Christians Slaughtered in Midnight Church Attack

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A horrifying new wave of violence has shaken the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as Islamist militants stormed a Christian church and hacked worshippers to death with machetes while they prayed for peace.

The United Nations reports that at least 49 people, including nine children, were brutally killed during the attack, which took place at 1 a.m. last Sunday in the eastern town of Komanda. According to local sources, the congregation was gathered for an all-night vigil when members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) — a rebel group tied to ISIS — stormed the church, mercilessly attacking everyone inside. Nearby homes were also set ablaze, and several villagers were abducted.

Global Condemnation

The atrocity has sparked worldwide condemnation. A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department called the massacre a “cowardly act of violence against Christians in their place of worship,” adding, “The United States designated the ADF, also known as ISIS-DRC, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 2021. We strongly condemn this attack on innocent civilians.”

The United Nations’ stabilization mission in the region, MONUSCO, called the attack a “heinous act” and a serious violation of human rights and international law.

According to Illia Djadi, a senior researcher for Christian charity Open Doors, the attack is part of a broader strategy by the ADF to terrorize and destabilize Christian-majority regions of the DRC.

“The ADF have a very clear aim: they want to turn a large part of DRC into an Islamic caliphate, like the horrific one instigated in Iraq and Syria in 2014 by Islamic State,” Djadi said.

In an interview on Tuesday, Djadi warned that sub-Saharan Africa has become the “new epicenter of jihadism,” with Islamic State-affiliated groups expanding their reach. Christians make up an estimated 80–95% of the population in the DRC, making them frequent targets.

A Pattern of Bloodshed

This is far from the first time Christians in the DRC have been targeted. In February, 70 Christians were reportedly beheaded during a church massacre. The violence is even worse in neighboring Nigeria, where Pope Leo XIV recently lamented the “extraordinary cruelty” of attacks that killed around 200 people in a single incident in June.

According to Open Doors International’s 2025 World Watch List, 3,100 of the 4,476 Christians killed worldwide in the latest reporting period were in Nigeria alone — a staggering 69% of all recorded Christian deaths.

Despite a peace initiative spearheaded by President Donald Trump between the DRC and Rwanda, attacks have continued in eastern Congo. The government is focused on combating the M23 rebel group in urban areas, leaving rural Christian villages like Komanda exposed to ADF brutality.

Iran Told to Comply with Nuclear Demands or Face Consequences after ‘Serious’ Meeting

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European diplomats met with Iranians on Friday face-to-face for the first time since Israel and the U.S. bombed the country last month.

The “serious, frank and detailed” meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, lasted for around four hours and the officials all agreed to meet again for continued negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program.

Sanctions that were lifted on Iran in 2015 after it agreed to restrictions and monitoring of its nuclear program could be reimposed if Iran doesn’t comply with requirements.

One of Europe’s E3 nations – Britain, France and Germany, who held the talks with Iran – could bring back sanctions under the “snapback” mechanism, which allows one of the European countries to bring back U.N. sanctions if Iran violates the conditions.

European leaders have also said that sanctions will start being reinstated by the end of August if there is no progress on reining in Iran’s nuclear program. (Read more from “Iran Told to Comply with Nuclear Demands or Face Consequences after ‘Serious’ Meeting” HERE)

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Chinese Spy Stole U.S. Missile Blueprints

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A dual US-Chinese national pleaded guilty on Monday to stealing American missile secrets.

Chenguang Gong, a 59-year-old engineer, transferred more than 3,600 files from an unnamed “research and development company” in Los Angeles, where he worked, to personal storage devices last year, according to the US Department of Justice.

Among the transferred files, which were found at Gong’s home in Southern California, were “blueprints for sophisticated infrared sensors designed for use in space-based systems to detect nuclear missile launches and track ballistic and hypersonic missiles”, according to the Justice Department.

There were also blueprints for sensors that can enable military aircraft to “detect incoming heat-seeking missiles and take countermeasures”, such as by jamming the missiles’ infrared tracking ability.

