Israel Condemned by UN for Defending Itself Against Gaza Border Riots

(Worthy News) – Nearly a year after Palestinians launched violent protests along Israel’s border with Gaza, a United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) report calls for some Israelis to be tried as war criminals for the military’s response to those border riots.

“The main conclusion of the Commission is that we found reasonable grounds to believe that the Israeli Security Forces committed serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law,” said Santiago Canton, Chairperson, Commission of Inquiry on the 2018 protests in what the commission called the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

It’s been nearly a year since Palestinians launched the protests with the goal of breaching Israel’s border. Known as the ‘Great March of Return,’ experts say it’s anything but peaceful.

“The report completely and utterly ignores the fact that these are very violent demonstrations, including the use of firearms and throwing grenades, breaking through the fence, people who’ve been given maps of Israeli towns and villages in close proximity to the border fence so that they can get there and kill as many Israelis as they can,” said Ambassador Alan Baker, Director of the Institute for Contemporary Affairs at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. [ Source: CBN News (Read More…) ]

The post Israel Condemned by UN for Defending Itself Against Gaza Border Riots appeared first on Worthy Christian News.

EU summit readies for Brexit in May – or next week

(Worthy News) – EU leaders will tell Theresa May on Thursday she can have two months to organize an orderly Brexit but Britain could face a hugely disruptive ejection from the bloc next Friday if the prime minister fails to win backing from parliament.

The pound was under pressure as investors saw risks of a no-deal Brexit rising on signs of impatience among the European Union leaders who meet May for a 24-hour summit in Brussels.

EU diplomats said her request for a delay until June 30 seemed likely to be met by an EU preference for Britain to have completed formalities and begin a status-quo transition to departure before Europeans elect a new parliament from May 23. [ Source: Reuters (Read More…) ]

The post EU summit readies for Brexit in May – or next week appeared first on Worthy Christian News.

Arkansas House OKs bill requiring schools offer Bible course

(Worthy News) – The Arkansas House has approved a bill that requires public schools to offer an elective course on the Bible if students request one.

The bill approved by the House on Tuesday by a 64-7 vote would require a public school to offer the academic study of the Bible if at least 15 students request one.

The course would be taught in what the legislation calls a “nondevotional manner with no attempt made to indoctrinate students.” [ Source: Fox News (Read More…) ]

The post Arkansas House OKs bill requiring schools offer Bible course appeared first on Worthy Christian News.

Putin Kicks Off Massive New Gas Field in Russia’s Arctic

(Worthy News) – President Vladimir Putin has kicked off the full-scale development of one of Russia’s largest proven gas fields in the Yamal peninsula, the Kremlin reported on Wednesday.

The Kharasaveyskoye gas field is located in the Yamal-Nenets autonomous district, a key gas-producing region in an economy that heavily relies on gas exports. This month, Russia’s Natural Resources and Environment Ministry estimated that the country’s natural resource reserves are worth 60 percent of its GDP.

Russian gas giant Gazprom decided to start fully developing the Kharasaveyskoye field in summer 2018, the state-run TASS news agency reported. The field’s gas reserves amount to 2 trillion cubic meters, the Kremlin said in a statement. [ Source: Moscow Times (Read More…) ]

The post Putin Kicks Off Massive New Gas Field in Russia’s Arctic appeared first on Worthy Christian News.

May urges parliament to back her on Brexit, tells Britons ‘I’m on your side’

(Worthy News) – Prime Minister Theresa May made an impassioned appeal to MPs to support her on Wednesday after the European Union said it could only grant her request to delay Brexit for three months if parliament next week backed her plans for leaving.

May had earlier asked the EU to let Britain delay its departure date from March 29 to June 30, a question that leaders of the remaining 27 member states will discuss at a summit on Thursday.

European Council President Donald Tusk said it would be possible to grant Britain a short postponement if parliament next week backs May’s divorce agreement, which it has already voted down twice. [ Source: Reuters (Read More…) ]

The post May urges parliament to back her on Brexit, tells Britons 'I'm on your side' appeared first on Worthy Christian News.

High potency marijuana, daily use ‘strongly linked’ to psychosis

(Worthy News) – Smoking high-potency cannabis, used daily, has been linked to diagnosis of conditions like schizophrenia, paranoia and other psychosis disorders, new findings say.

About 50 percent of new cases of psychosis disorders diagnosed in Amsterdam were linked to use of high-potency cannabis, according to a study published Tuesday in The Lancet. Additionally, 30 percent of new psychosis cases diagnosed in London were also associated with high strains of the drug.

