In an amendment to his March 19 executive order on limiting the spread of coronavirus, the Governor of Texas has decreed that attending “religious services conducted in churches, congregations, and houses of worship” is as important as shopping for food or going to medical appointments. The executive amendment came into effect on April 2.
According to a recent survey, 43.4% of American adults believe the coronavirus crisis is a wake-up call for the US to return to God. Nearly three-in-ten respondents (29.4%) said they think the outbreak and subsequent financial devastation are signs of the Biblical “Last Days.” The poll was conducted for the Joshua Fund (JF), a major US Christian charity.
Efforts to combat the spread of locust swarms in East Africa are facing serious challenges as a result of border closures, flight shutdowns, and increased shipping prices, with the current swarms expected to grow 500 times by June.
The Burmese military allowed its jets to open fire on four Christian villages in the predominantly Buddhist country in March, killing 21 people and forcing thousands of others to flee to a neighboring region.
The Jerusalem Islamic Waqf on Tuesday uploaded pictures to its official Facebook page showing Waqf employees carrying out unauthorized digs on the Temple Mount.
African leaders are warning of an economic collapse if financial assistance isn’t provided to the millions of people out of work because of the novel coronavirus.
China has been appointed to a panel on the controversial U.N. Human Rights Council, where it will help vet candidates for important posts — despite its decades-long record of systematic human rights abuse that the U.S. has said fueled the coronavirus pandemic.
Nonfarm payrolls dropped by 701,000 in March, according to Labor Department numbers released Friday that only begin to show the economic damage wrought by the coronavirus crisis.
The Democratic Party announced on Thursday that it will postpone the Democratic National Convention to the week of August 17 because of the coronavirus. It was originally scheduled to take place in July.
President Trump on Thursday railed against “partisan investigations” and “witch hunts” amid the coronavirus pandemic after Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) established a special House committee to examine the federal response to the pandemic.
More than 100 civil society groups urged governments Thursday not to use the global coronavirus pandemic as cover for future pervasive electronic snooping but instead make sure data is erased once the health crisis is over.
Queen Elizabeth II says Britons will overcome the new coronavirus pandemic if they confront the crisis with the same resolve that carried the nation through other trials and tragedies. Invoking the spirit of World War Two, the British monarch urged Britain in televised remarks to demonstrate the determination as generations of the past.
Iran has released a Christian woman who was jailed after refusing to reconvert to Islam, activists confirmed to Worthy News. Rokhsareh (Mahrokh) Ghanbari, 62, is among some 85,000 prisoners freed in recent weeks amid concerns about the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19.
Police, state governments, and radical Hindu nationalist groups are joining together against Christians in India, marshaling the accusation that Christians are forcing people to convert to faith in Jesus.
The Israeli government is surrounding ultra-orthodox neighborhoods with police barricades as punishment for the unwillingness of the Haredi to abide by government regulations.
A pastor in Nepal who made sure to fastidiously follow government regulations forbidding worship services was attacked by police anyway while at home with his family, the officers taunting him and Jesus.
Many Jewish leaders are making surprising comments about the imminent arrival of the messiah, even suggesting that a savior figure could arrive as early as Passover.
As countries struggle to contain the new coronavirus outbreak, a global fight has emerged over dwindling medical supplies. The tensions even led to growing competition for medical goods between the United States and its traditional European allies. Take Germany. The local government in the German state and capital, Berlin, claims that 200,000 U.S.-made protective masks bound for Germany never arrived. Authorities say the shipment was ‘confiscated’ in Bangkok, Thailand.
Christians in China have reported ongoing harassment from government authorities during the coronavirus crisis. China is ranked as one of the world’s worst countries in the persecution of Christians, according to the Open Doors USA’s World Watch List.
A former European Commission president has said the coronavirus crisis may result in the break-up of the European Union. In a rare statement last weekend, Jacques Delors said the lack of European solidarity in dealing with the crisis presented “a mortal danger” to the EU. Others have expressed similar concerns.