The U.S. Supreme Court declined the opportunity Monday to issue a ruling that would either expand or restrict gun rights, Reuters reported. The Justices dismissed a National Rifle Association-backed lawsuit that challenged restrictions imposed on handgun owners by New York City. In an unsigned majority decision, the Justices said the case was moot as NYC had already lifted the restrictions that were objected to.
In ongoing vicious attacks by Muslim Fulani herdsmen against Christian communities in Nigeria, two more people were killed and two others were kidnapped on April 22-23, Morningstar News reports. The herdsmen also burned down 25 homes and a church building in the raids.
A Wuhan laboratory is the ‘most likely’ source of the COVID-19 outbreak now ravaging the globe, according to a U.S. government analysis that catalogs the evidence and concludes that other explanations for the origin of the coronavirus are less credible.
The United States has circulated a draft U.N. resolution that would indefinitely extend a U.N. arms embargo on Iran set to expire in October, a move almost certain to spark opposition from Russia, which has made no secret of its desire to resume conventional weapons sales to Tehran, U.S. officials and U.N. diplomats said Tuesday.
The federal debt has increased by more than $1 trillion so far in the month of April, according to data released by the U.S. Treasury.
The Independence Day celebrations, characterized by barbecues in local parks, have been banned by the Health Ministry. Most local municipalities also canceled the traditional firework shows, deeming it ‘inappropriate’ at the time of the epidemic.
Nearly nine out of every 10 Americans fear the imminent collapse of the U.S. economy during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new poll. The Axios-Ipsos CoronavirusIndex also showed that Americans fear the possible financial ruin of their nation more than the risk of reopening communities too early amid the virus outbreak.
Christians have launched a global letter-writing campaign demanding the release of an ethnic Korean believer who spent his 2000th day in a prison inside North Korea. Jang Moon Seok, a deacon, was kidnapped by suspected North Korean agents in November 2014 from China, according to aid workers familiar with the situation. He is currently serving a 15–year prison sentence on charges that friends link to his involvement providing aid to North Koreans and evangelism.
More than 130,000 people from across the world, many in lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, have decided to follow Jesus Christ after an online evangelism event, organizers said. “We are living through a Great Quarantine Revival, and I think God is just getting started,” explained evangelist Nick Hall, whose Pulse movement organized the virtual program.
The Governor of Tennessee expressed full support for holding drive-in church services during the COVID-19 pandemic by attending such a service himself, Christian Headlines reports. At a time when state and local leaders have grappled with whether to allow drive-in services, Gov. Bill Lee attended a multi-church ‘Beyond Our Walls’ worship service on Sunday evening.
A UK cabinet minister has said the government is planning legislation that would prohibit minors from receiving gender reassignment surgery, the Daily Telegraph reported. Equalities Minister Liz Truss was addressing a parliamentary committee last week when she stated it was important to protect minors from making such irreversible decisions.
The US State Department said Monday it was prepared to recognize actions taken by Israel to extend Israeli sovereignty to parts of the West Bank. However, this recognition would be ‘in the context of the Government of Israel agreeing to negotiate with the Palestinians along the lines set forth in President Trump’s [peace plan],’ a State Department spokesperson told The Times of Israel.
Wycliffe Associates, an international organization working with national translators with close to 1,200 languages in progress, is expanding its Bible translation technological reach with V-MAST, a video conferencing version of the MAST (Mobilized Assistance Supporting Translation) methodology.
The Trump administration notified Congress this week that it will try to refill the money it took from Pentagon accounts to use to build the border wall by cutting European defense assistance.
Tyson Foods warned ‘millions of pounds of meat’ will not make it to consumer shelves as processing plants are forced to shutter amid the coronavirus.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Friday said he has notified Congress that the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement will take effect on July 1, a month later than initially proposed.
After weeks of having online services due to the COVID-19 pandemic, about half of US churches are expected to resume holding in-person services in May, the Christian Post reported. Churches that reopen are expected to do so while still observing safety measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
A new report of a respected U.S. researcher concludes that more Americans believe in Satan than belief in God. George Barna, whose work is based at the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University, also writes: “Tens of millions of Americans consider themselves to be Christian but do not believe that God is really in control or cares what happens to them.”
A Baptist pastor in the U.S. state of Michigan has died shortly after celebrating his recovery from the new coronavirus and preaching about the resurrection of Christ. David Ford, a pastor at Friendship House of Prayer Baptist Church in the state capital Lansing, had been hospitalized with the virus disease COVID-19, friends said.
The US Congressional Budget Office (CBO) predicted on Friday that, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, America’s deficit will reach $3.7 trillion this year, Politico reports. The CBO also said that unemployment will rise to 16 percent in 2020, before going to down to 9.5 percent by the end of 2021.