least 13 people.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has listed Italy among the top 10 worst-scoring nations with blasphemy laws.

A North Korean defector who is assisting underground churches in the communist regime has said that Christianity continues to thrive in the country despite the intense persecution of dissenters.