Hungary Passes Transgender Law
Hungary’s Parliament has approved legislation that bans transgender people from changing the gender they were assigned at birth on official documents.
News
Civil Liberties Groups says Around 620 Christians Killed by Islamic Militants in Nigeria Since Beginning of 2020
According to the records of a Nigerian civil liberties organization, Islamic militants have killed at least 620 Christians in the country since the beginning of 2020, CBN News reports. The International Society for Civil Liberties & Rule of Law (ISCLRL) published the number murders in a report which said militant Fulani herdsmen and Boko Haram have stepped up violence against Christians in the old Middle Belt and Northeast regions of Nigeria.
Planned Parenthood must return $80 million it received in COVID-19 loans for small businesses
Thirty-seven Planned Parenthood affiliates received a total of $80 million in loans from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) intended to help small businesses in the COVID-19 pandemic, Fox News has reported exclusively. The federal government now says the abortion provider must pay back the money it received. Explaining its position, the government said Planned Parenthood is a federation of affiliates with over 500 employees and should have known it does not qualify for small business aid.
U.S. Birthrate Hits Record Low
The United States hit a record low birthrate amid broader concerns over the economy, U.S. health authorities revealed Wednesday.
Spain Extends Wearing Of Masks To Curb Virus
Spain’s government on Wednesday sought to extend a state of emergency and made wearing masks compulsory where social distancing is not possible.
Federal Judge Rules All voters in Texas Can Cast Ballot by Mail
A Democrat federal judge ruled Tuesday that all Texans can apply to vote by mail during the COVID-19 pandemic, VOA reported. Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said the state would appeal, describing the ruling by U.S. District Judge Fred Biery as a dismissal of “well-established law.”
Millions Hide as Super Cyclone Roars India and Bangladesh
Millions of people have fled to shelters in India and neighboring Bangladesh as the fiercest cyclone in decades hit the region, which also faces a coronavirus pandemic.
US Pastor Home After 7-months Detention In India
An American pastor has arrived home after more than seven months of detention in India on controversial charges of tax evasion.
Millions Evacuate As Super Cyclone Hits India, Bangladesh
Authorities in India and neighboring Bangladesh ordered millions of people to leave their homes in coastal areas ahead of a super cyclone, the most significant storm in a decade.
Abbas: PA no longer bound by accords with Israel and US, including on security
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday said he was terminating all agreements with Israel and the United States, including security cooperation with the Jewish state, over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s promise to annex parts of the West Bank.
Trump signs executive order to cut regulations hampering economic recovery
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday seeking to cut regulations that hamper economic recovery from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
US issues warning to vessels in Persian Gulf that come too close to Navy ships after Trump threat to Iran
The United States has a message for ships in the Persian Gulf: Don’t come too close to Navy vessels.
Living underground before the Romans? 2,000-year-old rooms found by Western Wall
A singular two-millennia-old subterranean system of three rooms has been uncovered near the Western Wall. The three-room complex — painstakingly chiseled by hand out of bedrock prior to the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE — is the first evidence of everyday life gone underground in the ancient city.
Declassified Susan Rice email shows Comey suggested ‘sensitive’ info on Russia not be shared with Flynn
Former FBI Director James Comey suggested to then-President Barack Obama in a January 2017 meeting that the National Security Council [NSC] might not want to pass “sensitive information related to Russia” to then-incoming National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, according to a newly declassified email that Flynn’s predecessor sent herself on Inauguration Day.
Evangelist and Apologist Ravi Zacharias Dies At 74
India-born evangelist Ravi Zacharias, who built a global mission group for the intellectual defense of his faith in Jesus Christ, has died of cancer in the United States, his family confirmed. The founder of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM) was 74 when he passed away Tuesday at his Atlanta home.
Court Overturns Worship Ban In France
An administrative court in France has overturned a government ban on meetings in churches and other places of worship. The case underscored broader tensions in coronavirus-hit Europe over religious freedom amid an ongoing pandemic.
Israeli Laboratory Hopes to Produce a Coronavirus Vaccine in a Year
A laboratory run by Israel’s Defense Ministry has said it may have a functioning COVID-19 vaccine in a year or less, the Times of Israel reports. The Israel Institute for Biological Research (IIBR) reported that it completed a successful coronavirus vaccine test on rodents and will move on to trials with other animals before starting on humans.
Forecasters says this Year’s Hurricane Season may be Among the Worst
Weather forecasters are concerned this year’s hurricane season may be among the worst ever as the first-named tropical storm of 2020 brushed past North Carolina yesterday. Forecasters are seeing climate conditions similar to those of 2005, when Hurricane Katrina killed 1,800 people in New Orleans, Bloomberg Green reported.
EU Will Not Recognize Unilateral Israeli Annexation of Parts of West Bank
The European Union’s head of foreign policy stated Monday that the bloc would not recognize any annexation changes Israel made to “1967 borders” unless these had been agreed by the Palestinians, the Times of Israel reports. In his statement, Josep Borrell added: “We strongly urge Israel to refrain from any unilateral decision that would lead to the annexation of any occupied Palestinian territory and would be, as such, contrary to international law.”
FBI: Saudi officer’s Pensacola naval station attack was an al-Qaida terrorist strike
A Royal Saudi Arabian Air Forces cadet training at Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola was acting on behalf of al-Qaida on Dec. 6 when he murdered three U.S. Navy sailors and wounded eight, according to information uncovered from his cellphones.