Oklahoma Supreme Court blocks restrictions to medication abortions
The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a 2014 measure to block access to medication-induced abortion is unconstitutional.
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Global military spending at new post-Cold War high, fueled by US, China
Global military expenditure reached its highest level last year since the end of the Cold War, fueled by increased spending in the United States and China, the world’s two biggest economies, a leading defence think-tank said on Monday.
Russian Missiles in Venezuela Heighten US Tensions
Russian military personnel flying into Venezuela in recent weeks were likely sent to ensure the nation’s sophisticated S-300 surface-to-air missiles remain a credible deterrent to any U.S. military action against the government of socialist President Nicolas Maduro, according to defense analysts in Latin America, the U.S. and Russia.
320 more troops to be sent to U.S. southern border
Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan approved Monday to send an additional 320 military troops to the U.S.-Mexico border to provide humanitarian support, the Department of Defense said.
House Democrats move to defund Trump administration rule targeting Planned Parenthood
House Democrats moved Monday to block the Trump administration from cutting off family-planning grants for medical facilities such as Planned Parenthood that also provide and refer to abortions.
Michigan Court Overturns State Law Protecting Christian Adoption Agencies
A Michigan court recently overturned a 2015 law that allowed state-contracted Christian adoption agencies to decline placing children with same-sex adoptive parents.
Palestinians on verge of financial collapse
The Palestinian Authority is facing imminent financial collapse over its refusal on principle to accept any tax revenues from Israel, and its dire call for help to the Arab world is mostly going unheeded.
Iranian general: We won’t talk to US under pressure of sanctions
The new head of Iran’s hardline Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps on Monday said the country wouldn’t negotiate with the United States while it maintains economic sanctions on his country.
United Methodist Court Upholds Ban on LGBTQ Clergy, Same Sex Marriage
The United Methodist Church’s top court has upheld much of the Traditional Plan approved earlier this year, continuing the global denomination’s ban on the ordination and marriage of its LGBTQ members.
Israeli ambassador calls NYT ‘cesspool of hostility’
The Israeli ambassador to the United States linked The New York Times to the ‘Jew-hatred of growing parts of the intellectual class.’
IS chief Baghdadi emerges on video for first time in five years
The elusive chief of the Islamic State group Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi appeared for the first time in five years in a propaganda video released Monday by the jihadist organization.
Iran says leaving nuclear treaty one of many options after U.S. sanctions move
Iran said on Sunday it could quit a treaty against the spread of nuclear weapons after the United States tightens sanctions, while an Iranian general said the U.S. Navy was interacting as before with an elite military unit blacklisted by Washington.
Kansas Supreme Court Strikes Down Ban on ‘Gruesome’ Dismemberment Abortions
The Kansas Supreme Court ruled Friday blocking a 2015 ban on dismemberment abortions.
Economy grew at 3.2% in first quarter, beating expectations
The economy grew at a 3.2% annual rate in the first quarter, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Friday morning, easily beating forecasters’ expectations.
Trump Says U.S. Withdrawing From Treaty Regulating Conventional Weapons
U.S. President Donald Trump said he would withdraw U.S. backing for a treaty that sought to regulate the global trade in small arms and other conventional weaponry.
Iran says it made surveillance flight over US aircraft carrier in Persian Gulf
Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards have successfully managed a surveillance flight over a US aircraft carrier, the nation’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported Saturday.
Christian conservatives are as empathetic as liberals, analysis finds
New analysis of research is challenging common stereotypes about politically conservative religious people, who, though thought to be religious and ‘cold-blooded,’ report being as empathetic as political ‘bleeding-heart’ liberals when surveyed.
US to donate additional $500K to restore tomb of biblical prophet Nahum in Iraq
The United States announced Friday that it would contribute an additional $500,000 to help restore the tomb believed to be the resting place of the biblical prophet Nahum in the town of Alqosh in northern Iraq.
NYT: ‘Error of Judgment’ to Publish Anti-Semitic Cartoon Featuring Netanyahu as Guide Dog for Trump
The New York Times announced Saturday it was deleting an anti-Semitic cartoon from its international edition featuring Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a guide dog leading a blind Donald Trump.
Cyclone Kenneth: Entire villages wiped out, says UN
A powerful cyclone has ‘entirely wiped out’ villages in Mozambique, according to a UN official.