Venezuelan Christians forced to eat pages of the Bible, have ‘crosses’ etched into their bodies

Anugrah Kumar – March 2, 2021

At least four Christian men recently suffered serious injuries after they were stabbed, forced to eat pages of the Bible, and had “crosses” etched into their skin by eight hooded men, according to a persecution watchdog organization.

The attack by men suspected to be criminals from a drug gang took place at Restoration House in the city of Libertador on Feb. 16, Open Doors reported Friday. Restoration House is a church-led drug rehabilitation center in Venezuela’s Mérida State.

The charity, which works with persecuted churches in over 60 nations, explained that Christians, who deter people from criminal lifestyles, are often seen as a threat to the illegal activities of drug gangs in Latin America.

“The criminals covered our faces and started to beat and stab us,” a victim was quoted as saying. “They drew ‘X’ on our bodies and forced us to eat the Bible.”

While the four Christians have been discharged from the hospital, one of them remains in poor health due to two broken ribs and injuries to his lungs and head. Two others had casts put on their legs and arms.

“Weeks before the attack, in the middle of a meeting discussing neighborhood issues, two men said they were going to end the Restoration House because they did not agree with this type of program,” Pastor Dugarte, who founded the center with his wife, told Open Doors.

Pastor Dugarte remains strong in his faith, and he will carry on with the ministry in the predominantly Roman Catholic country.

https://www.christianpost.com

Scientists Create Robotic “Life Form” to “End Aging”: Danger feared as it violates Biblical commandment

– March 3, 2021

Scientists announced that they have created a ‘xenobot’; an organic robot made from a frog’s stem cells. The project raises theological concerns about creating new life forms, the exclusive purview of God, and practical concerns about what will happen when this living robot is injected into the human body.

Scientists at  Tufts University’s Allen Discovery Center at the University of Vermont recently announced that they had succeeded in making organic robots made from stem cells scraped from frog embryos, separated into single cells, and incubated. The cells were cut and reshaped into specific “body forms” designed by a supercomputer.

Named xenobots for the African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis) that was the donor of the cells, the newly “created” robots are self-healing and are one millimeter wide, small enough to travel inside human bodies. They are multi-skilled, able to walk and swim, survive for weeks without food, living on lipid and protein deposits, though they can’t reproduce or evolve. The scientists envision injecting the xenobots into a patient where it can pick up a payload, like a medicine, and deliver it to a specific place inside a patient.

In a clear burst of hubris, the researchers declared the xenobots to be “entirely new life-forms…never seen in nature.”  They claim this is the first time science  “design[ed] completely biological machines from the ground up.”

https://www.israel365news.com

COVID-19 Relief Bill Provides Billions to Bail Out Abortion Industry

Dr. Susan Berry – March 4, 2021

As the Senate prepares to debate the COVID-19 Relief bill, Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) observed the bill provides $400 billion that contains no protections for ensuring it will not be used to fund elective abortion.

Daines tweeted a video of his review of some of the features of the measure, which passed the House Friday, referring to it as the “liberal wish list” of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (CA) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (NY).

“Here’s one that will get your blood pressure up,” said Daines, who heads the Senate Pro-Life Caucus. “$400 billion that has no protections to ensure we don’t have taxpayer dollars spent for abortions.”

He explained Democrats removed the language of the Hyde Amendment that has prohibited taxpayer funding of abortions in appropriation bills.

“$400 billion that could be used to fund abortions paid for by United States taxpayers,” the senator emphasized.

In a floor speech in the House prior to the vote on the bill, co-chair of the House Pro-Life Caucus, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), also called the exclusion of the Hyde Amendment “a radical departure from all previous COVID-19 relief laws,” and one that “mandates taxpayer funding of abortion-on-demand.”

https://www.breitbart.com

Mississippi Passes Bill Banning Transgender Athletes in Girls’ Sports

Jay Greenberg March 5, 2021

The Mississippi House of Representatives has passed a bill that bans transgender athletes from competing in female sports events.

The state’s House passed the bill 81-28 on Wednesday to ban transgenders from competing on sports teams based on the gender they “identify” with.

Seven representatives voted “present,” while six did not vote, which counts neither for nor against the bill.

