Author: Ron Chambers

Christians Suffer Police Brutality, Illegal Arrests in Uttar Pradesh, India

Morning Star News – March 23, 2020

HYDERABAD, India, March 23, 2020 (Morning Star News) – Forcing them to pose like Christ on the cross, police last week beat Christians in custody on baseless charges in northern India’s Uttar Pradesh state, sources said.

On March 15 a church of 200 people was immersed in a Sunday service when 30 Hindu extremists brandishing hockey sticks and steel rods arrived with police at the worship hall built on the premises of the pastor’s home in the Kunda area of Pratapgarh District, sources said.

“Once I saw them armed with hockey sticks and steel rods, I understood that they had come to attack us,” Pastor Indresh Kumar Gautam, 24, told Morning Star News. “I got down from the pulpit and decided to face them before they cause nuisance or attack any of the members of the congregation.”

He could see they were young men of the Hindu extremist Bajrang Dal from his and neighboring villages, he said. The pastor said they accused the church of increasing conversions to Christianity in the area.

“I told them clearly that we do not convert anyone, and that we had only accepted Christian faith and would be only praying for everyone,” he said. “If anybody chooses to follow Jesus after attending prayers, they are free to do so as the Indian constitution has granted the right to practice one’s faith freely.”

The intruders shouted at the worshippers to disperse immediately or they would be beaten brutally, he said.

“They had already started attacking us, and the police kept looking on,” Pastor Gautam said. “They seized the Bibles and the sound instruments, but the officers both male and female did not stop them.”

Instead, police forced five worshippers into police vehicles and took them to the Kunda police station, he said.

https://www.christianheadlines.com

Double Whammy In India: Bird flu Comes Knocking In Times Of Lockdown

Strange Sounds – March 25, 2020

Two localities in Patna have been tested positive for bird flu.

Thousands birds have been culled in Kerala. A patient has also been confirmed positive for swine flu in Bihar. Several died from Monkey fever. What’s more for India?

While 1.3 billion people went under “total lockdown” for 21 days to combat the spread of the contagion in India, several states are reporting avian influenza in parallel.

Samples in Bihar and Kerala have tested positive for H5N1 virus. A patient has also been confirmed positive for swine flu in Bihar.

In Bihar, samples of dead crows were sent to the National Institute of High-Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD) at Bhopal, where the results confirmed the worst fears.

In Kerala, the state government has decided to destroy the disease at the source and mass culling have already started since a week to contain a possible outbreak.

Avian influenza A (H5N1) is contagious among birds and can be fatal. There have been instances of human beings getting infected with the virus:

“In most of the cases, people having direct or close contact with H5N1-infected poultry or H5N1-contaminated surfaces contracted the disease.

“The H5N1 strain of bird flu is regarded as highly pathogenic and can also cause disease and death in humans.

https://strangesounds.org

Canada Has Banned Every Other Elective Surgery, But People Can Still Kill Babies in Abortions

Micaiah Bilger – March 27, 2020

Non-essential medical care, with the exception of abortions, is being postponed across Canada as hospitals deal with the coronavirus outbreak.

Though there is nothing essential about aborting an unborn baby, Canadian provinces and a number of American states are allowing elective abortions to continue during the crisis.

CTV News reports health leaders in all of the Canadian provinces and territories recently declared abortions to be “an essential service.” In Canada, elective abortions are allowed for any reason up to birth.

According to the report, every province and territory gets to make decisions about what health services will be postponed or canceled. The news outlet contacted health officials in each area to ask if abortions are included in their restrictions during the coronavirus. All of them said no.

Kerry Williamson, a spokesperson for Alberta Health Services, claimed abortions are “urgent/emergent” and therefore necessary.

“With regards to surgical abortions performed in AHS hospitals, these are not considered elective surgeries,” Williamson said.

In Quebec, Health Minister Danielle McCann admitted that abortions are a woman’s choice, but the province has no plans to restrict them during the health crisis.

Health leaders in other parts of the country said much the same thing.

https://www.lifenews.com

Israel’s Netanyahu threatens Gaza with ALL-OUT WAR if missile attacks continue

RT – February 24, 2020

Israel will stop at nothing to ensure its security and may well launch a broad military campaign against Gaza if the local armed groups continue with missile strikes, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Air raid sirens were heard across southern Israel for the second straight day on Monday. The IDF said that some 50 rockets were fired from Gaza at Israeli territory, with 90 percent of them intercepted.

