• Ex-Hamas Militant Sees 'No Chance' for Lasting Peace

  A stream of European leaders converged in Israel Monday to push for a truce in the violence-plagued Gaza Strip while U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, from America, continued making phone calls to numerous foreign leaders in pursuit of a cease-fire agreement.

• Jailed U.K. Missionaries Seek Presidential Pardon in Gambia

  A missionary couple that was sentenced to one year of hard labor for undermining the authority of Gambia’s government offered a public apology Sunday and asked for a presidential pardon.

• Virginity Pledges Not Enough, New Study Reveals

  With the New Year comes new resolutions. And if you’re a parent of a teenager, one of the resolutions that you hope your child will make, if not already, is a pledge to wait until marriage before having sex.

• Focus on the Family Explains Decision to Pull Mormon Interview

  Focus on the Family got to work this week in explaining in detail why it pulled from its website an interview with a Mormon author.

• Melissa Etheridge, Lesbian Spouse Defend Pastor Rick Warren

  Last week, after a flurry of debates and protests broke out over Barack Obama’s selection of prominent megachurch pastor Rick Warren as the invocation deliverer at his inauguration, openly gay singer Melissa Etheridge and her partner stepped into the ring in hopes of avoiding another “reverse smear-the-queer.”