The ban would apply to teams at all schools and universities across the state.

The bill now heads to the desk of Republican Gov. Tate Reeves.

Reeves has expressed support for the move and is expected to sign the legislation into Mississippi state law as soon as possible.

The Republican-controlled state Senate passed the bill 34-9 on Feb. 11, with five senators not voting, and four voting “present,” according to Fox News.

Mississippi is now one of more than 20 states where lawmakers have proposed restrictions on athletes playing on sports teams that don’t align with their sex assigned at birth or for gender-reassignment health care for minors.

https://neonnettle.com

Israel Getting Ready to ‘Take Action’ to Stop Iran From Going Nuclear, Defence Minister Says

Sputnik News – February 26, 2021

Joe Biden’s campaign promise to get the US back into the Iran nuclear deal has yet to bear fruit, with Washington demanding that Tehran reduce its enrichment activities first. In the meantime, media reports suggest that Israel – the Middle East’s only alleged nuclear weapons state, is engaged in major construction at its Dimona research facility.

The Israeli military is “currently working to build up” its forces “and is preparing itself for any scenario, including one in which we would need to take operational action to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons,” Defence Minister Benny Gantz said, his remarks cited by the Times of Israel.

Gantz, who also serves as Israel’s alternate prime minister, said the military preparations were being taken in parallel with Tel Aviv’s diplomatic efforts to pressure the Biden administration into modifying the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action Iran nuclear deal, if not scrapping it entirely.

“We all need to make sure that if an agreement is signed with Iran, it will be one that ends its nuclear project, enables long-term effective oversight and inspection, and puts a stop to Iranian entrenchment in Syria, Yemen and Iraq,” the minister said.

Iran maintains that it has no intention of pursuing nuclear weapons, and has warned both the Trump and Biden administrations that it will not accept any effort to modify the terms of the JCPOA in any way. The US has a binary choice – take the deal or leave it, according to Tehran.

https://sputniknews.com

World debt soars to record $281 TRILLION in 2020, set to rise again this year – report

RT – February 21, 2021

The Covid-19 pandemic has added $24 trillion to the global debt mountain over the last year, the Institute of International Finance (IIF) said. Government spending has accounted for about half of the increase.

Corporations added $5.4 trillion to the total, while banks and households accounted for $3.9 trillion and $2.6 trillion respectively.

With global debt now totaling a record $281 trillion, the ratio of debt to global GDP has risen 35 percentage points to over 355 percent, the institute’s study shows. The increase in debt is larger than the rise seen during the global financial crisis, in which 2008 and 2009 saw 10-percent and 15-percent debt-to-GDP jumps respectively.

Borrowing levels are expected to run well above pre-pandemic levels in many countries and sectors again this year, supported by still-low interest rates.

“We expect global government debt to increase by another $10 trillion this year and surpass $92 trillion,” the IIF said, adding that slowing down support could prove even more challenging than it was after the financial crisis.

“Political and social pressure could limit governments’ efforts to reduce deficits and debt, jeopardizing their ability to cope with future crises. This could also constrain policy responses to mitigate the adverse impacts of climate change and natural capital loss,” it added.

According to the report, rises in debt were particularly sharp in Europe, with non-financial sector debt-to-GDP ratios in France, Spain, and Greece increasing by 50 percent.

https://www.rt.com

A “Biblical” Invasion Of Locusts Threatens To Cause Widespread Famine In The Horn Of Africa

– February 21, 2021

The locusts are back, and they are hungry.  Last year, an unprecedented plague of locusts devastated crops in eastern Africa, across the Middle East and throughout much of Asia.  Many were hoping that it would just be a one year phenomenon, but now the locusts have returned and one British news source is using the world “biblical” to describe this second wave.  At this moment, the Horn of Africa is being hit the hardest, and the UN is warning that this new infestation “threatens the livelihoods of more than 39 million people”

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the next generation of locusts threatens the livelihoods of more than 39 million people in Ethiopia, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan, and Kenya. Over recent months, the pests have been combated on 1.3 million hectares of land in the Horn of Africa. However, in northern and central Kenya, more than 15 districts, including many new areas, have already been severely affected by the second wave of locusts. Around 1.9 million people were already living in a precarious nutrition situation, which could now dramatically worsen.

