A Christian in Iran sent to languish in a remote desert town after a seven-year prison sentence found a warm welcome from local Muslims, according to a new YouTube interview.
A new law signed by Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam on Friday has the effect of prohibiting any place or business that is open to the public from denying transgender biological males access to ladies’ bathrooms, locker rooms or dressing rooms.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz were given a further 48 hours to try and reach a coalition deal, the Times of Israel reports. President Reuven Rivlin agreed the short extension minutes before the midnight-on-Monday deadline that Gantz had been given to form a government.
Debt held by the public will exceed the size of the U.S. economy by the end of fiscal 2020, a watchdog said Monday.
The coronavirus pandemic that has crippled big-box retailers and mom and pop shops worldwide may be making a dent in illicit business, too.
The Chinese government has continued its campaign of removing crosses from churches in recent months, citing bizarre reasons in support of the “sinicization” of religion begun by President Xi Jinping.
Deadly tornadoes tore through the Southern U.S. on Sunday and Monday, killing 26 people and trapping a handful of people in their homes in South Carolina.
The Kansas Supreme Court has ruled in favor of Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s executive order limiting religious services to 10 people, the Washington Examiner reports. Referring to the coronavirus outbreak that prompted the order, the Court said Saturday: “We agreed to expedite these proceedings due to the nature of the public health emergency all agree is present.”
Planned Parenthood of California is supporting a bill that would prevent health insurance companies from giving parents information about “sensitive” medical procedures received by young adult or minor children listed on their same policy. “Sensitive services” would include abortions and certain transgender treatments and sex-change operations, among various others. The California Family Council (CFC) has advised concerned residents to contact the office of Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson (D), who is sponsoring the bill.
With talks between the two leading candidates for Prime Minister sputtering again, Israeli President Reuben Rivlin warned Sunday that a fourth election could be forthcoming.
A pastor and three members of his congregation were killed in Nigeria in April, as lack of a response by government authorities to Islamist Fulani herdsmen attacks continues to leave Christians vulnerable.
Israel’s High Court ruled Sunday that a petition to disqualify Benjamin Netanyahu from forming a new government was filed too early. The petition claims Netanyahu should be barred from leading the country because of the corruption charges he faces. Justice Alex Stein dismissed the petition on the grounds that President Reuven Rivlin has not asked Netanyahu to form a government coalition this time around. Nevertheless, the Times of Israel reports, the Court said the application could be renewed should Rivlin give Netanyahu such a mandate in due course.
The chief of the European Union’s executive has warned the block’s elderly that they may have to stay in lockdown till 2021 due to the new coronavirus pandemic. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made the comments in a German newspaper. Her remarks further overshadowed Easter and Passover celebrations in Europe. Von der Leyen told Germany’s daily Bild that older people might have to be kept isolated until the end of the year.
Christian songs reverberated throughout the Dutch town of Urk as residents took to the streets to celebrate Easter outside closed churches in one of Europe’s most God-fearing communities. They gathered Sunday after the 57-year-old housewife Jannie Molenaar expressed concern that locals would no longer be able to sing in churches due to the coronavirus pandemic.
A judge in the U.S. State of Kentucky has prevented a mayor from stopping an evangelical church’s drive-in service planned for Easter, despite a new coronavirus pandemic. The ruling came as Republicans condemned Democratic Governor Andy Beshear’s statewide plan to force people into quarantine if they attend mass gatherings, including religious ones.
A second wave of desert locusts, projected to be 20 times the size of earlier swarms that the UN has called “unprecedented,” is expected to arrive in Africa and the Middle East over the summer.
Britain has pledged 200 million pounds ($248 million) to charities and the World Health Organization (WHO), which has come under U.S. pressure over its handling of the new coronavirus pandemic. Its Easter present came while British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has been suffering from the virus COVID-19, said he “owed” his life to British medics.
Rabbis in Israel are calling for the reinstitution of the temple service as a means of averting plagues, pointing to the Passover sacrifice that saved the Israelites in Egypt as a model for understanding current events.
President Trump issued a major disaster declaration for Wyoming on Saturday, meaning that there is now such a declaration within all 50 states due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
OPEC and its oil producing allies on Sunday finalized a historic agreement to cut production by 9.7 million barrels per day, following multiple days of discussions and back-and-forth between the world’s largest energy producers. The cut is the single largest output cut in history.