The transfer also included documents relating to the development of “next generation” sensors, which can detect low observable targets as well as the blueprints for the “mechanical assemblies”, which were used to house and cool the company’s own sensors. (Read more from “Chinese Spy Stole U.S. Missile Blueprints” HERE)

Merger of European-U.S. Satellite Companies Raises Fears of Chinese Access to Military Communication

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The proposed merger between European satellite service provider SES, a major Pentagon space contractor, and Virginia-based Intelsat is raising national security concerns over SES’ strategic partnership with a Chinese state-linked satellite company, according to national security experts.

The $3.1 billion merger announced in April was followed a month later by SES reaching a strategic partnership with China’s AeroSat Link for an international airline inflight internet service program.

AeroSat Link is a subsidiary of state-run China Satellite Communications Co. Ltd., known as ChinaSat, that is part of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC).

Both ChinaSat and CASC are identified as Chinese military companies, and both were sanctioned by the Treasury Department in the past based on national security concerns.

Luxembourg-based SES operates a network of nearly 70 satellites in two different orbits, along with ground infrastructure that provides video and data services to 99% of the world’s population, according to the company website. (Read more from “Merger of European-U.S. Satellite Companies Raises Fears of Chinese Access to Military Communication” HERE)

Trump: Indonesia Agrees to Pay 19 Percent Tariff, Open up Market to U.S. In Trade Deal

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President Donald Trump revealed some details of his trade deal with Indonesia on Tuesday while speaking with reporters on the South Lawn of the White House.

According to the president, Indonesia has agreed to a 19 percent tariff on its imported goods into the United States, while the United States will not pay any tariffs in the Indonesian market and will have “full access” to it.

“I spoke to their really great president, very popular, very strong, smart, and we made the deal. We have full access to Indonesia, everything. As you know, Indonesia is very strong on copper, but we have full access to everything,” Trump said, also going on to highlight “valuable earths” in the country.

“We will pay no tariffs. So they are giving us access into Indonesia, which we never had. That’s probably the biggest part of the deal. And the other part is they are going to pay 19 percent, and we are going to pay nothing,” he added. (Read more from “Trump: Indonesia Agrees to Pay 19 Percent Tariff, Open up Market to U.S. In Trade Deal” HERE)

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Iranian Official Claims Israel Used ‘The Occult and Supernatural Spirits’ during 12-Day War

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Abdollah Ganji, former editor of the IRGC-linked newspaper Javan, told his 150,000 followers on X that a “strange phenomenon” had taken place during the 12-day war.

A senior Iranian official claims that Israel deployed “the occult and supernatural spirits” during its war with Iran, Iran International reported on Friday.

Abdollah Ganji, former editor of the IRGC-linked newspaper Javan, told his 150,000 followers on X/Twitter on Wednesday that a “strange phenomenon” had taken place during the 12-day war.

“After the recent war, a few sheets of paper were found on the streets of Tehran containing talismans with Jewish symbols,” he wrote. “In the first year of the Gaza war, news had also leaked about Netanyahu meeting with occult specialists.

(Read more from “Iranian Official Claims Israel Used ‘The Occult and Supernatural Spirits’ during 12-Day War” HERE)

Women Who Claimed Brigitte Macron Was a Man Are Cleared of Defamation

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Two women who made false claims that Brigitte Macron was born a man were cleared of defamation charges on Thursday.

The theory peddled by Natacha Rey, a self-described journalist, and Amandine Roy, a clairvoyant, has become fodder for American conspiracy theorists.

The French first lady and her brother, Jean-Michel Trogneux, brought charges against the women last year.

Ms Rey and Ms Roy were found guilty of defamation in September and ordered to pay 8,000 euros (£6,900) in damages to Mrs Macron and 5,000 euros (£4,300) to her brother.

