Prophecy News Watch - August 23, 2024
Around the World
US-China Military Standoff In Taiwan Strait
The United States and China came close to a military confrontation Thursday as the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet received a Chinese warning when one of its warships passed through the Taiwan Strait, military officials said.
Switzerland Starts Instant Cashless Payments System
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) unveiled a new instant payment system Monday, saying it will bolster the future of cashless payments in Switzerland.
Italian Experts: ‘Evidence About Jesus’ Burial Clothing
Italian researchers have reopened the 600-year-old debate over the Shroud of Turin, the linen cloth that some believe was used to wrap the body of Jesus after his crucifixion.
Netherlands Shaken By Turmoil Over Nord Stream Blasts (Worthy News Radio)
The Netherlands has been shaken by political turmoil over revelations that Dutch government members knew about Ukraine’s involvement in blowing up Nord Stream pipelines transporting Russian natural gas to Europe, even before it happened. Information about the planned sabotage in September 2022 was shared by the Dutch secret service with the United States, officials say, which raised questions about former Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who is due to become the secretary general of the NATO military alliance.
German Chancellor Defends Less Support For Ukraine
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Wednesday that Ukraine had not informed Berlin about its August 6 shock incursion into Russia, and he defended his government’s decision to reduce military support for Kyiv by billions of euros.
Israel-Palestinian Conflict
Extensive Strikes Target Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Thursday that it conducted "extensive" overnight airstrikes on Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon, targeting weapon depots, buildings used by the group, and a rocket launcher across 10 areas, signaling an escalation in the conflict.
Second US Aircraft Carrier Arrives in the Middle East Amid Iranian Sabre Rattling
While Israel continues to prepare and brace for a threatened attack by Iran, the United States has deployed a second aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, to the Middle East to help defend the Jewish state if necessary.
Inside the United States
California Advances 0 Down, No Payment Home ‘Loans’ for Undocumented Immigrants
he California Senate Appropriations Committee advanced a bill to allow undocumented immigrants to make use of the state’s zero down, no payment home “loan” program, an expansion the legislature says would create “significant cost pressures.”
SCOTUS Declines to Enforce Protections for LGBTQ Public School Students
The US Supreme Court last week (August 16) rejected a request by the Biden administration to enforce a new federal rule that Title IX's prohibition of discrimination in public schools "on the basis of sex" includes discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, Reuters reports.
Pro-life Democrats Condemn Planned Parenthood Mobile Abortion Clinic Outside DNC, “It Overlooks the Need to Provide Support for a Pregnant Woman”
The Democrats for Life anti-abortion organization has vehemently condemned the Planned Parenthood abortion provider for offering free abortion pills from a mobile van parked near the ongoing Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, the Christian Post (CP) reports. Abortion giant Planned Parenthood Great Rivers in St. Louis announced last week that its mobile van would be parked near the DNC on Monday and Tuesday, the first two days of this week’s convention.
Christian News
Pakistan: Judge Allows Three Christian Children to Return Home After Islamic Employer Held Them Captive
A judge in Punjab Province, Pakistan has allowed three young Christian sisters to return to their parents after their employers held them captive and tried to forcibly convert them to Islam, Morning Star News reports.
‘Russia Destroys Hundreds Of Churches, Religious Buildings in Ukraine’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia turned hundreds of churches and other religious sites into rubble since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Whereabouts of Abducted Pastor and 13-Year-Old Daughter Are Not Known Despite Ransom Payment
The fate of a Protestant pastor and his 13-year-old daughter who were abducted in Gusau, northwestern Nigeria last month is not known, despite a ransom having been paid for their release, Christian Daily International (CDI) reports.
Worthy Insights
CAMERA yields its most corrections at once from wire story, after ‘AP’ emends Gazan death toll
When the Associated Press published an article about top presidential race issues upon which U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are “worlds apart” on Aug. 18, the more than 175-year-old wire service stated that “the civilian death toll has now exceeded 40,000” in Gaza.
‘Christian role in Lebanon has ended,’ says Hezbollah-affectionate commentator
Pro-Hezbollah commentator Reda Saad stirred up a virtual storm in Lebanon following a sharp attack against his Christian compatriots, when he claimed that the Christians’ role in the country is over and American battleships are coming to the region to take them away.
