A community of Syrians who converted to Christianity from Islam is growing in Kobani, a town besieged by Islamic State for months, and where the tide turned against the militants four years ago.The converts say the experience of war and the onslaught of a group claiming to fight for Islam pushed them towards their new faith. After a number of families converted, the Syrian-Turkish border town's first evangelical church opened last year.Islamic State militants were beaten back by US air strikes and Kurdish fighters at Kobani in early 2015, in a reversal of fortune after taking over swaths of Iraq and Syria. After years of fighting, US-backed forces fully ended the group's control over populated territory last month.Though Islamic State's ultra radical interpretation of Sunni Islam has been repudiated by the Islamic mainstream, the legacy of its violence has affected perceptions of faith.

Police say they have arrested more than 120 people after climate change protesters blocked major bridges and intersections in central London, bringing traffic to a standstill. The group Extinction Rebellion is organising several weeks of civil disobedience against what it says is the failure to tackle the causes of climate change. Chief Supt. Colin Wingrove said police were dealing with a number of demonstrations in central London which had had a significant impact on public transit. He said 55 bus routes had to be shut down and roughly 500,000 people had been affected. "At this time, ongoing demonstrations are causing serious disruptions to public transport, local businesses and Londoners who wish to go about their daily business," he said, adding that police expect the protests to last several weeks. On Monday, demonstrators blocked sites including Waterloo Bridge over the River Thames, the busy Oxford Circus intersection and Parliament Square, and vandalized the headquarters of oil company Shell. After hours of disruption, police ordered the group to confine protests to Marble Arch, beside Hyde Park. Scores of demonstrators who refused to move were arrested — 122 by early Tuesday afternoon — and traffic movement was slowed in several parts of central London.

Gunshots crack into the air as dusk falls. A young man from Zainakote village in Srinagar district, bumps into two...

It is an era of rapid urban expansion that ignores sustainable urban planning principles until disaster strikes. The city of...