The United Nations (UN) has warned that vast swarms of locusts are set on a “path of destruction” across Africa, affecting nations that had not seen the pest in decades. Locust controllers are concerned the pests will wipe out crops in a potentially “Biblical catastrophe,” leaving millions of people without food in some of the most vulnerable countries in the world.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell says the United States may face a prolonged economic downturn, and new unemployment numbers out Thursday morning seem to reinforce his prediction. The latest stats reveal nearly 3 million more Americans filed for jobless aid –coronavirus-related layoffs now reaching 36 million.
The United States has accused China of hacking American vaccine research amid a global coronavirus pandemic.
An American mission pilot flying much-needed coronavirus test kits to a remote village in Indonesia has died in a plane crash, her Christian aviation organization confirmed.
Hope was rising Thursday for an Iranian Christian father and his young son held in detention on the Hungarian-Serbian border for 17 months, after the European Union’s top court condemned Hungary’s treatment of asylum seekers. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that Budapest was obliged to reconsider their applications. The court stressed that Hungarian authorities circumvented EU law by holding migrants seeking refuge in unlawful prison-like conditions.
US President Donald Trump further hardened his rhetoric toward China on Thursday, saying he no longer wishes to speak with Xi Jinping and warning darkly he might cut ties over the rival superpower’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) office has opened more than 370 cases of alleged fraud in which scammers tried to sell counterfeit COVID-19 test kits, treatments, masks, and cleaning products. Since the US entered lockdown around two months ago, the HSI has cracked down on individuals and organizations it suspects of fraud and has investigated nearly 25,000 website domains, the Washington Examiner reports.
Police in Montenegro have used tear gas against demonstrators demanding the release of eight Serbian Orthodox Church priests. The church leaders were detained for holding a religious procession despite a ban on gatherings due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Dozens of villagers have been killed in the latest attack on Christian communities in northwestern Nigeria by suspected Fulani Muslim militants, rights investigators, told Worthy News late Wednesday. Among victims were reportedly five people who died when armed men of Fulani origin attacked Makyali village in the Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna state. One person was injured in Wednesday’s attack, added advocacy group Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) in a statement.
Nearly 40% of lower-income Americans lost work as the coronavirus pandemic began its assault on the U.S. economy, according to the Federal Reserve.
A new Democratic bill proposed by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., without input from Republicans or the Trump administration is “dead on arrival,” top Republican leaders say.
A House resolution from Illinois Democrat Rep. Bobby Rush that would put Big Government in charge of tracking citizens’ movements as they relate to COVID-19 mitigation efforts — even sending health bureaucrats to “individuals’ residences,” “as necessary,” as the legislation states — has a most apt number: 6666.
A senior official with the International Monetary Fund says the world economic outlook may be even worse than the grim forecast announced by the organization last month.
The head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, has called on believers of all religions to “unite together spiritually” and pray on May 14 that God would “help humanity overcome the coronavirus pandemic.” However, many evangelical leaders warn about ecumenical movements laying aside essential doctrines of the faith for the sake of unity and affirm this is the apostasy of which the Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians 2.
A number of churches in Illinois held in-person services on Sunday, against Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s COVID-19 orders limiting worship services to 10 people, Fox News reported. Several churches have filed suit claiming the Governor’s coronavirus orders are unconstitutional.
The U.S. Supreme Court appears to be divided over two separate cases involving whether President Donald Trump must turn over his tax returns and financial records after subpoenas from congressional Democrats and a New York City district attorney.
The United States on Tuesday reported a record $738 billion budget deficit in April as an explosion in government spending and a shrinking of revenues amid the novel coronavirus pandemic pushed it deeply into the red.
Russia is mourning the death of at least five coronavirus patients who died early Tuesday when a fire broke out in a hospital in St. Petersburg. The tragedy in Russia’s second-largest city, followed two other deadly blazes at care facilities in Russia as it struggles to contain the coronavirus pandemic. These incidents overshadowed plans by Russian President Vladimir Putin to re-open the economy after an extended lockdown.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing mounting criticism over his proposal to “microchip” children who return to schools and kindergartens as the national coronavirus lockdown ends.
Many of the coronavirus pandemic layoffs will become permanent job losses, according to a new study with alarming implications for the future of the economy.