NATO military alliance member Turkey has requested to join the BRICS bloc of major emerging market nations despite concerns it will move away from the West amid significant global security challenges.

U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has seized what it says are “Kremlin-run websites” and charged two Russian state media workers as part of what critics view as a crackdown on media with non-Western views.

A group of United Nations human rights experts has reported “extreme concern” that innocent people may have been killed during an “alarming” surge in executions carried out by the Islamic Republic of Iran last month, the UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR) stated in a press release on Monday (September 2).

Six children and a pregnant woman were among at least 12 people who died after a boat carrying dozens of asylum seekers to Britain was “ripped open, authorities confirmed Tuesday.

Ukraine was grieving late Tuesday as the extent of one of Russia’s deadliest attacks of the war became clear, with scores of people killed in a massive Russian missile strike.

Kyiv has condemned Mongolia for refusing to arrest visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin despite being a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Two US researchers believe they have discovered the probable deployment site of Russia’s 9M730 Burevestnik, a new nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed cruise missile, Reuters reported exclusively on September 2. Described by Russian President Vladimir Putin as “invincible,” the 9M730 Burevestnik missile is referred to by NATO as “SSC-X-9 Skyfall.”

US forces and Iraqi security forces last week killed 15 Islamic State terrorists during an operation in western Iraq that also left seven US military personnel injured, Algemeiner reports.

The annual BRICS Municipal Conference in Russia this October is expected to draw representatives from 126 nations with a view to possibly joining the bloc and leaving the US dollar for a new BRICS common currency.

Over the past month, there has been a notable assault on free speech, evidenced by the detention of Telegram’s head in France, the banning of the platform X in Brazil, heavy fines imposed in Germany, and revelations of active censorship by the Biden administration on Facebook and Instagram.

Israel’s military has released video footage of a Gaza tunnel where it says six hostages were recently killed by the Islamic Palestinian group Hamas.

While still bombarding Gaza and fighting Hamas on the ground following that Islamic terror group’s October 7 massacre against Israel, the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] is now “very focused” on combatting the Hezbollah Islamic terror group in Lebanon, Algemeiner reports.

Israeli negotiators believe there is now “close to zero” chance of agreeing a phased hostage-ceasefire agreement with Hamas that would see the return of 101 captives who were kidnapped to Gaza by Hamas during the October 7 attack on Israel, the Times of Israel (TOI) reports. Similarly, having worked to secure a new hostage-ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, the US Biden administration is understood to be “sad, upset and frustrated” at the stalling of talks.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Tuesday that Hamas no longer exists as a military formation, shortly after Hamas-linked authorities said a massive Israeli strike killed dozens in southern Gaza.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) chief Gen. Michael Kurilla met with Israeli Defense leaders to discuss “threats from Lebanon and Iran”, the Israeli military says.

Syrian media reported that at least 16 people were killed overnight between Sunday and Monday in what is described as the “most extensive” attack since the Gaza war began last year. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, six sites across four provinces—Damascus, Homs, Hama, and Tartus—were targeted.

At the MEAD Conference in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, former War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz stated that Israel should consider launching an offensive against Hezbollah within “days or a few weeks” if negotiations for a hostage deal with Hamas fail.

The national debt has surpassed $34.9 trillion for the first time in U.S. history.

An injured but defiant former U.S. President Donald J. Trump walked into the Fiserv Forum in downtown Milwaukee with a thick bandage over his ear as the crowd chanted “Fight! Fight! Fight” and pumped their fists.

A federal judge in Florida dismissed the classified documents-related criminal case against former President Donald Trump on Monday, saying the appointment of Special Counsel Jack Smith violated the Constitution.

Former U.S. President Donald J. Trump says “it was God alone” who protected him from assassination during a campaign rally in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, a sentiment shared by faith leaders and politicians.

U.S. President Joe Biden said Saturday he keeps former President Donald J. Trump in his prayers after he was nearly killed in an assassination attempt. “The stakes in this election are high. Politics must never be a killing field,” he said in a national address.

The gunman who shot and injured former U.S. President Donald J. Trump has been identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks.

Former U.S. President Donald J. Trump, who survived an apparent assassination attempt, said he “felt the bullet ripping” through his skin when he was struck in the ear during a shooting at his Pennsylvania rally.

A young woman who has been jailed in Iran after abandoning Islam and turning to faith in Christ has been denied requested psychological care despite suffering mental difficulties linked to her treatment in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison, Christians say.

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) states in its 2024 Annual Report that the government of Nigeria continues to tolerate terror attacks by nonstate Islamic extremists who want to impose their form of Sharia law upon Nigerians, especially Christians, Morning Star News reports.

US Christian ministry leaders believe a revival is taking place in the Islamic Middle East, with more than one million leaving Islam for Christianity in Iran alone, CBN News reports.

A prominent church leader in military-ruled Burma, also known as Myanmar, has been released by local authorities while serving a lengthy prison sentence for allegedly violating the Asian nation’s controversial anti-terrorism legislation, Worthy News established Wednesday.

There was fresh concern Wednesday about a Ukrainian Orthodox priest sentenced to 14 years in a Russian labor camp after Kyiv effectively banned the branch of the Orthodox church with links to Moscow.

Amid intensifying persecution against Christians in Nicaragua by the ruling post-communist dictatorial regime, seven Nicaraguan Catholic priests were arrested and sent to Rome, Italy in exile earlier this month, CBN News reports.

Churches across the western United States are facing soaring insurance premiums, and even potential closure, as high building costs and extreme weather, including hurricanes, wildfires, severe thunderstorms, and flooding buffet their regions, Religion News Service (RSN) reports.