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Pope Francis’ labeling of the mass killings of the Ottoman Armenians as “the first genocide of the 20th century” will only accelerate the reopening of Hagia Sophia to Muslim worship, the top Islamic official in Ankara has suggested. “Frankly, I believe that the pope’s remarks will only accelerate the process for Hagia Sophia to be re-opened for [Muslim] worship,” Professor Mefail Hızlı, the mufti of Ankara, said in a written statement released late April 15. According to Hızlı, the pope’s statement “has reflected a modern color of the crusader wars launched in these lands for centuries.” These lands have long...

Explanation: It's stars versus dust in the Carina Nebula and the stars are winning. More precisely, the energetic light and winds from massive newly formed stars are evaporating and dispersing the dusty stellar nurseries in which they formed. Located in the Carina Nebula and known informally as Mystic Mountain, these pillar's appearance is dominated by the dark dust even though it is composed mostly of clear hydrogen gas. Dust pillars such as these are actually much thinner than air and only appear as mountains due to relatively small amounts of opaque interstellar dust. About 7,500 light-years distant, the featured image...

In an effort to rein in an increasingly out-of-control executive branch, Congressman Ted Yoho (R-Fla.) introduced a House Resolution on April 13 that specifically defines “impeachable offenses” as everything from starting a war without congressional authorization to issuing executive orders purporting to circumvent Congress. If approved by the full House of Representatives, the measure would put the Obama administration and future presidents on notice that perpetrating any of the specified high crimes or misdemeanors will result in articles of impeachment being voted on. The law “should warn before it strikes,” the measure explains, offering a series of reasons why such...

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Judicial Watch (JW) has cautioned that an ISIS camp is located just across the Mexican border, about 8 miles from the border near El Paso, Texas. JW says among it’s informants are a Mexican Army field grade officer and a Mexican Federal Police Inspector. Judicial Watch has identified two ISIS camps just across the border: The exact location where the terrorist group has established its base is around eight miles from the U.S. border in an area known as “Anapra” situated just west of Ciudad Juárez in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Another ISIS cell to the west of Ciudad...

Can the president kill you? The short answer is: Yes, but not legally. Yet, President Obama has established a secret process that involves officials from the Departments of Justice and Defense, the CIA, and the White House senior staff whereby candidates are proposed for execution, and the collective wisdom of the officials then recommends execution to the president, who then accepts or rejects the recommendation. If the recommendation is to kill and the president rejects the recommendation, the CIA is directed to arrest the person. If the president accepts the recommendation to kill, then death is ordered. This is not...

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, after winning reelection, pronounced Chicago "the greatest city in America." Run by Democrats for more than eight decades, Chicago should serve as a showplace that reflects the wonderful world of "progressive policies." Public schools are a mess, and the city's finances place their bonds at near junk level. In 2013, the city averaged 36 homicides a month, with the majority of them unsolved. CNN aired a series on Chicago called "Chicagoland," starring the city's dynamic mayor. Presumably, Emanuel thought it would show off the mayor as he tackled the city's problems. Why, if the man his...

Police arrested a Florida Postal Service worker who steered his tiny aircraft onto the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol after flying through restricted airspace around the National Mall on Wednesday. The pilot was Douglas Mark Hughes of Ruskin, Fla., who remained in custody Wednesday evening, Capitol Police said in a statement. On his website, Hughes took responsibility for the stunt and said he was delivering letters to all 535 members of Congress to draw attention to campaign finance corruption. "As I have informed the authorities, I have no violent inclinations or intent," Hughes wrote on his website, thedemocracyclub.org. "An...

A state lawmaker from Philadelphia says he will propose legislation allowing some bars to stay open until 4 a.m., arguing in part the measure would be one way to keep college students in Pennsylvania after they graduate. "This legislation would create a more attractive Pennsylvania and further a goal of appealing to young professionals and millennials who can greatly improve our local economies," State Rep. Jordan Harris, a Democrat, said in a statement Monday. "Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and cities in between are world-class cities of higher education and we need to create an environment where the nightlife encourages young people who...

Energy: Since 2008, domestic oil and gas production has exploded, and so have the nation's oil and gas reserves. How is that even possible? Weren't we supposed to be running out of oil and gas 40 years ago?