However, on Thursday the Paris court of appeal overturned the conviction as they said the 18 pieces of video called into question by Mrs Macron’s lawyers did not constitute defamation but fell in line with good faith and free speech. (Read more from “Women Who Claimed Brigitte Macron Was a Man Are Cleared of Defamation” HERE)

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Fresh Claims That King Charles’ Uncle and Mentor Lord Mountbatten Raped Numerous Boys

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A new book has raised fresh claims that Queen Elizabeth II’s cousin, Lord Mountbatten, sexually abused and raped multiple young boys at a children’s home before his death in 1979.

Lord Mountbatten, known as Dickie, was linked to the Kincora Boys’ Home in Belfast by former resident Arthur Smyth, who named Prince Philip’s uncle as his alleged abuser in 2022, as part of legal action against institutions in Northern Ireland for breach of duty of care and negligence.

And in 2019, a secret dossier compiled by the FBI on British statesmen during World War Two and the Suez Crisis described King Charles’ uncle and valued mentor as a ‘homosexual with a perversion for young boys’, which made him an ‘unfit man to direct any sort of military operations’.

Now a new book by journalist Chris Moore, Kincora: Britain’s Shame – Mountbatten, MI5, the Belfast Boys’ Home Sex Abuse Scandal and the British Cover-Up, details allegations from four previous residents of the home against the aristocrat including Smyth, who has labelled the godfather of King Charles, the King of Paedophiles.

Sharing his story for the first time, Richard Kerr claims he was trafficked to a hotel near Mountbatten’s castle with a fellow teenager named Stephen, where they were allegedly assaulted in the boathouse. He also casts doubt on his friend’s apparent suicide later that year. (Read more from “Fresh Claims That King Charles’ Uncle and Mentor Lord Mountbatten Raped Numerous Boys” HERE)

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UK Gov’t Urges Young People to Have More Children Amid Plummeting Birthrates

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British Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has urged more young people to consider starting families amid the demographic crisis facing the United Kingdom.

While young people in the West, particularly young women, have long been pushed towards focus on their careers rather than family formation, there is growing recognition that plummeting birthrates cannot merely be addressed by turning to the importation of millions of foreigners, which hitherto has been the knee-jerk reaction of government in most Western countries.

The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that in 2023, the British fertility rate fell to 1.44 children per woman, a record low since the government began tracking such figures in 1938 and far below the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman.

This coincided with increased female participation in the workforce, in conjunction with growing difficulties for young adults to get on the housing ladder, which has been exacerbated by the mass migration policies imposed on the country by both Westminster establishment parties.

While Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has previously said that he would not “tell people how to live their lives” in terms of having children, top cabinet minister Bridget Phillipson said this week that the government should seek to help young people have more children. (Read more from “UK Gov’t Urges Young People to Have More Children Amid Plummeting Birthrates” HERE)

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U.S. Missile Defenses Heavily Depleted in Shielding Israel: Report

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The U.S. drew down a significant portion of its advanced anti-missile system to bolster Israel’s defense against Iranian aerial attacks during a 12-day conflict in which Israel and the U.S. struck nuclear facilities and Iran retaliated with missile launches, according to defense news outlets and independent analysts. . .

Israel has long relied on the Lockheed Martin developed Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, known as the THAAD battery, for shielding against ballistic missiles from Iran or its proxy groups such as the Yemeni Houthis.

The U.S. military operates seven THAAD batteries. An eighth, getting integrated into the Missile Defense Agency, is capable of tracking hypersonic missiles. The THAAD deployment to Israel is part of a broader challenge where supporting allies in conflict zones means using resources that could affect military readiness and future deployment.

During the recent Israel-Iran conflict, the United States used an estimated 15 to 20 percent of its global THAAD missile interceptor stockpile, incurring unprecedented costs exceeding $800 million, according to the Bulgarian Military News and Military Watch Magazine outlets. (Read more from “U.S. Missile Defenses Heavily Depleted in Shielding Israel: Report” HERE)