LOS ANGELES (AP) — A half-mile section of Hollywood Boulevard has been closed to traffic and a giant opaque tent now lines four blocks of the famous thoroughfare. Fan bleachers are up and spotlights are everywhere.
Could the Academy Awards be coming early to Hollywood? No, bigger: On Monday evening, three theaters will roll out red carpets for the world premiere of the hugely anticipated "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."
ROME (RNS) — A Syrian priest held hostage for months by the ISIS terrorist group is certain his life was saved due to his interfaith work, despite being threatened with beheading by jihadists if he did not renounce Christianity.
The Rev. Jacques Mourad, a Syriac Catholic priest, was taken hostage in May from the Mar Moussa monastery, situated between the capital Damascus and the city of Homs. He and a volunteer from the monastery were forced into a car and driven for four days, during which time Mourad said he thought he would be killed.
