U.S. News

Former US president Bill Clinton was warmly welcomed back to Israel this week, where he again blamed PLO chief Yasser Arafat for turning down his generous peace proposals more than a year ago and opting for violence. But at no time has Clinton shouldered any of the blame for crafting policies and a flawed negotiation strategy that left the region in flames as he departed the White House one year ago.

Israeli security officials are warning that a major Islamic terrorist attack upon Israel, possibly on a similar scale to the calamities that struck New York and Washington, could be launched in the near future. Ironically, they say such a massive assault might be directly linked to the Bush administration’s worldwide anti-terrorist campaign.

Senators and scientists debated stem-cell research July 18 with one eye on science and another on Scripture.

ATLANTA, GA (ANS) — Operation Mobilization has begun the search for a vessel to replace one of the current OM ships. The mission agency’s ship ministry currently operates the M. V. DOULOS and M. V. LOGOS II and would like to replace the latter with a larger ship to expand ministry capabilities.

Recent reports of scientists creating human embryos or attempting to clone embryos solely for research with their stem cells, thereby destroying the early unborn babies, has stirred widespread condemnation from pro-life advocates.

WASHINGTON (BP)–A legislative version of President Bush’s faith-based initiative has cleared two congressional committees, and the head of the Southern Baptist Convention’s public-policy agency welcomed changes related to religious liberty made in the measure.

ISTANBUL, TURKEY (ANS) — An American Christian working in Turkey has called for open dialogue on the issue of persecution of churches in that country.

As American, Israeli and Palestinian leaders converge in New York for the UN’s opening Millennium summit, there are no signs of an imminent breakthrough to the negotiating impasse over Jerusalem, only hardening Arab positions and gloomy forecasts of failed diplomacy.

(Hauppague, New York) — The American Center for Law and Justice, an international public interest law firm, announced today that a federal appeals court has overturned a lower court ruling clearing the way for a Long Island, New York church and its pastor to lawfully use facilities owned and operated by the Town of Babylon.

HOLLYWOOD, CALIF. (ANS) — Millions of North American television viewers will be able to become “media-wise” when PaxTV begins airing Dr. Ted Baehr’s 60-second movie reviews, in a late night slot starting June 1. It is the start of a new series of family friendly movie reviews that Christian media expert Ted Baehr presents on his syndicated MOVIEGUIDE(R) TV program.

(Washington, DC) – The American Center for Law and Justice, an international public interest law firm, said today the U.S. Supreme Court “missed an important opportunity to clarify an issue that has become the center of a national debate” when it refused to consider an appeal of a case out of Indiana where a lower court ruled that a monument of the Ten Commandments which has been on display for more than 40 years is unconstitutional.

(Minneapolis, Minnesota) — The American Center for Law and Justice, an international public interest law firm, announced today that a federal appeals court has overturned a lower court decision giving three state employees in Minnesota the right to proceed to trial on their First Amendment claims against the Minnesota Department of Corrections, which punished them in 1997 for reading their Bibles during a “Gays and Lesbians in the Workplace” training session.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)–What makes a bomber strike, or a mom kill her kids?

Newsweek magazine asked that question recently for a cover story analyzing the nature and the root of evil. Its answer, though, fell short of a biblical definition of sin, R. Albert Mohler Jr. said during a nationwide broadcast of the radio program “Janet Parshall’s America” May 18.

WASHINGTON (BP)–The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed again to decide whether Congress has abridged free speech rights in its attempt to protect children from pornography on the Internet.

(Washington, DC) – The American Center for Law and Justice, an international public interest law firm, said today the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a case involving the Congressional authority to limit children’s access to online pornography is “an important opportunity to protect children” and the ACLJ announced it will file a friend-of-the-court brief with the Supreme Court representing a coalition of Congressional members in the case.

(Virginia Beach, VA) – The American Center for Law and Justice, an international public interest law firm, said today it will defend the City of Plattsmouth, Nebraska which has been sued by the ACLU to remove a monument of the Ten Commandments which has been displayed in a park since 1965.

Rutherford Institute Attorneys Appeal to U.S. Supreme Court Citing Free Speech Violations

WASHINGTON – Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute have appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of several residents of the city of Fargo, North Dakota, who were arrested while participating in a peaceful residential “prayer walk.”

SEATTLE (BP)–Today’s scientific advances owe their genesis to Christianity, and every new discovery of the cosmos is an affirmation of God at work in the universe he created, noted scientists and educators said in addressing a “Cosmos and Creator” conference at the Discovery Institute public policy think tank in Seattle.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA-Cutting edge technology combined with up-to-the-minute reports from indigenous missionaries around the globe is enabling Christians to experience their own “Macedonian Call” via their computer desktops.

Pinole, CA – A fourth grade school teacher at the Ellerhorst Elementary School in Pinole, California has halted the religious Native American rituals that she has been performing in her classroom, to the objection of a number of parents. These rituals included the use of a medicine wheel and morning chants where she addressed the north, south, east, and west, along with father heaven and mother earth. The ritual also had involved the burning of sage in the classroom in conjunction with the daily recitation. She later replaced the sage with a rattle. In Shamanism, a rattle is used during prayer to announce ones intention to the spirits in each of the four cardinal directions.