The missile strikes were met with a harsh response, with the Israeli Defense Forces confirming on Twitter that multiple strikes against targets in Gaza have been carried out.

“We are now hitting with planes, tanks, and helicopters,” Netanyahu announced as he visited an Iron Dome air defense system battery in the Ashdod area. He also added a special message for the leaders of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) militants.

Speaking later in the day at the Israeli settlement of Ariel in the West Bank, Netanyahu added more threats.

“I don’t plan to let up… Beyond the hard strikes on our enemies, Hamas and Islamic Jihad need to understand – this [missile attack against Israel] won’t continue. If they do not completely stop, we will have to activate the plan we prepared for a broad campaign.”

Netanyahu said he was well aware of the price that IDF troops – who are conscripts – and their families would pay in such a campaign.

“I am not rushing into war,” the PM said, but if Israel is forced to launch a major offensive, “woe to Hamas and Islamic Jihad when that day comes!! It’s their choice.”

https://www.rt.com

Netanyahu rival Gantz chosen to form new Israeli government

JOSEF FEDERMAN – March 15, 2020

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli opposition leader Benny Gantz will be given the first opportunity to form a new government after an inconclusive national election this month, the country’s president said Sunday, raising questions about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s political future.

The decision by President Reuven Rivlin was announced by his office after he consulted with leaders of all of the parties elected to parliament. He will formally designate Gantz with the task on Monday and give him a month to cobble together a governing coalition.

The political wrangling comes at a sensitive time. Netanyahu has been leading the country as it confronts a growing coronavirus threat, with over 200 cases diagnosed and the number quickly rising. Netanyahu also faces serious legal troubles as he prepares to go on trial to face corruption charges.

Netanyahu’s Likud emerged as the largest party in the March 2 election, Israel’s third in under a year. But with his smaller religious and nationalist allies, he received the support of only 58 lawmakers during Sunday’s consultations, leaving his right-wing bloc three seats short of the required majority in parliament.

Gantz’s Blue and White received the support of parties representing 61 seats, a slim majority. However, those parties are also divided, and it is not clear whether Gantz will succeed in putting together a coalition. One lawmaker refused to endorse either side.

Given the likelihood of continued deadlock, Rivlin late Sunday summoned both Netanyahu and Gantz to an emergency meeting, where the men pledged to explore a unity government.

https://apnews.com

Pope Francis Says His Words ‘Overrule The Bible’

Truth Unsealed – March 18, 2020

Pope Francis has responded to claims that many of his teachings “contradict Bible teachings” by saying that his words “overrule” anything written in the Bible.

The pope has further angered traditional Christians in recent weeks by developing the habit of hiding the crucifix that is worn around his neck when speaking in public, causing many Christians to believe the pontiff is ashamed to display the powerful Christian symbol.

Jorgé Bergoglio, whose job title is Pope Francis, has been re-writing major Christian doctrine, completely ignoring Biblical teachings.

As reported by NBC News, the Vatican’s Commission for Religious Relations with Jews issued a major new document pronouncing that God had never annulled his covenant with the Jewish people, and so Catholics should not try to convert Jews: “The Church is therefore obliged to view evangelization to Jews, who believe in the one God, in a different manner from that to people of other religions and world views.”

God never annulled his covenant with the Jewish people.

https://truthunsealed.com

Canadian Bill Would Jail Christian Parents Who Attempt to Discourage Their Child’s Same-Sex Attraction

Michael Foust – March 19, 2020

A new Canadian bill backed by the prime minister would jail parents who attempt to discourage and change their child’s unwanted same-sex attractions or gender identity.

Bill C-8, supported by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, would make it a crime punishable up to five years in prison to “knowingly” cause “a person who is under the age of 18 years to undergo conversion therapy.” The bill applies not just to therapists but “everyone.”

The bill defines conversion therapy as a “practice, treatment or service designed to change a person’s sexual orientation to heterosexual or gender identity to cisgender, or to repress or reduce non-heterosexual attraction or sexual behaviour.”

The Campaign Life Coalition, a Toronto-based organization, says the bill is an affront to parental rights and religious freedom.

“If you’re a parent with a gender-confused child, you will not be permitted to help that child conform to his/her biological gender,” David Cooke of the Campaign Life Coalition wrote in an analysis of the bill. “… If you’re a pastor or church leader who publicly proclaims the power of Christ to transform homosexuals and transgenders, you may be arrested for ‘advertising conversion therapy.’”

