Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf on Thursday accused Portland politicians of enabling the ‘mob’ of protesters who have besieged the city for more than six weeks — and posted a lengthy timeline of the damage caused by ‘violent anarchists.’
Israeli officials are anticipating the likelihood of renewing a nationwide lockdown as the country had 1,575 new cases of COVID-19 Monday, the Times of Israel reports. With a population of fewer than nine million residents, Israel has now had over 43,000 cases, including over 23,000 currently active cases and 375 coronavirus related deaths.
Iraqi Christians want prayers for Christian and Kurdish families suffering from Turkish bombardments and incursions in Northern Iraq, aid workers say.
An international humanitarian aid organization has said Christians living in the formerly ISIS-controlled Nineveh Plains of Iraq are now in danger of extinction, the Christian Post reports. Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) published a report this week in which it states that political and sectarian tensions are driving Christians out of the area.
Thousands of protestors took to the streets of Sofia and at least 10 other Bulgarian towns for the fourth day Sunday in demonstrations against government corruption, VOA reports. During a march to Parliament in Sofia, more than 3,000 protestors called for the conservative government to resign with shouts of “Mafia!” The protests were triggered in support of socialist President Rumen Radev’s, after prosecutors and heavily armed police raided presidential offices on Thursday, VOA reported.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday the Trump administration is considering restricting United States’ users’ access to the Chinese social media application TikTok over concerns it is potentially being used by the Beijing government as a means to surveil and propagandize people.
The EYN Church of the Brethren, the largest Christian denomination in northeast Nigeria, has reported that over 8,370 of its members have been killed and more than 700,000 displaced by Boko Haram terrorists in the country, CSW News reports. In a statement made on July 2, EYN National President Reverend Joel Billi said that from the end of 2019 to June 2020 alone there had been fifty attacks on different communities – and that these were largely “unreported or under-reported by both the print and electronic media.”
The head of the FBI has made a speech affirming that it is now the Chinese Government and Communist Party which pose the greatest threat to the US. In remarks delivered at the Hudson Institute in Washington DC Tuesday, Christopher Wray said: “The greatest long-term threat to our nation’s information and intellectual property, and to our economic vitality, is the counterintelligence and economic espionage threat from China. It’s a threat to our economic security—and by extension, to our national security.”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has expressed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he is concerned about Israel’s plan to annex parts of the West Bank, the Jerusalem Post reports. In a phone call Tuesday, Johnson said annexation would hinder the prospect of peace in the region and asked the Israeli PM to return to negotiations with the Palestinians.
The White House peace team is expected to further discuss how to implement its Middle East vision on Wednesday, a person familiar with the discussions told The Jerusalem Post.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Wednesday that US and “partner” forces seized a boat in June carrying Iranian weapons to Houthi rebels in Yemen as he renewed his call for the UN Security Council to extend an arms embargo on Iran.
Serbia was facing broader civil unrest Wednesday as security forces struggled to contain angry crowds demanding the resignation of autocratic President Aleksandar Vucic.
Christian villagers in rural northern India have reportedly fled their homes after an angry mob attacked their prayer house and threatened to kill or rape believers. Five suspects were briefly detained, but violence continued, rights activists told Worthy News.
As Hong Kong sees life change rapidly under a new security law, protesters have quickly learned that actions that weren’t worthy of police attention a little more than a week ago could now warrant an arrest, DNA sample, and search of their home — in addition to the possibility of jail time.
Israel’s Defense Ministry has announced the successful launch of a new spy satellite that the ministry said would provide high-quality surveillance for its military intelligence.
The imposition of a draconian national security law in Hong Kong this week has given rise to fears over the fate of Christians.
Iran has detained or intimidated dozens of devoted Christians in recent days as part of government efforts to halt the spread of Christianity in the Islamic nation, investigators say.
Iran has warned Israel and other “foes” against “hostile actions” after an explosion and fire damaged the Natanz nuclear complex.
Seven people who turned from Islam to Christianity have received prison terms, fines, or work restrictions in Iran for “propaganda against the state,” trial observers confirmed Wednesday.
The Knesset on Wednesday passed legislation authorizing the Shin Bet security service to use controversial phone surveillance measures to help track down potential coronavirus carriers for a three-week period.