U.S. News

DALLAS (BP)–The board of the National Religious Broadcasters voted unanimously Feb. 9 to formally end its relationship with the National Association of Evangelicals, an organization that recently began a dialogue with the National Council of Churches.

WASHINGTON (BP)–Legislation protecting religious freedom in two categories was introduced July 13 in Congress after a more expansive bill stalled.

Israel’s security Cabinet has decided to step up the targeted killings of Palestinian terrorists in an attempt to thwart attacks, despite US opposition to the policy.

The Clinton Administration announced today that Israeli and Palestinian leaders have agreed to attend soon a US-mediated session in the region aimed at rooting out the cause of the violence. The clashes are Clinton’s worst nightmare, as he desperately wanted to avoid a Mideast flare-up just as his term in office winds up and US voters go to the polls to elect his successor.

An alarming 24% of U.S. high-school students in 1995 thought seriously about committing suicide, according to a report published by the Center for Disease Control. Particularly at risk were females in the 11th grade. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry indicates that teen suicide has increased dramatically in recent years and each year in the U.S. thousands of teens commit suicide, making it the third leading cause of death for 15-to-24 year olds, and the sixth leading cause of death for 5-to-14 year olds.

The movie is “Mission to Mars.” The year is 2020, and NASA sends Commander Luke Graham (Don Cheadle) with a crew of four astronauts to the red planet. While exploring strange geological formations on the martian landscape, the truth about the Face on Mars and the origin of mankind is discovered.

“…all of us, including the ‘owners’, must be subjected to a large degree of social control… The major function of the school is the social orientation of the individual. It must seek to give him understanding of the transition to a new social order.”1 (Willard Givens, Executive Secretary, National Education Association, 1934)

NEW YORK (20 March 2001) — On March 20, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is expected to vote on a motion to create a Commission on Child Pornography. The new Commission would have authority to combat child pornography, but unlike the Commission that the Supervisors disbanded on February 20, the new Commission would be powerless to address the floodtide of obscenity engulfing our culture — except when “directed towards minors.”

HOLLYWOOD, CALIF. (ANS) – Millions of North American viewers will be able to share the excitement of the 9th Annual MOVIEGUIDE(R) Awards Gala hosted by Cheryl Ladd on Easter Sunday, April 15. A one-hour version of the gala, which celebrates Hollywood’s best family and inspirational movies and television programs, will air on PaxTV at 6 p.m. Eastern and Pacific, and 5 p.m. Central time.

ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)–The teachings of Islam are based on the Koran, a book the Muslim prophet Muhammad claimed to have received verbatim through the angel Gabriel in his hometown of Medina, Arabia, around 600 A.D.

WASHINGTON (BP)–An independent group of scientists has described as unfounded National Geographic Society’s report late last year of “a true missing link in the complex chain that connects dinosaurs to birds.”

Several pro-life advocates and their minor children filed a federal lawsuit today against an assistant city attorney and two police officers who ordered them to remove signs displaying images of aborted children. The case received national attention among pro-life groups when the assistant city attorney, accompanied by two police officers, ordered the signs removed, claiming the signs were a public safety hazard and violated the law. The plaintiffs had been displaying their signs in front of a Planned Parenthood abortion facility in the City of Great Falls.

Facing a mounting backlash in the Arab/Islamic world for his apparent tilt towards Israel in recent weeks, US President George W. Bush is reportedly considering holding his first meeting with PLO chief Yasser Arafat on the sidelines of the opening session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in early September.

WASHINGTON (BP)–President George W. Bush called for reduction of the tax penalty for married couples and elimination of the estate tax in his first address to a joint session of Congress Feb. 27.

WASHINGTON (BP)–President Clinton vetoed legislation to remedy the penalty for married couples in the federal tax code, and Republican leaders in Congress promised to work to overcome his action.

As Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon prepares for what should be a warm reception in Washington on Monday, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres made an advance foray to New York on Thursday to head off Palestinian efforts at the UN to insert an armed observer force in Judea/Samaria and Gaza.

US President George W. Bush is hosting his first Arab leader, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, at the White House on Monday for frank discussions on some sore points between Washington and Cairo, especially regarding who is responsible for the current flare-up in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israel’s new Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has arrived in Washington for his first official visit with the Bush Administration, leaving behind the traditional “shopping list” of Israeli defense needs and yet another surge of Palestinian terrorism.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon found lots of common ground on Tuesday with US President George W. Bush regarding his guarded approach to peace with the Palestinians, but Bush left it unclear whether PLO chief Yasser Arafat would get his own invite to the White House soon.

Even as US Secretary of State Colin Powell met with PLO chief Yasser Arafat in Ramallah on Sunday to urge an end to Palestinian violence, two Israelis were shot nearby in an ambush by members of Arafat’s elite bodyguard unit, Force 17.