NM Finally Agrees to Obey Supreme Court, Drops COVID Restrictions on Indoor Worship
New Mexico on Friday eliminated coronavirus-related capacity restrictions on religious services.
Month: April 2021
Leaked: Russia Sabotaged Iran Nuclear Deal to Prevent Tehran from Normalizing with West
Leaked audio tapes that reveal the behind-the-scenes power struggles of Iranian officials have recently been published by the New York Times. In the leaks, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif lamented that it is the Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) who implements policy, overruling governmental decisions.
NIH says it has identified over 500 ‘scientists of concern’ amid Chinese theft challenge
A top official at the National Institutes of Health said the federal agency has identified more than 500 “scientists of concern” within federally funded academic institutions and research programs as the U.S. government grapples with systematic foreign influence efforts, including Chinese economic espionage.
Supreme Court to hear case involving disclosure of alleged CIA detention sites
The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a case that could reveal new details about CIA detention facilities in foreign countries.
Supreme Court declines religious liberty dispute between California and Texas
The Supreme Court declined a case challenging California’s ban on state-funded travel to Texas and other states that allow Christian adoption and foster care agencies to refuse service to gay and transgender couples on Monday.
Pope Prays As Rescue Workers Report 130 Migrant Deaths At Sea
Pope Francis on Sunday prayed for those who looked the other way after at least 130 migrants fleeing war, persecution and poverty perished in the Mediterranean and aid workers accused states of not responding to distress calls.
Dozens Die As Blaze Hits Baghdad COVID Hospital
Anxious families searched for relatives in Baghdad after the death toll of a weekend fire at a hospital for coronavirus patients rose to at least 82.
Christian Missionaries Die Of COVID In India
Christian missionaries and church leaders already suffering persecution in several areas are among those dying of severe symptoms of COVID-19 raging in India, aid workers say.
Ukraine Recalls 35th Anniversary Of Chernobyl Blast Amid Misery and Hope
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky was due Monday to visit the Chernobyl exclusion zone to remember the 35th anniversary of the world’s worst nuclear accident. His address to Ukrainians came as the tragedy is still being felt among suffering survivors who once lived in the area, where rare species have taken over.
Israel shuts down Gaza fisheries following three straight nights of rockets from the Strip
After three consecutive nights of rockets firing from Gaza into southern Israel, and five rockets overnight, Israel shut down the Gaza fishing zone Monday, the Times of Israel reports. Israeli journalists have noted that airstrikes are normally conducted in retaliation for Gaza rockets, and that the closure of fisheries appears to be Israel’s only response in this round of the ongoing conflict.
Appeals court allows abortion waiting period; SCOTUS does not have to intervene
In a ruling which means the US Supreme Court does not have to immediately get involved, a federal appeals court temporarily reinstated Tennessee’s 48-hour waiting period for abortions, the Washington Free Beacon reports. The appeals court decision overturned a 2020 trial court decision which determined the waiting period instituted in 2017 to be unconstitutional.
Judge recuses himself in Arizona election audit case
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Christopher Coury on Sunday recused himself from presiding over a challenge to a Republican 2020 election audit Arizona requested by state Senate Republicans, the Washington Examiner reports.
‘There are six sexes,’ lawmaker tells Public Education hearing
During a hearing before the US Public Education Committee last week, Texas Democratic Rep. James Talarico asserted that there are six sexes, not two, the Washington Times reports. The Harvard-educated lawmaker made his assertion during a hearing on House Bill 4042, a measure that would prevent transgender pupils from competing in girls’ K-12 school sports.
Fully open Texas and Florida reporting fewer COVID cases than Democrat-led Michigan, Pennsylvania and New York
Republican-led states including Texas and Florida are reporting fewer coronavirus cases than Michigan, Pennsylvania and New York — all of which are led by prominent Democrats who refuse to roll back COVID-19 regulations and statewide mask mandates, according to CDC data.
Truth in Accounting: U.S. national debt closer to $123 trillion, nearly $796,000 per household
The U.S. national debt is closer to $123 trillion, more than four times what the Treasury Department is reporting, Chicago-based Truth in Accounting calculates in its new annual analysis of the nation’s finances.
NYPD Officers Leaving In Droves, 75% Increase In Quitting Or Retirement In 2020
The members of the NYPD grew so disenchanted with their jobs in 2020 that over 5,300 uniformed officers either retired or quit, an astonishing 75% increase over the year before, amounting to 15% of the total number of officers on the force. The impetus for the officers quitting seemed to be the death of George Floyd and the unrest that followed; between May 25 and June 24, 2020, a whopping 272 officers left the force in one month.
Police declare riot, state of emergency extended in violence-plagued Portland
Anarchists in Portland smashed windows, sprayed graffiti on buildings and broke into businesses on Friday night, continuing a year-long wave of violence in the protest-weary Oregon city.
Fully vaccinated US tourists to be allowed into EU this summer
Vaccinated tourists from the United States will be permitted to visit the European Union this summer, according to a European Commission official.
Syria oil tanker catches fire after alleged Israeli attack
Syria’s oil ministry said on Saturday that firefighting teams managed to extinguish a fire in one of the tanks of an oil tanker off the oil terminal of Baniyas after a suspected drone attack from the direction of Lebanese territorial waters, state media reported.
Dozens arrested in night of chaos and clashes in Jerusalem
The Israel Police said 44 people were arrested and 20 officers were wounded in a night of chaos in Jerusalem, where security forces separately clashed with Palestinians angry about Ramadan restrictions and Jewish extremists who held an anti-Arab march nearby.