A former agent with the Shin Bet, Israel’s version of the FBI, confirmed the accuracy of the events told in the bestselling thriller Son of Hamas.

“Captain Loai,” now publicly known only as “G,” defended the account of events provided by Mosab Hassan Yousef in his book about his years working as a secret agent for Israel. Yousef is the eldest son of one of the founders of the terrorist group Hamas.

“I read Mosab’s book and also the Haaretz Magazine article, and I tell you: He did exaggerate,” said G, who supervised Yousef when he worked with Shin Bet, in an interview with Haaretz last week. “He exaggerated in being sparing in his descriptions of how many things he prevented and how many people he saved.” more >>

Though overshadowed by flying accusations between Iran and the U.S. on Monday, the opening day of the U.N.’s conference on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty offered some hopeful signs, said a global church body.

The United States, for the second time in its history, disclosed on Monday the number of nuclear warheads in its stockpile, pointed out the World Council of Churches, which has a long history of advocating for a nuclear-free world.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States would pursue more “transparency” in its nuclear stockpile. Afterward, the Pentagon revealed that it has 5,113 nuclear warheads – active and inactive – in its stockpile, and thousands of more retired nukes awaiting dismantling. more >>

The love of sports transcends culture and nationality and is therefore being used this week to promote peace between Israel and Palestinians.

In its seventh year, the annual “JPII Games – Pilgrims of Peace,” named after Pope John Paul II, brings together Italians, Israelis and Palestinians through sports games played throughout the Holy Land.

Participants can experience the sports pilgrimage either as an eight-day, April 21-28, or five-day, April 23-27, event. more >>

An array of evangelical leaders, including megachurch pastors and college presidents, are not only supporting the Obama administration’s push to reduce nuclear weapons, but are calling for the U.S. government to exert even more effort to negotiate with hard-to-deal-with rogue states.

Supporters of the Matthew 5 Project are urging the Obama administration and members of Congress to engage in negotiations with Iran and North Korea – two countries that the United States has no direct diplomatic relations with. Both countries, however, are suspected of building nuclear weapons, and – given their history of erratic behaviors – may use the weapons once they obtain them.

“The United States has crucial disagreements with Iran, but Jesus does not say talks should be refused until we approve of the conduct of the adversary,” reads a statement from the Matthew 5 Project that was recently sent to President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and other high-ranking members of the Obama administration. It was also sent to all the members of Congress. more >>

Evangelical leaders say the nuclear arms reduction treaty signed by President Obama and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev on Thursday will increase the chances of world peace.

The treaty, called New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty), will reduce the stockpile of nuclear weapons in both countries and restore an inspection team to verify their arsenals. The inspection agreement expired in December.

“Wisdom is better than weapons of wars,” said the Rev. Dr. Joel C. Hunter, senior pastor of the Orlando-based megachurch Northland – A Church Distributed, citing Ecclesiastes 9:18. “If implemented, the New START agreement will reduce the number of outdated nuclear weapons and the likelihood of terrorist appropriations of those weapons as it increases monitoring of nuclear material.” more >>

Darfuri Muslims are working with Christians to build a church in Southern Sudan as a symbol of reconciliation and gratitude.

The Muslims, members of the Darfur Students Association at the University of Juba, say they want to express gratitude to Lopez Lomong, a Sudan-born American track and field athlete who has publicly urged China to pressure the Sudanese government to end the conflict in Darfur.

Lomong had the honor of carrying the U.S. flag in the Opening Ceremony at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. He is a member of Team Darfur, a coalition of Olympic athletes that call for the end to the violence against Darfurians. more >>