Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday that the Palestinians are prepared to resume talks with Israel and that fresh negotiations should be based on resolutions passed by the United Nations on the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Jerusalem Post reports. Abbas made the announcement during a visit to Ramallah by Spain’s Foreign Minister Arancha González.
The US government deficit in the first two months of the budget year increased by 25.1% more than it was at the same time last year, PBS reports. The rise reflects increased government spending to manage the COVID-19 pandemic against a related backdrop of decreased income from taxes. The budget year begins on October 1.
A pastor in northeast India has been rescued after a gang of radical Hindus locked him in a room and left him to die because he was distributing Gospel tracts, Morning Star News reports. Pastor Shelton Vishwanathan was accosted by six men who knocked him unconscious and imprisoned him in a room in Bihar state’s Sheohar District on October 5.
European leaders have warned that Britain’s exit from the European Union will likely be without a crucial deal on $1 trillion in annual trade. Britain already quit the EU in January, but it remained in the EU single market and customs union during a transition period.
In a surprising move, the Pentagon has told the Central Intelligence Agency that it is weighing an end to the majority of the military support it provides to the agency’s counterterrorism missions, according to a former senior administration intelligence official.
The U.S. military has rushed to deny reports that it has blocked Joe Biden, who claimed victory in the presidential election, and his team from meeting with intelligence agencies.
Israel and Morocco agreed Thursday to normalize relations in a U.S. brokered accord that Israel’s prime minister described as “another great light of peace.”
The United States sends a warning to Iran on Thursday with two American bomber aircraft flying over a swath of the Middle East, officials confirmed.
A U.S. government advisory panel on Thursday endorsed Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine, despite concerns about possible side effects.
The Abortion Care Network has reported that 127 US abortion clinics have closed since 2015, the Christian Post reports. The ACN report suggests most of these clinics closed because of financial constraints and pro-life laws.
A judge in Manitoba, Canada has told a church it is not allowed to hold even drive-in services during local COVID-19 lockdown orders, the Daily Wire reports. The current restrictions prohibit houses of worship from holding in-person services.
A court of appeals has told a lower court that, in light of recent US Supreme Court rulings, it must reconsider its decision to uphold California’s restrictions on in-person worship services, the Christian Post reported Wednesday. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found in favor of Chula Vista’s South Bay United Pentecostal Church, which had argued the pertinent COVID-19 restrictions were discriminatory against houses of worship.
European Union leaders agreed on a 1.8 trillion euro ($2.2 trillion) stimulus package after Hungary and Poland withdrew their veto. Both EU member states threatened to torpedo funds if payments were tied to rule-of-laws standards.
Pressure mounted Wednesday on Joe Biden, who claimed victory in the U.S. presidential election, as his son is being investigated for possible tax evasion.
Hungary and Poland have agreed on a compromise to unblock the European Union’s enormous stimulus package, including the coronavirus rescue fund, several sources told Worthy News.
Missouri led a group of 17 states that Wednesday afternoon filed a brief with the Supreme Court supporting the Texas lawsuit aimed at delaying the appointment of presidential electors from Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.
Facebook got slapped with a pair of blockbuster antitrust lawsuits on Wednesday, as government officials accused the Silicon Valley giant of systematically acquiring smaller rivals in order to prevent them from becoming competitive threats.
Britain’s foreign minister said Thursday that negotiations on a trade deal with the European Union will reach a “moment of finality” this weekend, with both sides assessing chances of an agreement as slim.
A day after he announced his departure from Likud and the formation of a new political party to challenge Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the country’s leadership, Gideon Sa’ar was off to an extraordinarily strong start Wednesday. Polls on Israel’s three major news networks forecast his nascent New Hope party getting between 15 and 18 seats if the country goes to elections — shaking up the political landscape and introducing several potential paths to coalitions that do not include Netanyahu, while seriously narrowing the premier’s path to leading the next government.
Israeli authorities are set to unveil previously off-limits structures within King Herod’s palace-fortress Herodium, which the tyrannical Roman-era leader interred as his enormous burial plot.