World News

The polls closed Sunday in elections in which the opposition may unseat the country’s autocratic President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. But it remained unclear whether an opposition victory would improve the plight of minority Christians in the country and others targeted by authorities.

Ukraine says it has recaptured ground in Bakhmut, in a rare advance after months of grinding Russian gains in the eastern city. But Moscow has denied the claims while the death toll is mounting in one of the longest and bloodiest since Russia’s invasion began more than 14 long months ago.

Christians expressed anxiety Friday as Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan was released on bail Friday, a day after the Supreme Court ruled his detention on corruption charges was illegal.

The U.S. city of New York and the Dutch capital of Amsterdam were united Friday in dealing with the aftermaths of violence in their railway stations.

Germany was shaken Thursday by deadly shootings at a massive Mercedes-Benz car factory while police officers and firefighters were injured, some seriously, in a separate explosion in the western German town of Ratingen.

Russia has threatened an “adequate military response” after Britain pledged Thursday to supply Ukraine with long-range missiles to use in its battle against invading Russian forces.

Voters in Thailand prepared to go to the polls on Sunday in an election that could set the Asian nation on a path toward ending eight years of military rule, but uncertainty remains for Christian refugees.

The opposition may unseat the country’s autocratic President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in upcoming elections, but it remained unclear whether that would improve the plight of minority Christians, Worthy News established Friday.

Jordan carried out airstrikes on southern Syria on Monday, targeting an Iran-linked drugs factory and killing well-known drug smuggler Merhi al-Ramthan and his family, The Medialine reports. The strikes came as Syria was reinstated in the Arab League earlier this month.

At least 422 people are now confirmed dead, and 5,000 are missing in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) following an overwhelming combination of devastating floods and a severe landslide, the Watchers reports.

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has warned of “worsening religious freedom conditions around the world,” including for Christians and other groups.

A young journalist working for French news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) who “loved his craft” has been killed in Ukraine in a Russian rocket strike near the battle-torn eastern city of Bakhmut, journalists said.

Britain’s fertility regulator said the first babies created using an experimental technique combining DNA from three people have been born, in an effort to prevent the children from inheriting rare genetic diseases.

Russian President Vladimir Putin used a Victory Day speech on Tuesday to warn that “a war has been unleashed” against Russia in what seemed an attempt to prepare the nation for a change in the narrative about Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. So far, the Kremlin has described its battle against Ukraine only as no more than a “special military operation” aimed at defending Russian interests but limited in scope.

An Islamic cleric has been beaten to death by a Muslim mob in northwestern Pakistan after comparing a political candidate to Islam’s prophet Muhammed, Worthy News learned Tuesday.

As part of a new phase in promoting China’s currency, the Chinese city of Changsu in Jiangsu province has confirmed it will start paying its public sector employees entirely in digital yuan, Asia Nikkei reports.

With Ukraine’s counter-offensive imminent or already underway, Russia launched massive drone and missile strikes on the war-torn country with air raid sirens sounding nationwide.

A court in The Hague has called a temporary halt to plans by a Dutch company, ONE-Dyas, to develop a new gas field under Dutch and German waters near Germany’s island of Borkum amid a debate about tremors. The ruling came as the longtime prime minister of the Netherlands for the first time apologized to residents of the northern Dutch province of Groningen, who suffered for years from earthquakes caused by natural gas extraction.

Although around 20,000 civilians continue to be unjustly detained in Myanmar, on May 3, the ruling Buddhist nationalist military junta released 2,135 political prisoners to celebrate the Buddhist sacred day of Vasak, International Christian Concern reports.

The United States is planning to send Ukraine around $1.2 billion in long-term military aid to help the country defend itself against a barrage of drone, rocket, and surface-to-air missile attacks from Russia, according to U.S. officials.