“The use of cannabis with a high concentration of THC has more harmful effects on mental health than the use of weaker forms,” Marta Di Forti, a researcher at King’s College London and study lead author, said in a news release. “Our findings also indicate for the first time how cannabis use affects the incidence of psychotic disorder at a population level.” [ Source: UPI (Read More…) ]

The post High potency marijuana, daily use 'strongly linked' to psychosis appeared first on Worthy Christian News.

Genetic Manipulation Enters a New Era As Chinese Scientist Oversees Birth of First Successfully Gene-Edited Babies

(Worthy News) – The science world is abuzz with news of the world’s first successfully gene-edited babies.

Chinese scientist He Jiankui claimed at a conference in November that he had used CRISPR-Cas9 to successfully eliminate HIV-associated genes in twin girls.

A method by which special proteins are used to excise bad genes, the CRISPR technique’s potential has drawn concern from Christian and non-Christian scientists alike.

“Some people won’t be able to resist the temptation to improve human characteristics, such as memory, resistance to disease, and length of life,” warned the late Stephen Hawking in a posthumously published essay.

Referring to the process as “self-designed evolution,” Hawking speculated that gene-editing could lead to the oppression of a genetic underclass by a race of superhumans.

“Once such superhumans appear, there will be significant political problems with unimproved humans, who won’t be able to compete.”

While lauding the CRISPR technique’s applicability to disease prevention, Human Genome Project leader and Christian scientist Francis Collins published a scathing rebuke of Jiankui’s initial experiment.

“Should such epic scientific misadventures proceed, a technology with enormous promise for prevention and treatment of disease will be overshadowed by justifiable public outrage, fear, and disgust,” wrote Collins in a statement released by National Institutes of Health.

The onetime director of the Human Genome Project additionally upbraided a “willingness by Dr. He and his team to flout international ethical norms,” and cited the “need for development of binding international consensus on setting limits for this kind of research.”

He Jiankui’s experiment is the first, but likely not the last, to produce genetically modified humans as a result of the successful mapping of the human genome in 2003.

The post Genetic Manipulation Enters a New Era As Chinese Scientist Oversees Birth of First Successfully Gene-Edited Babies appeared first on Worthy Christian News.

‘It looked like an ocean’: Severe Midwest flooding could last all spring

(Worthy News) – Gov. Kim Reynolds is warning Iowans what millions of Midwesterners have come to understand in recent days – the severe flooding that has swamped much of the region may be a long way from over.

“We’re in for the long haul. We’re just getting started,” said Reynolds, who added that her tour of western Iowa this week had revealed unprecedented flooding. “It looked like an ocean.”

In neighboring Nebraska, 88 cities and 74 counties have issued emergency declarations. Vice President Mike Pence visited the state Tuesday and promised expedited recovery help through a federal disaster declaration. [ Source: USA Today (Read More…) ]

The post 'It looked like an ocean': Severe Midwest flooding could last all spring appeared first on Worthy Christian News.

Christians respond after deadly cyclone tears across Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe

(Worthy News) – Christian Aid is appealing for donations as it assists communities affected by Cyclone Idai, which has killed hundreds and devastated communities across Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe.

The charity is providing emergency assistance to communities affected by the cyclone but it also wants to build resilience to help them be better prepared for when the next big storm strikes.

Over a million people have been affected by severe flooding and power outages triggered by the cyclone, which Clare Nullis, of the UN’s weather agency, said was “shaping up to be one of the worst weather-related disasters ever to hit the southern hemisphere”. [ Source: Christian Today (Read More…) ]

The post Christians respond after deadly cyclone tears across Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe appeared first on Worthy Christian News.

China Tells Christianity To Be More Chinese

(Worthy News) – The headlines out of China last week sounded ominous. In strident language not heard in a long time, the head of China’s Protestant church gave a speech supporting the government’s policy of reducing Western influence on religion and making it “more Chinese,” a process dubbed sinicization in English.

Is the move a step toward tighter government control, an opportunity to further indigenize and contextualize the faith, or perhaps both? As with most things in China, the answer is complicated.

This sinicization campaign has been going on for a few years. While outsiders have observed it with growing alarm, many believers in China understand that though the government may have a political agenda, it might also provide opportunities for outreach. [ Source: Christianity Today (Read More…) ]

The post China Tells Christianity To Be More Chinese appeared first on Worthy Christian News.