Worldwide Persecution of Christians at an ‘Unprecedented’ High; Here’s How Many Believers Are Killed for Their Faith Every Hour

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Photo Credit: Gospel Herald Bishop John McAreavey, the Chair of the Council for Justice and Peace of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference, has revealed that Christian persecution is at an unprecedented high, with at least 11 believers killed hourly because of their faith.

Breitbart News reports that in a presentation before the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade this past week, McAreavey emphasized that Christianity is the most oppressed religion in the world, as believers are severely persecuted 110 countries.

“Many of these countries have significant trade links with Ireland. Persecution is increasing in China,” McAreavey said, citing a recent Pew Research study. “In North Korea a quarter of the country’s Christians live in forced labour camps. Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and the Maldives all feature in the 10 worst places to be Christian.

He continued: “According to the International Society for Human Rights, a non-religious organization, 80 percent of all acts of religious discrimination in the world today are directed against Christians.”

The bishop reflected on statements from the Chief Rabbi of Britain, Jonathan Sacks, who recently asserted that the suffering of Christians in the Middle East is “one of the crimes against humanity of our time,” comparing it to Jewish pogroms in Europe and said that he’s “appalled at the lack of protest it has evoked.” (Read more from “Worldwide Persecution of Christians at an ‘Unprecedented’ High, Here’s How Many Believers Are Killed for Their Faith Every Hour” HERE)

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North Korea’s Missile Launch Photos Are Fakes, US Says

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Photo Credit: Reuters Photos showing a North Korean missile launched from a submarine were manipulated by state propagandists, and the isolated country may still be years away from developing the technology, a top US military official said Tuesday.

North Korea, heavily sanctioned by the United States and United Nations for its missile and nuclear tests, said May 9 it had successfully conducted an underwater test-fire of a submarine-launched ballistic missile, which, if true, would indicate progress in its pursuit of building missile-equipped submarines.

On Wednesday, the North warned Washington not to challenge its sovereign right to boost military deterrence and boasted of its ability to miniaturize nuclear warheads, a claim it has made before and which has been widely questioned by experts and never verified.

But Pyongyang is still “many years” from developing submarine-launched ballistic missiles, US Admiral James Winnefeld told an audience at the Centre for Strategic & International Studies in Washington on Tuesday.

“They have not gotten as far as their clever video editors and spinmeisters would have us believe,” said Winnefeld, who is vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. (Read more from “North Korea’s Missile Launch Photos Are Fakes, US Says” HERE)

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CIA Releases Files Showing Bin Laden Bent on Spectacular US Attack Until the End

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By Dan De Luce. Hunkered down in his Pakistani compound, Osama bin Laden pleaded with his followers to stay focused on attacking the United States instead of being dragged into Muslim infighting.

Documents that were declassified on Wednesday shed new light on the mindset of Al-Qaeda’s founder, his debates over tactics, his anxiety over Western spying and his fixation with the group’s media image.

“The focus should be on killing and fighting the American people and their representatives,” the late Al-Qaeda figurehead wrote.

The letter was among thousands of files found by US Navy SEALs on May 2, 2011 when they descended on Bin Laden’s hideout in the Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad and shot him dead.

US intelligence agencies have now declassified more than 100 of these documents taken from Bin Laden’s archive, after lawmakers ordered the move and critics accused the CIA of withholding material. (Read more from “Bin Laden Bent on Spectacular US Attack Until the End: Files” HERE)
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Bin Laden: Focus on Killing Americans, not Each Other

By Maxwell Tani. Fearful for his death in 2008, Osama bin Laden had big plans for his family.

In a video letter released by the CIA on Wednesday, the former 9/11 mastermind ordered his son to fight against the West in the event that the elder bin Laden was killed.

“Jihad is an obligated duty for all adults, so he has to conduct jihad,” bin Laden said of his son Usama. . .

From the strategic and theological discussions to the mundane details of domestic funding and security measures, the documents show the man behind 9/11 preoccupied with once again attacking the West in a spectacular fashion.

“The focus should be on killing and fighting the American people and their representatives,” Bin Laden wrote in one of the newly revealed documents. (Read more from this story about OBL’s plans for a spectacular attack HERE)

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Another French Mayor Says to Hell With Islam, and Posts up a Picture of a French Crusader With These Words

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Another French mayor, named Didier Barachet, is saying to hell with Islam and has posted up a portrait of a French crusader with these words:

We Will Never Submit To islam! Respect Our culture, Our Traditions, Our Values, And Our country, Otherwise Leave It!

This was done after another mayor, Robert Chardon, declared that Islam should be banned from the nation of France.

