Missionaries Face Two Months Hostage Crisis
A U.S. mission group has thanked for prayers as it remembers that precisely two months ago, 17 American and Canadian missionaries were kidnapped in Haiti.
Worthy News
War Child Envoy Resigns Over Child Abuse Allegations
Dutch singer Marco Borsato has resigned as an ambassador of the War Child foundation amid allegations that he sexually assaulted one or more minors.
Migrants Van Crash Kills 7 In Hungary
Hungarian police have detained the driver of a van carrying illegal migrants after it crashed in southern Hungary, killing seven people and injuring four others, Worthy News learned Wednesday.
Blinken: US ready to move forward with sale of F-35s, drones to UAE
The United States is prepared to move forward with the sale of F-35 fighter jets and drones to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday, after reports that the UAE intended to suspend discussions of the deal.
US Navy fires laser weapon in Mideast amid drone boat threat
The Navy announced Wednesday it tested a laser weapon and destroyed a floating target in the Mideast, a system that could be used to counter bomb-laden drone boats deployed by Yemen’s Houthi rebels in the Red Sea.
US Senate Passes $770 Billion Defense Bill, Biden’s Signature Next
The U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday for a version of the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, that authorizes $770 billion in defense spending — $25 billion more than requested by President Joe Biden —sending the measure to the White House for the president’s signature.
Israel: PM Bennet moves to ban unvaccinated citizens from shopping malls
Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz are now pushing to expand the country’s COVID-19 Green Pass mandate to bar unvaccinated citizens from free access to shopping malls, Ynet News reports. Awaiting final approval from lawmakers, the policy has been recommended amid concerns about rising cases of the new Omicron variant.
New Poll: Nearly 30% of Americans have no Religious Affiliation
A new survey by the Pew Research Center shows that 29% of US adults say they have no religious affiliation, the Washington Examiner reports. The poll defines those who are unaffiliated as “people who describe themselves as atheists, agnostics or ‘nothing in particular’ when asked about their religious identity.”
Church in Northern India Comes Under Attack
As Christians and their chuches in India continue to be harassed and assaulted by radical Hindu nationalists, a church in Rohtak in Haryana state came under attack on December 9, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
Britain: archaeologists find remains of man believed to have been crucified by Romans
Archaeologists excavating in Cambridgeshire, England have unearthed the skeletal remains of a person they believe may have been crucified when Britain was under the rule of the Roman Empire, Christian Headlines (CH) reports.
2015 nuclear deal no longer sufficient for reality of Iran in 2022, IAEA chief says
The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog warned Tuesday that the restrictions faced by his inspectors in Iran threaten to give the world only a “very blurred image” of Tehran’s program as it enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels.
WHO Warns Omicron Could Overwhelm World
The chief of the World Health Organization says the new coronavirus variant Omicron could overwhelm hospitals worldwide.
India State Tables Anti-Conversion Law Amid Anti-Christian Violence
Christians were concerned Wednesday as the Hindu-led government of India’s southwestern state of Karnataka was to table a harsh anti-conversion law amid attacks against churches.
US Supreme Court Forces Christian Doctors To Take COVID Vaccines
Christian doctors and others refusing COVID-19 jabs are weighing their options after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to halt New York’s vaccination obligation for health care workers.
Myanmar: Burmese Army plants landmines in destroyed churches
The Burmese Army in Myanmar’s Chin state has now taken to planting landmines inside the ruins of churches it has destroyed, in order to deter Christians from returning to rebuild the communities the junta has driven them out from, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports. Since the February 1 military coup, the Tatmadaw has been murdering and displacing Myanmar Christians in its efforts to violently impose Buddhism.
Israel rules out fourth COVID-19 shot for now
Israel’s vaccination committee announced Sunday it will not be recommending a fourth Covid-19 shot to the general population, despite concerns about the new impact of the new Omicron variant, i24 News reports. Israel was the first country to introduce a third shot, even before the US Food and Drug Administration approved the measure.
Holland to have new coalition government after months of deadlock
The Netherlands is finally set to have a new governing coalition made up of four Dutch parties, including incumbent Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s VVD party, after the March general election resulted in months of gridlocked negotiations between the country’s many political parties, DW reports. Rutte, who will become Europe’s longest-serving Prime Minister, led the country in a caretaker capacity during the intervening months since the election.
Belarus Jails Opposition Leader For Challenging President Lukashenko
A court in Belarus has sentenced an opposition leader who wanted to run against the country’s autocratic President Alexander Lukashenko in elections to 18 years imprisonment.
Virginia hospital found in contempt of court for denying patient prescribed round of Ivermectin
A Virginia court on Monday found a hospital in the state in contempt of court for failing to comply with previous orders to provide prescribed Ivermectin to a COVID-19 patient.
Report: US tells Israel new tanker jets, key to Iran strike, not coming anytime soond
Israel has asked the United States to accelerate the delivery of refueling aircraft it had purchased that could be needed to attack Iranian nuclear sites, but was told by the Biden administration the first plane likely will not be delivered until 2024, according to a report Tuesday.