A Christian-run medical facility in London, which is part of Britain's publicly funded healthcare system, was criticized for exercising the freedom not to prescribe the morning-after pill to patients on grounds of conscience.

The Links Medical Practice, which is a National Health Service (NHS) general practice (GP) surgery in the Mottingham area of south London, has a message put up on its door telling patients they should go to a local clinic or chemist if "a consenting doctor is not available" to prescribe contraception, according to U.K.-based The Independent.

"I know the law allows doctors to do this but I don't think it should," a patient who decided to leave the facility was quoted as saying. more >>

Former megachurch pastor Rob Bell appeared in a recent radio discussion with Christian British minister Andrew Wilson to discuss his new book, What We Talk About When We Talk About God, and grew frustrated when pressed by Wilson to explain his theological reasons for affirming homosexuality and same-sex relationships.

Bell and Wilson appeared on the U.K. faith debate program "Unbelievable?" hosted by Justin Brierley on Premier Christian Radio. Wilson is a published theologian and elder at Kings Church in Eastbourne, East Sussex. The men, moderated by Brierley, started the discussion by debating various issues during the hour-plus program, but it was during their discussion on homosexuality that Bell appeared to grow visibly upset.

"Do you believe that this is an area where actually God is ahead of the church, that affirming same-sex partnerships is actually a God thing and that we will eventually all get to see that in the course of time?" Brierley asked Bell of comments he made in March. more >>

A number of posters claiming the innocence of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the 19-year-old suspect behind the Boston Marathon bombing, have gone up in Russia in the territory of Chechnya, where he and his older brother are originally from.

"This is Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, a 19-year-old lad accused of a terrorist attack in Boston. But as many people now know, that is a groundless accusation, there is absolutely no evidence against him," reads one of the posters in Grozny, capital of Chechnya, according to BBC News.

"Now he is in a serious condition, in a prison hospital, he needs medical and legal help. Dzhokhar's parents ask you for help, to collect money for their son, whom they cannot lose, as they have already lost the older son, cruelly, unjustly. We will be grateful for any help, in the name of the Almighty do not remain indifferent." more >>

In an unprecedented move, Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI, who became the first pope in almost 600 years to retire when he stepped down at the end of February due to health reasons, has returned to the Vatican to live next to Pope Francis.

"He is a man who is not young: He is old and his strength is slowly ebbing," said Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi, according to the Associated Press. "However, there is no special illness. He is an old man who is healthy."

Benedict will now live in a converted monastery right behind St. Peter's Basilica, where Pope Francis lives. It was previously believed that he would live out the rest of his days "hidden in the world" in a papal residence in the hill south of Rome, but now he will share the famous Vatican gardens with the newly elected Roman Catholic Church leader. more >>

Famous atheist author Richard Dawkins has been named the world's top thinker in a global vote that counted 10,000 voices from over 100 countries.

"When Richard Dawkins, the Oxford evolutionary biologist, coined the term 'meme' in The Selfish Gene 37 years ago, he can't have anticipated its current popularity as a word to describe internet fads," said Prospect Magazine, which conducted the poll, in explaining the biologist professor's popularity.

"But this is only one of the ways in which he thrives as an intellectual in the internet age. He is also prolific on Twitter, with more than half a million followers – and his success in this poll attests to his popularity online. He uses this platform to attack his old foe, religion, and to promote science and rationalism." more >>

Single Christians feel "isolated and ignored" within the larger church community, according to a new survey conducted in the United Kingdom.

The study, which was published earlier this month, took the responses of 2,754 people who were registered users on dating website, Christian Connection, and found that nearly 40 percent of respondents did not feel "treated as family members" in their church.

Many single churchgoers reported feeling "inadequate or ignored," and more than a third claimed they were treated differently from married couples, citing negative attitudes in particular towards single Christian women. more >>