World News
Concerns are mounting over the fate of a young journalist with the U.S.-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) as she marks a second year in Russian detention, preparing to spend another New Year behind bars.
Saudi Arabia carried out airstrikes on the southern Yemeni port city of Mukalla on Dec. 30, saying the operation targeted weapons and military vehicles allegedly shipped from the United Arab Emirates to support separatist forces. Riyadh warned that its national security was a “red line” and demanded Emirati forces leave Yemen within 24 hours.
New details are emerging surrounding the U.S. strike on a suspected drug loading site in Venezuela, with multiple reports claiming a CIA drone carried it out.
China fired rockets and conducted its largest live-fire military drills to date around Taiwan, sharply escalating tensions as Beijing demonstrated its ability to encircle the island, according to Chinese and regional defense officials.
Denmark’s state-owned postal operator PostNord will deliver its final paper letters on December 30, ending more than 400 years of traditional mail delivery in Denmark, the company said, citing a steep collapse in letter volumes driven by digitalization.
Turkish police detained 357 suspects in a nationwide operation targeting the Islamic State (IS), also known as ISIS, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said Tuesday, a day after three police officers and six militants were killed in a gun battle in northwest Turkey.
Chants of “death to the dictator” rang out across Tehran as thousands of merchants, students, and residents joined expanding protests sparked by Iran’s deepening economic collapse. Security forces responded with tear gas and rubber bullets as large sections of the capital, including parts of the Grand Bazaar, were shuttered in protest.
At least four people were killed and around 60 others injured on Sunday as protests by members of Syria’s Alawite minority turned violent along the country’s Mediterranean coast, after a deadly bombing at a mosque earlier in the week, officials said.
The president of the United States says negotiations to end Russia’s war against Ukraine are nearing completion, although unresolved territorial disputes remain. Donald J. Trump’s comments followed lengthy talks between the U.S. leader and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Florida.
Three men face the New Year behind bars after being found guilty of plotting to kill as many Jews as possible in Greater Manchester—an attack authorities said could have been one of Britain’s deadliest terror plots in years.
Israel News
In a major leap forward for missile defense, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems unveiled its new family of laser weapons that could render traditional bomb shelters largely obsolete during most aerial attacks. The Iron Beam series–comprising the stationary Iron Beam, mobile Iron Beam M, and vehicle-mounted Lite Beam–was introduced last week and will continue to be presented throughout 2025.
Israel’s governing coalition is teetering on the edge of collapse as tensions over a proposed Haredi conscription bill deepen, prompting multiple parties to push for dissolving the Knesset and sending the nation toward new elections.
Israel’s military said it struck Syria early Wednesday after a “barrage of rockets” launched by forces in southern Syria and Houthis in Yemen entered Israel, forcing millions to seek shelter.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) firmly rejected accusations Tuesday night that its troops were responsible for the killing of civilians at humanitarian aid distribution points in Gaza, calling the claims “total lies” and accusing Hamas of manipulating the narrative.
The United States has issued a stark warning to its key allies, the United Kingdom and France, against unilaterally recognizing a Palestinian state during a high-stakes United Nations conference set for June 17 in New York, Middle East Eye reported Tuesday.
A ballistic missile launched by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen targeted central Israel on Sunday, setting off nationwide sirens just hours before the Jewish holiday of Shavuot. The missile was successfully intercepted by Israeli air defenses, the military confirmed, preventing casualties or damage.
Israel accused French President Emmanuel Macron of launching a “crusade against the Jewish state” on Friday, May 30, after he called for the recognition of a Palestinian state.
U.S. News
en years after the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, the justices will soon decide whether to revisit — and potentially overturn — that historic ruling.
A federal district judge has temporarily blocked enforcement of Arkansas’ new law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public school classrooms, calling it “plainly unconstitutional” and part of a broader effort to inject Christian doctrine into education.
The Democratic Party has sunk to historic lows in favorability — even among its own voters — as it struggles to recover from the crushing 2024 election defeat and adjust to the return of President Donald Trump in the White House.
U.S. annual inflation was unchanged in July, coming in below economists’ expectations, as President Donald Trump’s recently imposed tariffs showed little immediate impact on consumer prices.
In a rare and controversial arrangement, Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) have agreed to share 15% of revenues from certain AI chip sales to China with the U.S. government, paving the way for the resumption of exports halted earlier this year over national security concerns.
The U.S. military is preparing to activate hundreds of National Guard troops in the nation’s capital as part of President Donald Trump’s sweeping federal crackdown on crime, according to multiple U.S. officials. The move comes amid escalating tensions between the White House and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser over public safety, homelessness, and the city’s image.
President Donald Trump has ordered a significant increase in federal law enforcement presence across Washington, D.C., in an effort to combat what he described as an “out-of-control” crime wave in the nation’s capital. The White House announced the move on Aug. 7, saying the deployment will begin at midnight and continue for at least seven days, with an option to extend.
Christian News
A young newly Christian mother in northwest Somalia has had to leave her children and go into hiding after her husband violently attacked her for leaving Islam, Morning Star News (MSN) reports. Ruled by an oppressive extremist Islamic regime, Somalia ranks 2 on the Open Doors World Watch List 2024 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.
Urging world leaders “not to look away,” the US-based International Rescue Committee (IRC) aid organization has warned that Sudan is “collapsing” as it faces the “fastest” and “biggest” humanitarian crisis ever documented, Straight Arrow News (SAN) reports.
In a move that appears to violate India’s constitutionally protected right to freedom of religion, the Hindu-nationalist-led state of Rajasthan has approved an anti-conversion law that provides prison terms for anyone who “unduly influences” a person to change their religion and requires citizens who want to change their faith to inform authorities 60 days in advance, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
The US-based Global Christian Relief ministry has reported that humanitarian supplies delivered for 20,000 Christians in Syria have been hijacked by militants with the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) Islamist rebel group which captured Aleppo and toppled the Syrian government on Sunday, December 8, Crosswalk reports.
While converts to Christianity in Nepal are vulnerable to persecution from radical Hindu groups and from within their own indigenous communities, positive reports are emerging of the Gospel’s advancement in the isolated mountainous country. There are now 1.3 million Christians in Nepal, 4.4% of a population of 30.5 million, and that number is reportedly growing.
An American prison ministry is set to deliver 65,000 Christmas “Hope Packs” to incarcerated men and women in 18 US states and 20 countries internationally, CBN News reports. There are currently more than 11 million incarcerated people around the world, with over 2 million in the United States.
Amid a wave of violence against Christians in north-eastern Nigeria’s Taraba state, suspected Islamic extremists murdered a pastor and a female Christian student in separate attacks last week, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.