Gay North Carolina waitress receives bible verse instead of tip

A waitress from North Carolina claims she was left a bible verse instead of a tip earlier this week. 

Alexandra Judd was working at Zada Janes in Charlotte, North Carolina on Tuesday, when she claims that two patrons left her a bible verse on the tip line of their bill instead of cash — followed by a note at the bottom that says "praying for you." 

The customer wrote "Leviticus 20:13," which reads, "If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them."

Judd, who is gay, posted a censored photo of the bill to Facebook, which blocked out the customer's name and credit card info.

"I don't care what anyone says," Judd wrote on Facebook, "this is the most disrespectful thing you can do. Don't pray for me darling, I have everything I could possibly want and need in my life." 

Judd explained to the NY Daily News that the two women at the table asked for their bill to be split, one of them left a tip, the other left the note.

"I never thought people would discriminate against my sexuality that way," Judd told the Daily News.

Prior to the bill being dropped off, Judd also says that the women were being rude to her. 

"They just wouldn't talk to me, wouldn't answer my questions," she told to the Daily News. "They were really off, it was just rude."

The incident comes just weeks after Gov. Pat McCrory signed a law that erases previous discrimination protections on LGBT residents and forces transgender people to use the bathroom designated by the sex on their birth certificate. 

The law has received a lot of backlash in recent weeks, especially from the entertainment world, as everyone from Ringo Starr to Cirque du Soleil have cancelled events in the state in protest. 

Saudi Arabia could sell off billions in American assets if bill passes

The Saudi Arabian government has threatened to sell of hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of American assets should the U.S. Congress pass a bill that could hold the kingdom responsible for any role in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, the New York Times reported on Friday.

The newspaper reported that Saudi foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir told U.S. lawmakers last month that "Saudi Arabia would be forced to sell up to $750 billion in Treasury securities and other assets in the United States before they could be in danger of being frozen by American courts."

The bill, which passed the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this year, would take away immunity from foreign governments in cases "arising from a terrorist attack that kills an American on American soil."

The New York Times, citing administration officials and congressional aides, said "the Saudi threats have been the subject of intense discussions in recent weeks between lawmakers and officials from the State Department and the Pentagon."

It added that the Obama administration had lobbied Congress to block the passage of the bill.

The State Department said it stood "firmly with the victims of these acts of violence and their loved ones."

"We remain committed to bringing to justice terrorists and those who use terrorism to advance their depraved ideology," said State Department spokesman John Kirby.

In September a U.S. judge dismissed claims against Saudi Arabia by families of victims of the attacks, saying that the kingdom had sovereign immunity from damage claims by the families and from insurers that covered losses suffered by building owners and businesses.

French youths learn to resist jihadi 'sellers of dreams'

The first time jihadi recruiters approached 16-year-old Yacine outside his mosque in a rundown Paris suburb, they got right to the point.

"We started talking about Syria right off the bat," he said, recounting how they talked about "the holy war and how you should die a martyr and go to paradise, it was the best way to die."

The following Friday, he tried to leave the mosque before the end of prayers, but they cornered him, again pressuring him with their "precise, well-honed pitch", but he managed to get away.

Now Yacine, who assumes he was targeted because he is a devout Muslim, has started going to a different mosque.

But he does not hang around afterwards: "I pray and I leave."

The attacks in Paris and Brussels of November and March have thrown a spotlight on poor mainly immigrant neighbourhoods as targets for jihadist recruiters.

France's communities minister, Patrick Kanner, claimed that some 100 French neighbourhoods have "similar potential" as Molenbeek, the Brussels district that spawned many of the jihadists behind recent attacks in Europe.

In a series of interviews with AFP, Yacine and other youths in the Paris suburbs said they know people who have joined the ranks of the Islamic State (IS) group.

They post photos and videos on Facebook or SnapChat of themselves "killing people... always with a smile," as if they were sending postcards from "summer camp", Yacine said.

"I thank God my parents and my big brother have kept a close eye on me," he added.

- 'They feel rich' -

Another student, 18-year-old Nassim, says he has "fortunately" never crossed paths with jihadist recruiters.

But in March 2015, a childhood friend of his, after dropping out of school, left for Syria with another youth from Noisy-le-Sec, east of Paris.

Last autumn, he posted a picture of himself with three "brothers" having a meal with a Kalashnikov in view.

One of the three was 20-year-old Bilal Hadfi, who would go on to become one of the suicide bombers in the November 13 attacks in Paris.

"They said they were going skiing. It was a real shock," Nassim said. "He (the friend) was more than a friend, like a big brother. His mother cried a lot, so did his father."

Religious fervour has little to do with the appeal of jihad, said Farhad Khosrokhavar, research director at France's School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS).

"Going there (to Syria) makes them feel rich first of all," because IS provides them with housing, plenty of food and so on, Khosrokhavar said.

Secondly, "it's a coming of age through heroism, violence and self-affirmation, while... in France these are people who are virtually insignificant."

But Nassim said he is not having any of it. "It's better to be poor here than rich over there," he said.

At a fast-food joint in nearby Rosny-sous-Bois, 18-year-old Byllel said he feels the same way: "I'm sure I would never be taken in by them because I have a good faith, a nice life."

But he remains wary. "They talk a good game," he said. "They promise a direct ticket to paradise, they are sellers of dreams."

Their classmate Ismael feels less secure. "I don't know if I am mentally prepared because those people are very, very strong. Sending off 1,000 people (to Syria) is really something."

- Online recruiting -

According to the latest official figures, more than 2,000 French citizens or residents have been involved in jihadist cells and more than 600 have been to Syria or Iraq, including 85 minors.

"The main enemy is the Internet," said Nadia Dali, a counsellor at a high school in Noisy-le-Sec who is familiar with the online techniques of jihadi propagandists.

"A student will 'like' a page showing a child in Syria or... post a somewhat aggressive comment, and a (recruiter) responds, 'hey how about...?'"

Or a recruiter can make contact while playing a wildly popular online game such as "Call of Duty", "League of Legends" or "World of Warcraft".

Dali, 40, said students should be urged to "protect themselves" by learning to lock their Facebook walls and other safeguards.

But she said it was especially important for schools to pay close attention to the students and their families.

In order to "shut out" the recruiters, Dali tries to saturate students' free time with clubs, workshops and "talking shops", leaving the high school's doors open until 8:00 pm.

"They feel at home here," said the school's principal, Philippe Le Coz.