Uzbekistan’s New Religion Law Adds Pressure on Christians
Christian rights activists say Uzbekistan’s new Religion Law maintains restrictions despite state media claims that it extend freedoms.
Year: 2021
Rouhani warns Iran could enrich uranium to weapons-grade levels
Iran’s outgoing president on Wednesday warned his country could enrich uranium at weapons-grade levels of 90 percent if it chose, though it still wanted to save its tattered nuclear deal with world powers.
Democrats Attempting to Force $3.5 Trillion spending bill through without GOP support
Senate Democrats announced a top-line budget number late Tuesday that will propel their plan to enact the full array of President Joe Biden’s social welfare and family aid promises without Republican votes.
US to evacuate under-threat Afghan interpreters as Taliban gains ground
Thousands of interpreters who aided US and NATO forces in Afghanistan will be evacuated beginning in late July, Washington announced Wednesday, as Taliban insurgents captured a strategic crossing on the Pakistan border from government forces.
Drug-overdose deaths in the U.S. rose by nearly 30% in 2020, synthetic opioids primarily to blame
Deaths due to drug overdoses in the United States increased nearly 30% during 2020, a spike largely attributed to the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic combined with an increasingly deadly drug supply.
15 years on, IDF girds for a potentially devastating war against Hezbollah
In a future war with Hezbollah, more rockets and missiles would be fired at Israel from Lebanon in the span of less than two days than were fired during the entire 11-day battle between Israel and Palestinian terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip in May, according to fresh Israeli military assessments.
‘Just the beginning’: UAE opens Tel Aviv embassy as sides hail ties
The United Arab Emirates on Wednesday formally inaugurated its embassy in Israel, capping a process that began with an agreement to normalize diplomatic relations nearly a year ago.
Senate Democrats to introduce bill to federally decriminalize marijuana
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and other Senate Democrats plan to unveil legislation Wednesday that would decriminalize marijuana on a federal level.
Police are being attacked in major cities grappling with cop shortages
Police are being attacked in major cities where departments are struggling to maintain staff.
‘Down with dictatorship’: 19K protest, clash with cops over France COVID rules
Police in Paris fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators on Wednesday, as 19,000 people protested throughout France over new coronavirus restrictions.
Nigeria: Kaduna state closes 13 mostly Christian schools as abductions spiral
Amid a catastrophic situation of relentless kidnappings in Nigeria’s Kaduna state, the local Schools Quality Assurance Authority (SQAA) has ordered the closure of 13, mostly Christian, schools which it identified as being “vulnerable” to attacks by Islamic militants who abduct students, Christian Solidarity Worldwide reports. Following the kidnapping of 140 pupils from Bethel Baptist High School on July 5th, CSW said Kaduna has become an “epicenter for kidnapping.”
Israel: Archaeologists find 2,000-year-old coins inscribed with references to freedom of Jerusalem and Zion
Israeli archaeologists in the Binyamin region of the West Bank recently found two 2,000-year-old coins which are inscribed with references to the freedom of Jerusalem and Zion, the Times of Israel reports. The coins date back to the times of the Jewish wars against the Romans.
Abortion providers file lawsuit to block Texas ‘heartbeat’ legislation
A group of abortion providers filed a federal lawsuit against Texas on Tuesday, in an effort to block a new ‘heartbeat’ law that allows private citizens to sue anyone who helps a woman get an abortion, UPI reports.
Church of England confirms it will apologize for centuries of supporting anti-semitism in England
The Church of England has confirmed it will officially apologize for the church’s involvement in the expulsion of Jews from medieval England, the Telegraph reports. Jewish groups have welcomed the move.
Iran Jails Convert For Refusing To Abandon Christian Faith
A former Muslim who embraced faith in Christ has been ordered to begin a ten-month prison sentence for “propaganda against the Islamic Republic,” Worthy News learned Wednesday.
India: 154 reported cases of Christian persecution in first half of 2021
Christian rights groups have recorded 154 incidents of persecution against believers in India for the first half of 2021 alone, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports. Persecution against Indian Christians has intensified since the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in 2014.
Militants Kill 18 In Nigeria’s Christian Area
Eighteen people have been killed in Nigeria’s, mainly Christian, southern Kaduna State by suspected Fulani Islamist militants, aid workers confirmed Tuesday.
Bootleg Fire, one of dozens raging in the West, creates ‘firenado’ near Oregon-California border
Scores of major wildfires were raging virtually unchecked across the West on Tuesday as an unrelenting heat wave and historic drought turned a wide swath of the nation into tinder.
72 People Killed in South African Riots
Seventy-two people have been killed in riots and looting in South Africa, police said Tuesday, amid protests over the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma.
Biden: ‘We’re Facing the Most Significant Test of Our Democracy Since the Civil War’
President Joe Biden on Tuesday accused Republicans of wanting to make it hard and inconvenient for people to vote, adding that the United States is “facing the most significant test of our democracy since the Civil War.”