US-China Military Standoff In Taiwan Strait
The United States and China came close to a military confrontation Thursday as the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet received a Chinese warning when one of its warships passed through the Taiwan Strait, military officials said.
Switzerland Starts Instant Cashless Payments System
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) unveiled a new instant payment system Monday, saying it will bolster the future of cashless payments in Switzerland.
Italian Experts: ‘Evidence About Jesus’ Burial Clothing
Italian researchers have reopened the 600-year-old debate over the Shroud of Turin, the linen cloth that some believe was used to wrap the body of Jesus after his crucifixion.
Netherlands Shaken By Turmoil Over Nord Stream Blasts (Worthy News Radio)
The Netherlands has been shaken by political turmoil over revelations that Dutch government members knew about Ukraine’s involvement in blowing up Nord Stream pipelines transporting Russian natural gas to Europe, even before it happened. Information about the planned sabotage in September 2022 was shared by the Dutch secret service with the United States, officials say, which raised questions about former Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who is due to become the secretary general of the NATO military alliance.
German Chancellor Defends Less Support For Ukraine
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Wednesday that Ukraine had not informed Berlin about its August 6 shock incursion into Russia, and he defended his government’s decision to reduce military support for Kyiv by billions of euros.
Israel-Palestinian Conflict
Extensive Strikes Target Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Thursday that it conducted "extensive" overnight airstrikes on Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon, targeting weapon depots, buildings used by the group, and a rocket launcher across 10 areas, signaling an escalation in the conflict.
Second US Aircraft Carrier Arrives in the Middle East Amid Iranian Sabre Rattling
While Israel continues to prepare and brace for a threatened attack by Iran, the United States has deployed a second aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, to the Middle East to help defend the Jewish state if necessary.
Inside the United States
California Advances 0 Down, No Payment Home ‘Loans’ for Undocumented Immigrants
he California Senate Appropriations Committee advanced a bill to allow undocumented immigrants to make use of the state’s zero down, no payment home “loan” program, an expansion the legislature says would create “significant cost pressures.”
SCOTUS Declines to Enforce Protections for LGBTQ Public School Students
The US Supreme Court last week (August 16) rejected a request by the Biden administration to enforce a new federal rule that Title IX's prohibition of discrimination in public schools "on the basis of sex" includes discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, Reuters reports.
Pro-life Democrats Condemn Planned Parenthood Mobile Abortion Clinic Outside DNC, “It Overlooks the Need to Provide Support for a Pregnant Woman”
The Democrats for Life anti-abortion organization has vehemently condemned the Planned Parenthood abortion provider for offering free abortion pills from a mobile van parked near the ongoing Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, the Christian Post (CP) reports. Abortion giant Planned Parenthood Great Rivers in St. Louis announced last week that its mobile van would be parked near the DNC on Monday and Tuesday, the first two days of this week’s convention.
Christian News
Pakistan: Judge Allows Three Christian Children to Return Home After Islamic Employer Held Them Captive
A judge in Punjab Province, Pakistan has allowed three young Christian sisters to return to their parents after their employers held them captive and tried to forcibly convert them to Islam, Morning Star News reports.
‘Russia Destroys Hundreds Of Churches, Religious Buildings in Ukraine’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia turned hundreds of churches and other religious sites into rubble since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Whereabouts of Abducted Pastor and 13-Year-Old Daughter Are Not Known Despite Ransom Payment
The fate of a Protestant pastor and his 13-year-old daughter who were abducted in Gusau, northwestern Nigeria last month is not known, despite a ransom having been paid for their release, Christian Daily International (CDI) reports.
Worthy Insights
CAMERA yields its most corrections at once from wire story, after ‘AP’ emends Gazan death toll
When the Associated Press published an article about top presidential race issues upon which U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are “worlds apart” on Aug. 18, the more than 175-year-old wire service stated that “the civilian death toll has now exceeded 40,000” in Gaza.
‘Christian role in Lebanon has ended,’ says Hezbollah-affectionate commentator
Pro-Hezbollah commentator Reda Saad stirred up a virtual storm in Lebanon following a sharp attack against his Christian compatriots, when he claimed that the Christians’ role in the country is over and American battleships are coming to the region to take them away.