One reporter recently had the opportunity to fly with a pilot that is tracking locust swarms in Kenya, and he was stunned when they came across a “swarm about twice the size of the City of London ready to devour every bit of vegetation in its wake”.

Can you imagine what it must be like for local farmers when millions upon millions of locusts suddenly show up in their area?

These locusts can literally wipe out an entire farm in as little as 30 seconds, and these swarms are capable of traveling vast distances in a single day

Swarms can fly up to 150 kilometres a day with the wind, and a single square kilometre swarm can eat as much food in a day as 35,000 people.

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com

Brain-swelling Nipah virus 75 times more deadly than coronavirus may be next pandemic, scientists warn of ‘The Big One’

Jamie Micklethwaite  – February 21, 2021

A brain-swelling disease 75 times more deadly than coronavirus could mutate to become the next pandemic killing millions, scientists have warned.

Experts told the Sun Online how a number of emerging diseases could trigger another global outbreak – and this time it could be “The Big One”.

The fruit bat-borne virus Nipah is a prime candidate for serious concern, they fear.

Severe brain swelling, seizures and vomiting are just some of the symptoms of this highly potent disease — which was first discovered in 1999 in Malaysia.

Outbreaks in south and southeast Asia show the virus to be extremely deadly, with a death rate of between 40 to 75 per cent.

COVID-19’s fatality rate is around one per cent, according to Imperial College, so a Nipah pandemic would kill many more people.

It has also been named by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as one of 16 priority pathogens for research and development due to its potential to trigger an epidemic.

And chillingly, Nipah is just one of 260 known viruses with epidemic potential.

https://www.news.com.au

Denmark May Force Churches to Submit Sermons to Government

Steve Warren – February 4, 2021

Christian leaders in Denmark say religious liberty and the freedoms of speech and expression have come under fire after a proposed law would require leaders of all faiths to translate their sermons into Danish and submit them to the government.

La Croix International reports the new measure is primarily aimed at radical Islamic groups, but it will also affect churches. It is scheduled to be reviewed this month at the Folketing, the Danish Parliament. The country has more a population of more than 270,000 Muslims, and most of the sermons in the mosques are preached in Arabic.

The government of Denmark has said the law is necessary to curb the growth of Islamic extremism.

CBN News sources explain the measure is aimed at getting the preaching of jihad out of mosques, but because Europe is so politically correct they won’t just pinpoint mosques. They’re including churches and casting a broad, politically correct net.

Christian leaders are sounding the alarm about the proposed law and the dangers it represents.

Church of England Bishop Robert Innes wrote a letter to Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen expressing his alarm over the measure with what he describes as an “overly restrictive” bind on freedom of expression, according to The Guardian.

Innes told the newspaper he feared the law if backed in the Danish parliament, would be replicated elsewhere in Europe at a time when religious minorities were generally finding their freedoms being encroached upon.

https://www1.cbn.com

House Passes ‘LGBTQ’ Equality Act Despite Serious Concerns Over Its Constitutionality Relating to Religious Liberty

– February 26, 2021

The Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives passed the controversial Equality Act in a 224-206 vote on Thursday despite growing concerns over how the legislation would affect religious liberty, women’s sports, as well as other concerns. The bill now heads to the Senate for consideration.

The Equality Act’s passage included the support of three Republicans, including Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and John Katko and Tom Reed of New York, who joined the Democratic majority in voting to pass the bill.

“The LGBT community has waited long enough,” said Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., who is a homosexual and the lead sponsor of the bill. “The time has come to extend the blessings of liberty and equality to all of Americans regardless of who they are and who they love,” Cicilline asserted.

The purpose of the Equality Act as set forth by Cicilline and its sponsors is to expand the legal protections afforded under existing civil rights law in employment, housing, education, public accommodations, as well as in other areas, to include sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes and making it illegal to discriminate against the added classes regardless of religious or conscience objections.

The bill, which was opposed by the majority of Republicans in the House, has been met with much opposition from Christian groups, as well as social conservatives, who express that the bill will inevitably lead to Christian persecution, conscience violations and other actions that will result in the loss of freedom.

https://christiannews.net