The leader of a Kenyan doomsday cult went on trial on Monday on charges of terrorism over the deaths of more than 400 of his followers in a macabre case that shocked the world. Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie appeared in court in the Indian Ocean port city of Mombasa along with 94 co-defendants, an AFP journalist said. (France 24)
Read MoreTo determine where Americans cope the best, WalletHub compared more than 180 cities across 39 key metrics. Our data set ranges from average weekly work hours to the unemployment rate to divorce and suicide rates. (McCann, WalletHub)
Read MoreFaced with a low inventory of affordable housing, steep competition among buyers and renters, a slow decline in rent prices and climbing mortgage rates, young people across the country are being pushed into finding creative ways to afford housing. (Rohman, The New York Times)
Read MoreAs America’s single-largest religious group, Catholics show up everywhere, from the Italian alleyways of New England to the thriving Filipino churches of Hawaii, from the Polish pockets of the Rust Belt to the Cuban corners of South Florida. (Blanco, Bronner & Van Dam, The Washington Post)
Read MoreIranians turned out in higher numbers than in previous votes to elect a reformist president who ran on a platform of re-engaging with the West and loosening the country’s strict moral codes for women. (Faucon & Eqbali, The Wall Street Journal)
Read MoreA tense election in the Bulgarian Orthodox Church on Sunday (June 30) ended with the enthronement of Metropolitan Daniil of Vidin as the new metropolitan of Sofia and patriarch of all Bulgaria, giving the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow an apparent ally as the church and its sponsor, Vladimir Putin, look to strengthen its influence in the Balkans. (Klein, Religion News Service)
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