French authorities said Tuesday that crown jewels stolen in a daring daylight heist at the Louvre Museum over the weekend are worth an estimated 88 million euros ($102 million) — excluding their immense historical value to France.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Monday dismissed U.S. President Donald Trump’s claims that American airstrikes had wiped out Iran’s nuclear industry, telling the president to “keep dreaming.”

Concerns mounted Monday over the fate of a bishop and 12 clergymen of the Armenian Apostolic Church who were detained amid a deepening standoff between church leaders and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s government — a dispute unfolding as Christians in the region face growing pressure.

Ukraine and its key European allies have declared that any negotiations to end the war with Russia must be based on the current line of contact, rejecting Moscow’s territorial demands, as doubts grow over a planned summit between U.S. President Donald J. Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

U.S. President Donald J. Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have confirmed the signing of an $8.5 billion agreement to strengthen cooperation on rare earths and other critical minerals, aiming to reduce global dependence on China’s supply chain dominance.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday he would be ready to attend a planned summit in Budapest between U.S. President Donald J. Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin if formally invited.

European Union energy ministers have agreed to phase out Russian oil and gas imports by January 2028, despite opposition from heavily dependent nations such as Slovakia and Hungary.

The European Union’s foreign-policy chief has voiced disapproval of Hungary’s decision to host Russian President Vladimir Putin despite his international arrest warrant for alleged war crimes in Ukraine.

U.S. forces carried out a deadly strike on a suspected drug-smuggling vessel in international waters Friday, killing three men believed to be affiliated with Colombia’s National Liberation Army (ELN), officials confirmed Sunday.

Some 24 hours after speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Donald J. Trump appeared to back down on his pledge to provide Ukraine with powerful Tomahawk missiles capable of striking deep inside Russia.

Israel received the bodies of four hostages, held by Hamas in Gaza for over 16 months, in a low-key, nighttime transfer on Wednesday, avoiding the dramatic displays seen in previous handovers.

Mossad Director David Barnea described the September 17, 2024 operation that targeted Hezbollah with explosives embedded in their beepers as the “turning point” in the war against the terrorist organization.

Israel has confirmed that its warplanes hit targets in southern Syria, including around the capital, Damascus, and there were reports of causalities.

The Israel Defense Forces announced on Monday that Brigade 474 of Division 210 executed multiple brief incursions beyond Israel’s buffer zone into southern Syria, capturing weapons and military gear left by the old Syrian army. The army also released footage from a recent operation showcasing the seized armaments.

Hezbollah, the Iranian backed terrorist group is struggling to fulfill its financial commitments to its followers. The U.S.-designated terrorist organization, Hezbollah acts as a quasi-government in Lebanon, providing jobs and services and compensating families of fighters and others affected by conflict, however the recent war’s financial burden has put these payments at risk, according to a new report by the Wall Street Journal.

Israel deployed tanks in Jenin for the first time in over 20 years on Sunday, signaling an extended military presence in northern Samaria as it intensifies counterterrorism operations in the region.

Thousands dressed in black converged at Beirut’s Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium to mourn Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, killed in an Israeli airstrike five months ago. As Israeli jets flew low overhead just as the funeral began, the crowd chanted “Death to Israel, death to America, we respond to your call, Nasrallah.”

The family members of the suspect in Sunday’s Colorado attack have been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials and could be deported as early as Tuesday evening, according to the White House.

June marks the final month of the Supreme Court’s 2024-2025 term and all nine justices are racing against the clock to issue final opinions on controversial cases.

A three-judge panel from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments Tuesday in a case testing the limits of religious freedom and anti-discrimination laws, as the state of Washington seeks to overturn an injunction shielding a church-run nonprofit from enforcement of hiring restrictions under state law.

Two Chinese nationals have been charged in what federal officials are calling a “grave national security threat” after allegedly smuggling a dangerous biological pathogen into the United States with the intent to conduct research at the University of Michigan. Authorities say the scheme involved a toxin-laced fungus capable of decimating America’s agricultural system and causing severe illness in humans and livestock.

In a striking reversal of recent years’ economic sluggishness, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta has sharply revised its GDP growth forecast for the second quarter of 2025, now predicting a robust 4.6% surge–up from its earlier estimate of 3.8%.

A new national survey by Rasmussen Reports shows overwhelming support for President Donald Trump’s long-standing position that Iran must never be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons — a position now backed by 84% of likely U.S. voters.

The White House credited President Donald Trump’s aggressive law-and-order policies for a dramatic 20% drop in the national murder rate so far this year, citing newly released data from crime analyst Jeff Asher.

Pressure is mounting on Rahymjan Borjakov, a 44-year-old pastor who faces imminent arrest for leading an unregistered church in Turkmenistan, Christians tell Worthy News.

Nicaragua’s communist dictatorship imprisoned six Christian women on account of their faith in the last year, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports. Ruled by President Daniel Ortega, who has intensified the persecution of believers, Nicaragua ranks 30 on the Open Doors World Watch List 2024 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.

Christians in Pakistan’s Punjab province remained concerned Sunday after a Muslim mob reportedly tried to kill a Christian mother of two accused of blasphemy while also targeting her sister.

The Islamic extremist Taliban have been in power in Afghanistan for three years (since the US withdrawal in August 2021), and the Afghan church is in a “precarious” position, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.

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.