McDonald’s Sells Business In Russia Amid Global Worries
McDonald’s, the U.S. fast-food franchise which came to symbolize American capitalism and even a peace theory, is selling its business in Russia.
covid-19
Southern Baptist Convention membership in sharp decline over last three years
The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) has lost more than one million members in the past three years, Christianity Today reports. The loss of membership in the largest Protestant denomination in the US coincides with the COVID-19 pandemic but follows over 10 years of prior decline.
Biden Marks ‘1 Million COVID Deaths’
U.S. President Joe Biden said Thursday there are “one million empty chairs” as he marked the 1 million recorded American deaths in the coronavirus outbreak.
Sri Lanka Has New Leader As Violence Spreads
Bankrupt Sri Lanka appointed a new prime minister hoping to quell worsening civil unrest in which at least nine people died this week, and more than 300 were injured.
North Korea In Lockdown Over COVID-19
North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un has imposed a national lockdown, with state media saying his nation faces the “biggest emergency incident” after confirming its first COVID-19 outbreak.
CDC: Firearm homicide rate soared by nearly 35% between 2019 – 2020
Coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic, the US firearm homicide rate increased by a massive 34.6% from 2019 to 2020, reaching its highest level since 1994, a study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday has shown.
DIA: Intel suggests COVID virus was lab-engineered
Army Lt. Gen. Scott Berrier, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, revealed in prepared Senate testimony this week that some U.S. intelligence agencies — not identified by name — believe the virus behind the COVID-19 pandemic may have been genetically modified in a laboratory and not transmitted naturally from an animal host in China, where it was first identified.
House Republicans Demand Answers From CDC Over Reports It Tracked Location Data From Millions Of Americans During COVID-19 Pandemic
Republican Georgia Rep. Jody Hice sent a letter Tuesday to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) demanding answers over reports the government agency tracked the location data from millions of Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic.
WHO Pushes Global Pandemic Treaty (Worthy News In-Depth)
The World Health Organization (WHO) is preparing a global pact that critics fear will give it absolute power over global biosecurity.
Explosion Hit Cuba Hotel; Several Killed
A massive explosion killed eight people and destroyed much of a five-star hotel in Havana that was long known for hosting government leaders and celebrities.
India: 18 Christians jailed after closed case is reopened
Eighteen Christians who were falsely accused in a five-year-old closed vandalism case in India’s Chhattisgarh state were re-arrested and jailed for several days in the same case before being ordered to reappear in court on April 29, Morning Star News (MSN).
Chinese Communist Party Orders Millions More To Stay Home
Beijing tightened restrictions on millions of residents following a surge of COVID-19 cases, Chinese state-run media reported Thursday.
CDC Tracked Millions of Phones to See If Americans Followed COVID Lockdown Orders
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) bought access to location data harvested from tens of millions of phones in the United States to perform analysis of compliance with curfews, track patterns of people visiting K-12 schools, and specifically monitor the effectiveness of policy in the Navajo Nation, according to CDC documents obtained by Motherboard. The documents also show that although the CDC used COVID-19 as a reason to buy access to the data more quickly, it intended to use it for more general CDC purposes.
Putin’s Future Uncertain Amid Health Scare
Russian President Vladimir Putin has reportedly nominated a hardline security official to replace him while he has cancer surgery.
Biden administration faces mounting Title 42 concerns
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki fielded questions on Title 42 during Wednesday’s news briefing, where reporters pressed her on how the administration would respond to an even greater surge in illegal immigrants if the Trump-era policy is lifted.
Attorneys general coalition suing Biden administration over end of Title 42 grows to 21 states
Ten days after three attorneys general sued the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention over its plan to terminate the immigration-related public health authority known as Title 42, their lawsuit now includes 21 states as plaintiffs.
Canadian think tank: law must change after houses of worship treated ‘unequally’ during pandemic
A Canadian think tank has published a policy brief calling for a change in Ontario law, after concluding that houses of worship in the province were unequally and arbitrarily subjected to greater restrictions than retail businesses were during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Biden to host ASEAN summit for Southeast Asian leaders
US President Joe Biden will host a Special Summit for leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Washington next month, the Washington Examiner reports.
Judge Rules Federal Transport Mask Mandate Unlawful
A U.S. judge in Florida said on Monday that a mask mandate on public transportation is unlawful, overturning a Biden administration effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
Sri Lanka Christians Pray After Buddhist Attack
Evangelical Christians in bankrupt Sri Lanka were weighing their options Friday after new details emerged of a Buddhist mob storming a church and injuring one believer.