Samuel Smith and World Watch Monitor

Latest

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  May 8, 2020

  ISIS attacks return in Iraq; Andrew White warns jihadis 'seem more empowered' than before

  As Muslims celebrate the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and as governments try to combat the spread of COVID-19, there has been a resurgence of deadly attacks by the Islamic State in Iraq over two years after the group’s territorial defeat. 

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  May 8, 2020

  Nearly 200 pastors sign petition urging Va. Gov. Northam to allow weekly in-person church services

  Over 190 pastors in Virginia have signed onto a petition letter calling on the governor to modify two executive orders so churches can gather for in-person worship at least once a week as the coronavirus pandemic continues. 

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  May 7, 2020

  Texas Supreme Court orders release of mom jailed for reopening hair salon to feed family

  The Texas Supreme Court has ordered the release of a Dallas hair salon owner, who was sentenced to jail by a judge on Tuesday after she reopened her shop despite the governor’s order shutting down non-essential businesses.

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  May 7, 2020

  Air Force officer faces backlash for leading worship services from apartment balcony

  A leading church-state separation legal group is calling on the commander of a U.S. Army base in Germany to take action against a field-grade Air Force officer who has been leading Christian worship services from the balcony of his military housing apartment.

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  May 6, 2020

  Kansas City mayor amends rule forcing churches to record names of churchgoers

  Kansas City Democrat Mayor Quinton Lucas has amended an executive order that required churches and other non-essential businesses and organizations to record the names of anyone who enters their buildings for 10 minutes or more. 

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  May 5, 2020

  Israel threatens to shut down new evangelical GOD TV channel if it proselytizes

  A new evangelical Christian television channel in Israel has been threatened with being shut down if it engages in any type of missionary activity, according to Israeli media reports. 

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  May 5, 2020

  Abducted seminarian killed for sharing the Gospel with captors in Nigeria: report

  A member of a Nigerian highway gang that is responsible for killing a kidnapped Catholic seminarian earlier this year admitted in a recent media interview that the aspiring priest was killed because he would not stop proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ to his captors.  

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  May 5, 2020

  Trump's favorability among white Christians in battleground states falls 27% since March: poll

  President Donald Trump’s favorability among white Christians in battleground states has dropped by 27 percentage points since mid-March as the country has dealt with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, data released by the Public Religion Research Institute finds. 

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  May 5, 2020

  Nigerian Christian hospitalized after married couple was ambushed with machetes

  A Christian man in the Plateau state of Nigeria was hospitalized after he and his wife were ambushed by a group of four suspected Fulani herdsmen late last month.

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  May 4, 2020

  Transgender birth mother can't be recognized as baby's father: appeals court

  A trans-identified female in England can not be listed as the father of a child to whom she gave birth, an appeals court ruled.