In countries where governments already oppress Christians because of their faith, COVID-19 has led to more surveillance of Christians than ever before, says Wycliffe Associates. The Orlando-based international organization empowers mother-tongue Bible translators and partners with local churches in the advancement of Church Owned Bible Translation.
Organizers of the annual World Economic Forum event in Davos, Switzerland, have again changed their planned venue for next year’s edition, announcing it will now take place in Singapore in May — a sign that the COVID-19 crisis has played havoc with planning.
The European Union on Monday invited presumptive U.S. President-elect Joe Biden to help mend tattered trans-Atlantic ties and urged him to join it in a long-term “strategic dialogue” that would address global issues ranging from COVID-19 to climate change.
A well-known Iranian journalist Momahad Ahwaze has said that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has transferred his power to his son Mojtaba Khamenei because of increasing concerns about the state of his health, Newsweek reported on Saturday.
Some 61% of the Israeli public would be interested in being vaccinated for the coronavirus, a new survey has found. Some 18% would refuse to be vaccinated.
After Britain’s exit from the European Union, or Brexit, the two sides now face deadlock over an important trade deal. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen instructed representatives to secure their annual $1 trillion in trade.
The British government has granted Pfizer a legal indemnity protecting it from being sued for possible side effects of its new coronavirus vaccine.
Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh is set to consider a joint request by the Kentucky Attorney General and a local Christian school to set aside Sunday’s federal appeals court ruling which upheld a state COVID-19 executive order banning in-person classes, Fox News reports.
The Republican mayor of Lancaster City, California said last week that people who do not wear a mask in public should be arrested on the grounds they are committing domestic terrorism, Los Angeles Daily News reports. A sharp critic of LA County’s COVID-19 lockdown measures, Lancaster Mayor Rex Parris made his remarks at a Supervisors Board meeting amid leaders’ growing frustration about blanket shutdown orders they believe are harming local economies and violating civil liberties.
Britain came one step closer Tuesday to effectively forcing its citizens to take a coronavirus vaccine if they want their lives back.
A new wave of coronavirus infections is overshadowing the 35th anniversary of Europe’s border-free Schengen Area. France and Germany are among European Union member states facing significant challenges amid rising coronavirus infection in Europe ahead of Christmas.
California’s attorney general on Monday urged the Supreme Court to reject a petition from a group of California churches disputing the state’s coronavirus restrictions.
France will have to review the restrictions it created for worship attendance to combat the spread of the coronavirus, according to the Western European nation’s highest court.
A federal appeals court in Kentucky has upheld a state COVID-19 order issued by Gov. Andy Beshear to close religious and private schools in seeking to contain the spread of the virus, the Washington Examiner reports. In making its ruling, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a restraining order issued previously by the District Court against the closing of religious schools. The lawsuit was originally filed by Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron and the Danville Christian Academy, who argued that the closure of religious schools is unconstitutional.
Teams from Britain and the European Union resumed face-to-face talks on a post-Brexit trade deal Saturday, with both sides sounding gloomy about striking an agreement in the little time that remains.
A Christian girl who is suffering from the coronavirus is in hiding after a court annulled her marriage with her Muslim kidnapper, trial observers told Worthy News.
Hungary’s government says landmarks in Budapest lit up in red to remember persecuted Christians who it claims to form the world’s most suffering faith community. “The initiative “Red Wednesday” was about commemorating persecuted Christians around the world,” said Tristan Azbej, Hungary’s state secretary for assisting persecuted Christians.
The US Supreme voted 5-4 to prohibit New York State from re-imposing COVID-19 restrictions on religious gatherings, Politico reports. The court’s emergency ruling issued late on Wednesday night represents a significant shift away from the decisions it made in May and July, when it upheld restrictions on churches in California and Nevada.
The U.S president of an influential Christian broadcaster warned Wednesday that American churches could face similar persecution as denominations in Algeria.
In what has been described as one of the largest cuts to big-city police forces this year, Seattle City Council voted 8-1 Monday to cut its police department (SPD) budget by some $30 million dollars, around 18%, Fox News reports. The council also agreed to recruit 100 new police officers in 2021, but millions of dollars will reportedly be allocated away from the SPD and reassigned to community alternatives.