Fires of war burn in Syria in relentless battle for control of the country. Deborah Lutterbeck reports.
The fight to allow same-sex marriage and gay clergy has defined much of the last half-century for major mainline Protestant denominations in the U.S., mirroring in many ways the broader fight for LGBTQ+ inclusion in civic life. The United Methodist Church, which stripped out its bans and related social teachings over the past two weeks, is the last of the major mainline church bodies to go through this process. April 1972 The United Methodist Church has first public debate on homosexuality at a General Conference.
It took just a few days for United Methodist delegates to remove a half-century's worth of denominational bans on gay clergy and same-sex marriages. It took decades of activism for a change that was "so very healing," said McAvoy, pastor of Shepherd of the Valley United Methodist Church in Hope, Rhode Island. A member of the Queer Delegate Caucus at last week's UMC General Conference in Charlotte, she was grateful to be part of the historic moment.
Out comes Tesla CEO Musk from the factory floor to one of more glitzy conferences of the year.
An inquiry into a fire that killed 77 people in Johannesburg last year blamed neglect by authorities for allowing a building to become a den for guns, murder, drugs and combustible trash, and failing to evacuate it once it was clear it was a hazard. South Africa opened the inquiry last October to determine responsibility for the blaze on Aug. 31 last year in the rundown centre of its commercial hub. A spokesperson for the City of Johannesburg did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but in the full report, which Reuters reviewed, the justices said the city "acknowledges that it failed to comply with the applicable laws".
A gag order bars Trump from commenting publicly on witnesses, jurors and some others connected to the matter. The New York judge already has found that Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, repeatedly violated the order, fined him $9,000 and warning that jail could follow if he doesn't comply. As he fights the felony charges against him while running for president, Trump has at times stirred confusion about what he can and can't do in the case.
A local official and state media in Lebanon said an Israeli strike on a southern village on Sunday killed several people from the same family, with Hezbollah announcing rocket fire in retaliation.Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said the strike in Mais al-Jabal killed "four people from a single family", updating an earlier reported toll of three dead in the raid it said was carried out by Israeli aircraft.
A church volunteer stood at an apartment door, beckoning inside a Congolese family for their first look at where they would live in America. “Your new house!” volunteer Dan Davidson exclaimed as the couple and the woman's brother stepped into the two-bedroom apartment in South Carolina's capital, smiling tentatively at what would come next. Inside, church volunteers had made quilts for the beds and set out an orange and yellow plastic dump truck and other toys for the couple's son.
Northern Gaza is experiencing a “full-blown famine” which is rapidly spreading across the strip after almost seven months of war, the executive director of the World Food Programme has said.
Protesters left a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Southern California early Sunday after they were surrounded by police and told they could face arrest if they didn’t go. The move, days before commencement events are set to begin on the Los Angeles campus, came after the university said campus safety officers, assisted by the Los Angeles Police Department, were clearing the area. Livestream video from student journalists showed the encampment had emptied out as police formed a line to move remaining protesters away and stop people from re-entering the area.
Google has a lot at stake as a federal judge weighs whether the tech giant’s search empire should be broken up. But so does the rest of Silicon Valley.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hardened his rejection of Hamas demands for an end to the Gaza war in exchange for the freeing of hostages, saying on Sunday that would keep the Palestinian Islamist group in power and pose a threat to Israel. Netanyahu said Israel was willing to pause fighting in Gaza in order to secure the release of hostages still being held by Hamas, believed to number more than 130. "But while Israel has shown willingness, Hamas remains entrenched in its extreme positions, first among them the demand to remove all our forces from the Gaza Strip, end the war, and leave Hamas in power," Netanyahu said.
The Anti-Defamation League on Sunday warned that "the future of Jewish life in the West" was under threat, detailing a sharp rise in anti-Semitism since the start of the war between Hamas militants and Israel.The annual report from the ADL, the leading Jewish advocacy group, said anti-Semitic incidents had been increasing before the war erupted in October, but that the conflict had fueled "a fire that was already out of control."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted on X that the operations of Qatar-based news channel Al Jazeera in Israel will be closed.
The United Methodist Church marked a new era of LGBTQ inclusion by voting to lift the bans on LGBTQ clergy and on pastors performing same-sex unions. They also removed the language that said homosexuality was “incompatible with Christian teaching.”
Protests are almost certain to continue dividing Democrats and serve as fodder for former President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers.
Some of the most outspoken groups against Biden and Israel get funding from foundations attached to some of the biggest names in Democratic circles.
Second gentleman Douglas Emhoff will convene a panel in Atlanta on Tuesday focused on the role men can play in advocating for more access to abortion rights, according to sources familiar with the plans.
It was the latest clash in several weeks at colleges and universities around the country.
There was no threat to the president’s home, law enforcement authorities said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that his government has voted unanimously to shut down the local offices of Qatar-owned broadcaster Al Jazeera, escalating Israel’s long-running feud with the channel at a time when cease-fire negotiations with Hamas — mediated by Qatar — are gaining steam. According to a statement from Netanyahu's office, the decision goes into effect immediately.
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