The two brothers, Qaisar and Amoon Ayub, were accused in 2011 of posting material offensive to Islam on their website, and subsequently sent to the Jhelum prison in Lahore in 2015. Qaisar testified that he had shut down the offending website in 2009 but that a Muslim acquaintance of his, Shahryar Gill, had resurrected the site keeping the copyright in Qaisar’s name. MORE

A judge has blocked an illegal immigrant’s deportation on the basis of “human rights” concerns despite conceding that the man — said to pose a “serious threat” to the public after raping a 17-year-old girl — only pretended to become Christian as a ploy to stay in Britain. MORE

Pope Francis took advantage of his Angelus message Sunday to praise the U.N.’s Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) approved in Marrakesh last week. MORE

Natalie Portman isn’t a fan of Israel’s controversial nation-state law, which defines Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people.

The Jerusalem-born actress slammed the law, which was criticized as it was debated and adopted over the summer, in an interview with BBC’s Arabic language channel published Sunday. MORE

All religions in China are regulated by the State.

Muslim inmates from internment camps in far western China hunched over sewing machines, in row after row. They were among hundreds of thousands who had been detained and spent month after month renouncing their religious convictions. Now the government was showing them on television as models of repentance, earning good pay — and political salvation — as factory workers. MORE

Each week Religion News Service presents a gallery of photos of religious expression around the world. This week’s gallery includes images  Of. Dancers in indigenous attire perform in honor of the Virgin of Guadalupe in the plaza of the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in northern Mexico City, Dec. 12 2018 on the feast day of the Lady of Guadalupe. RNS photo by Irving Cabrera Torres

In Christ, Joseph

Dear Reader:

The Church makes the months of December and January days of joy and expectation. It fits in with the Church’s spiritual care for her children. For us, therefore, we have the joyful preparation for Christmas—with a celebration that we look forward to with Midnight with its Christmas caroling and hymns.

State and federal authorities estimated Tuesday that it will cost at least $3 billion to clear debris from 19,000 homes and businesses destroyed by three California wildfires last month. MORE

Saint Damasus I, (born c. 304, Rome—died Dec. 11, 384, Rome; feast day December 11), pope from Oct. 1, 366, to Dec. 11, 384. During his rule the primacy of the Roman see was asserted. MORE

California’s economy doesn’t feel cool when it comes to tax collections.

Surging income and sales tax collections pushed California’s government revenues to $44.97 billion in the current fiscal year through November, up $2.29 billion in a year, according to the State Controller’s Office. MORE

Excessive employment-related lawsuits and ubiquitous PAGA claims in particular continue to plague both large and small employers in California  — the Los Angeles Times published a piece on this shortly after California was crowned top “Judicial Hellhole.” Read the full report here.

MOSCOW — A court in Ukraine has ruled that officials in the country violated the law by revealing, during the 2016 presidential election in the United States, details of suspected illegal payments to Paul Manafort. MORE

St. Lucy, Italian Santa Lucia, (died 304, Syracuse, Sicily; feast day December 13), virgin and martyr who was one of the earliest Christian saints to achieve popularity, having a widespread following before the 5th century. She is the patron saint of the city of Syracuse (Sicily) and of virgins. Because of various traditions associating her name with light, she came to be thought of as the patron of sight and was depicted by medieval artists carrying a dish containing her eyes. MORE

GOD NEVER ABANDONS US. WE ABANDON HIM. 

The pontiff observed that the phrase, “lead us not into temptation,” is problematic, and is calling to replace those words with “abandon us not when in temptation.” MORE