WHO Seeks Global Digital Vaccination System
The World Health Organization (WHO) says its member states should roll out a universal digital information system to check if people are vaccinated against COVID-19.
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Hurricane Ida Leaves all of New Orleans Without Power, Reverses Flow of Mississippi River
As officials survey the wreckage left behind from Hurricane Ida, storm surge, flash flooding, and tornadoes remain a real threat for Northeastern states.
US to be removed from EU travel ‘safe list’
The European Union is reportedly planning to recommend that its member nations reinstate restrictions on travelers from the U.S. due to the rising level of COVID-19 infections.
Abortion providers ask Supreme Court to block Texas’ post-six-weeks ban
Abortion providers and pro-choice advocates asked the Supreme Court on Monday to block a Texas law going into effect on Wednesday that bans abortion after six weeks and allows private citizens to sue abortion providers for violating the law.
Hate Crimes Reach 12-Year High in United States in 2020, FBI Says
The number of hate crimes in the United States rose last year to the highest level in more than a decade, driven by a rise in assaults targeting Black victims and victims of Asian descent, the FBI reported on Monday.
Wildfire Forces Thousands From Popular Lake Tahoe Resort
Thousands of people rushed to leave South Lake Tahoe as the entire resort city came under evacuation orders and wildfire raced toward Lake Tahoe, a large freshwater lake straddling the California-Nevada border.
General: ‘Hundreds Of Americans Left Behind In Afghanistan’
The United States is potentially facing its biggest hostage crisis in decades Tuesday, with a key U.S. general confirming that at least hundreds of Americans are left behind in Afghanistan.
US Military Leaves Afghanistan Ending America’s Longest War
The last U.S. planes have flown out of Afghanistan, perhaps ending America’s longest war after a 20 years presence, the U.S. military confirmed.
Poland: Police regional council to maintain “LGBT-free zone” despite risking loss of EU funding
A regional council in predominantly Catholic Poland has voted to remain an “LGBT-free zone,” risking a loss of funding from the European Union, Reuters reports. The southern Malopolska region has received a letter from the EU warning it could lose more than €2.5 billion in funds unless it revokes its 2019 “LGBT-free zone” declaration by mid-September.
Bennett Touts ‘Successful’ First US Trip: ‘We Achieved All the Objectives’
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is calling his meeting with President Joe Biden a success. Even so, his government still faces the threat of Iran and growing violence on the Gaza border.
US special operations vets carry out daring mission to save Afghan allies
With the Taliban growing more violent and adding checkpoints near Kabul’s airport, an all-volunteer group of American veterans of the Afghan war launched a final daring mission on Wednesday night dubbed the “Pineapple Express” to shepherd hundreds of at-risk Afghan elite forces and their families to safety, members of the group told ABC News.
Indonesia: Christian man charged with blasphemy after uploading Youtube video
Indonesian police have charged a Christian man with the imprisonable offense of blasphemy after he uploaded a Youtube video which went viral and caused offense to local Muslims, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
India persecution: Christian youth burned in acid attack
A Christian youth was horribly burned with acid in a suspected anti-Christian attack in northern India’s Bihar state last week, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports. Christian persecution in India has intensified dangerously since the Hindu nationalist party Bharatiya Janata Party took power in 2014; India now ranks 10 on the US Open Doors 2021 Watch List of countries where Christians are persecuted.
Harvard Chose Atheist to Be Its Head Chaplain
The new head chaplain at Harvard University is an atheist and “ordained humanist rabbi,” Christian Headlines reports. Greg Epstein, 44, was the unanimous first choice of a selection committee made up of a Lutheran, an evangelical Christian, a Christian Scientist, and a Bahá’í.
Pentagon prepared for ‘mass casualty’ attack at Kabul Airport hours before explosion
Just 24 hours before a suicide bomber detonated an explosive outside Hamid Karzai International Airport, senior military leaders gathered for the Pentagon’s daily morning update on the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan.
Tensions flare up between Israel and Hamas; Israel targets military compound and tunnel entrance
Israeli planes bombed Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip on Sunday in a continuation of violent confrontations between the two parties.
In first top-level meeting in a decade, Gantz holds talks with Abbas in Ramallah
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Defense Minister Benny Gantz met in Ramallah on Sunday evening in the first such high-level face-to-face talks in over a decade, Israeli and Palestinian officials announced.
Marine fired for criticizing military leaders resigns, says chasing stability makes ‘slave to the system’ (Video)
The U.S. Marine relieved of his command for calling out his superiors over the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal that led to the deaths of 13 service members said Sunday he was officially resigning.
UN Watchdog: ‘North Korea’s Restart Of Nuclear Enrichment Plant Deeply Troubling’
The United Nations nuclear watchdog warned Monday that nuclear-armed North Korea appears to have restarted its plutonium-producing reprocessing reactor.
New COVID variant detected in South Africa, most mutated variant so far
A new coronavirus variant, C.1.2, has been detected in South Africa and a number of other countries, with concerns that it could be more infectious and evade vaccines, according to a new preprint study by South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases and the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform. The study is awaiting peer review.