The Rev. Al Sharpton, whose head already resembles a deflated balloon collapsing into an Italian suit, apparently thinks he still needs to lose a few pounds. That’s the only plausible explanation for the following. Seung Min Kim, Politico: Loretta Lynch is still waiting to be confirmed as attorney general, and her allies are hoping a hunger strike will do the trick. The advocacy group founded by the Rev. Al Sharpton, along with female civil-rights leaders, are launching the hunger strike — where groups of fasters will alternate days abstaining from food until Lynch is confirmed to replace Eric Holder at...

Unless you live under a rock, you’ve heard by now that Hillary Clinton is running for president. Actually, even if you live under a rock you’ve probably heard that, or at least the collective squeal from the media before they slipped, satisfied, into their refractory period. On Sunday, the former first lady released a Benetton ad, er, I mean a campaign video announcing she hopes to be the “champion” of “everyday Americans.” Who qualifies as an “everyday American” remains to be seen – the the video offers images of representatives of every “group” in the progressive coalition. But someone who...

France has said it will not back down over its nomination of an openly gay ambassador to the Vatican. The French government proposed senior diplomat Laurent Stefanini for the post in January but the Vatican is yet to respond to approve the choice. The Vatican usually responds within six weeks to approve such a new ambassador. The nomination of Mr Stefanini was seen as a litmus test for Pope Francis, who has taken a more liberal stance on homosexuality. A French government spokesman said there had been negotiations with the Vatican over the appointment. "France has chosen its ambassador to...

Earlier this month, the Obama administration reversed course on spending cuts to the popular Medicare Advantage program. Instead of a nearly 1% cut in payments, private health insurers that offer Advantage plans to seniors would get a 1.25% boost. The turnabout hardly made news, which isn't surprising since it was the third year in a row that the administration said it was planning to cut payments only to reverse course. It is, however, emblematic of the fiscal trouble ObamaCare has planted in the federal budget.

Not long ago, the New York Times uncovered the artifact that Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush had once listed himself as "Hispanic" on a Florida voter registration form. Bush is married to a Mexican-American. He lived for a number of years in South America and speaks Spanish fluently. Maybe he has consciously assumed a Hispanic identity. Or perhaps he did not think there was much of a difference between "white" and "Hispanic." Or, as he said, he simply checked the wrong box by accident. Vijay Chokal-Ingam, whose family immigrated from India, and who is the brother of sitcom actress Mindy...

Campaigning for reelection, President Barack Obama often talked about the importance of everyone paying their "fair share" of taxes. The assumption was that there was general agreement about what fair share means. The underlying message is that those who earn more should pay more than they already are; that what the top 10 percent are paying is just not enough. This week, a Wall Street Journal article titled "Top 20 Percent of Earners Pay 84 Percent of Income Tax" by Laura Saunders provides a different perspective than we are used to hearing regarding who pays what income taxes. Nearly "half...

If anyone but a law enforcement official carries a gun into an Ann Arbor school, administrators will ask the person to leave and call the police. Under a new policy, a weapon such as a gun in a school constitutes an emergency. The Ann Arbor Public Schools Board of Education on Wednesday, April 15, unanimously voted to ban dangerous weapons, including guns, from school buildings and property. The vote approved three policies that outline the superintendent's ability to be able to close schools, cancel buses or student and staff events before, during and after school in the case of an...

...he has allowed delivery of missiles to Iran...

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida), the newest and youngest official Republican candidate for president, has said he believes marriage should be “traditional”—between a man and a woman.So Fusion’s Jorge Ramos asked him: If someone in his family or on his staff were gay and getting married, would he attend the wedding?“If it’s somebody in my life that I care for, of course I would,” Rubio told Ramos in an interview on Wednesday.“I’m not going to hurt them simply because I disagree with a choice they’ve made or because I disagree with a decision they’ve made, or whatever it may be,” he...

Abortion is becoming a losing issue for the Left. The current crop of congressional Democrats are vehemently opposed to regulating abortion while more than half of Americans believe in enacting at least some restrictions on the right to legally kill unborn children. Since the deck is stacked so strongly against pro-abortion legislation, you’d expect Democrats to back down on the issue, at least a bit.Yet this has not been the case, and in their desperation liberals have in recent months begun highlighting one of the most difficult aspects of the debate, stressing the alleged necessity of abortion in the instances...