The Trudeau government, he asserted, is “pushing to eradicate the Christian view of sexuality and gender from the public square.”

“They are working to suppress and deny the testimony of countless ex-gays and ex-trans who expose the lies of the LGBT narrative,” Cooke wrote.

https://www.christianheadlines.com

Locust crisis poses a danger to millions, forecasters warn

LOCUST-SWARM-SKY

Gaurdian – March 20, 2020

The locust crisis that has now reached 10 countries could carry on to endanger millions more people, forecasters have said.

Climate change created unprecedented conditions for the locusts to breed in the usually barren desert of the Arabian gulf, according to experts, and the insects were then able to spread through Yemen, where civil war has devastated the ability to control locust populations.

It was Cyclone Mekunu, which struck in 2018, that allowed several generations of desert locusts the moist sand and vegetation to thrive in the desert between Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Oman known as the Empty Quarter, breeding and forming into crop-devouring swarms, said Keith Cressman, locust forecasting expert for the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

“That’s fine, that’s quite good in itself, but just about when those conditions are drying out and the breeding is coming to an end, a second cyclone came to the area,” he said.

“That allowed the conditions to continue to be favourable and another generation of breeding, so instead of increasing 400-fold, they increased 8,000-fold.

“Usually a cyclone brings favourable conditions for about six months and then the habitat dries out, and so it’s not favourable for reproduction and they die and migrate.”

The amount of cyclones in the area seem to be increasing, said Cressman, making it likely that locust swarms will also become more common.

The FAO has warned that the food security of 25 million people could be endangered by the locusts, which according to the agency’s locust monitoring service have been spotted in at least 10 countries over recent months. One swarm recently reported in Kenya covered an area the size of Luxembourg.

https://www.theguardian.com

Trump Declares Sunday as National Day of Prayer in Midst of COVID-19 Outbreak

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WASHINGTON — President Trump has declared Sunday a National Day of Prayer in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak, which has been characterized as a pandemic in its affliction of nations worldwide.

“It is my great honor to declare Sunday, March 15th as a National Day of Prayer,” Trump tweeted on Friday. “We are a country that, throughout our history, has looked to God for protection and strength in times like these.”

“No matter where you may be, I encourage you to turn towards prayer in an act of faith,” he added. “Together, we will easily prevail!”

According to the latest statistics as of press time, 3,377 Americans had been diagnosed with COVID-19, with 63 deaths nationwide. Next to China — as the virus is believed to have originated from animal-to-human transmission in Wuhan, the nation of Italy has been the hardest hit, with 24,747 cases and 1,800 deaths.

Trump stated during a press conference in the White House rose garden on Friday that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plans to have over a million coronavirus test kits available this week for medical facilities nationwide and approximately five million by the end of the month.

Some churches chose not to hold services on Sunday or to instead broadcast online, while others continued on as usual but encouraged those with any symptoms to stay home.

Trump said that he would be watching a church service online, specifically Jentezen Franklin’s Free Chapel service, which was streamed to its members this week.

https://christiannews.net

‘Assisted suicide an NHS moneysaver’, ‘disturbing’ report says

Christian Insitute – March 18, 2020

Academics in Scotland have been criticised for suggesting that legalising assisted suicide would financially benefit the NHS.

Ethicist Dr David Shaw and healthcare economist Professor Alec Morton say it would be “irresponsible not to consider” the economic costs of denying assisted suicide.

Dr Gordon Macdonald, Chief Executive of Care Not Killing, called the report “highly disturbing”.

Dr Macdonald said: “Very quickly the argument moves from that of personal autonomy to doctors and nurses making value judgments about the quality of other people’s lives while seeking to save money and tackle so-called ‘bed blocking’ in health services.”

He cited the situation in the US states of Oregon and Washington, where “a majority of those ending their lives cite fear of being a burden on their families and finances.

“We have also seen cancer patients denied life-saving and life-extending treatments due to their cost but offered the drugs to end their lives”.

The study claimed legalization would be positive, as helping some patients to kill themselves would free up resources for other patients.

The researchers also said the controversial practice should be legalized because where patients die naturally, their organs deteriorate and are less likely to be viable for transplant.

In the Netherlands and Belgium it is already possible for organs to be donated following an assisted suicide.

https://www.christian.org.uk