Photo Credit Facebook

According to one French report:

Didier Barachet, UMP mayor of Ardentes (Indre), relayed an anti-Islam message on his Facebook account. … Where the image appears there is a knight clutching his sword, alongside this message: “Never, we will submit to Islam!” “Respect our culture, our traditions, our values and my country, otherwise leave it!”

(Read more from “Another French Mayor Says to Hell With Islam, and Posts up a Picture of a French Crusader With These Words” HERE)

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After Russian Special Forces Soldiers Captured, Ukraine Says it’s Fighting a Real War Against Russia

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Photo Credit: Business Insider Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko sparked fresh Kremlin fury by warning that his crisis-torn country was fighting a “real war” against Russian aggressors that could escalate at any time.

The pro-Western leader said the weekend capture of two purported Russian special forces members proved the separatist uprising in the industrial east of Ukraine was a guise for a Moscow-orchestrated campaign aimed at breaking up his ex-Soviet state.

“This is not a fight with Russian-backed separatists, this is a real war with Russia,” the 49-year-old Ukrainian leader told the BBC . . .

Ukraine’s military on Tuesday showed off two wounded Russians who had been taken prisoner during a firefight in Lugansk — a blue-collar region that together with neighbouring Donetsk revolted against Kiev’s shift toward the West 13 months ago.

The men testified during a taped interrogation that they entered the war zone nearly two months ago as part of a 200-strong reconnaissance unit from the Russian army’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU). (Read more from “After Russian Special Forces Soldiers Captured, Ukraine Says it’s Fighting a Real War Against Russia” HERE)

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Iraqi forces, civilians flee as ISIS gains control of Ramadi

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Fear of a possible Islamic State bloodbath sent tens of thousands of Iraqis fleeing Ramadi on Monday after government forces abandoned the city — just 80 miles from Baghdad — in what one U.S. military official conceded was a fight “pretty much over.”

Some 25,000 people have fled the embattled streets of Ramadi as thousands of ISIS fighters seized the key Iraqi city, killing some 500, and reportedly going door-to-door looking for Iraqi government troops and police to run out of town.

“There have been executions in the streets of Ramadi,” Muhannad Haimour, a spokesman for the Anbar provincial government, told NBC News Monday. ISIS extremists used vehicles, bulldozers rigged with explosives and suicide bombers to overrun the city after weeks of battles in the street. . .

Although there were a large number of Iraqi security forces occupying Ramadi, most troops fled after ISIS fighters began their assault on the city center Sunday, leaving behind Humvees and armored vehicles supplied by the U.S. military, a separate senior U.S. military official told Fox News.

“The Iraqi security forces were pushed out by a much smaller [ISIS] force,” the official said. (Read more from “ISIS gains control of Ramadi” HERE)

John Kerry: Internet Needs Stronger Regulations to “Work Properly”

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In a speech in South Korea, Secretary of State John Kerry said that the Internet needs heavier regulations to “be able to flourish and work properly.”

Touting the Obama administration’s new policy on the Internet, Kerry insisted that without strict government regulation, the Internet could not reach its potential, and he couched his comments as a way to respond to threats of cyberattacks.

Kerry claimed that his “universal concepts” and “five principles” were necessary to protect the world’s Internet:

First, no country should conduct or knowingly support online activity that intentionally damages or impedes the use of another country’s critical infrastructure. Second, no country should seek either to prevent emergency teams from responding to a cybersecurity incident, or allow its own teams to cause harm. Third, no country should conduct or support cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property, trade secrets, or other confidential business information for commercial gain. Fourth, every country should mitigate malicious cyber activity emanating from its soil, and they should do so in a transparent, accountable and cooperative way. And fifth, every country should do what it can to help states that are victimized by a cyberattack.

But even with these “five principles,” Kerry said that there is still more work to do to “develop a truly reliable framework—based on international law—that will effectively deter violations and minimize the danger of conflict.” (Read more about John Kerry asserting that the Internet needs stronger regulations HERE)

Enormous, “Bulletproof” Cross Arises in Pakistan

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A Pakistani businessman who is building a 14-story cross in the heart of Pakistan’s largest city claims he got the idea when God came to him in a dream.

Parvez Henry Gill, part of the small Christian minority in predominantly Muslim nation, is believes his 140-foot-tall cross will be a source of comfort and inspiration for the country’s followers of Christ, who often face persecution and violence.

“I said, ‘I am going to build a big cross, higher than any in the world, in a Muslim country,’” Gill told the The Washington Post. “It will be a symbol of God, and everybody who sees this will be worry-free.”

The cross is being built at the entrance to the largest Christian burial ground in Karachi, Gora Qabristan Cemetery, in the southern section of the city. Made of concrete and steel, the massive monument will boast a 42-foot wide crosspiece and will be the largest in Asia.

Tombstones in the graveyard are often defaced, but Gill hopes the cross while be a beacon of hope in his country for minority Christians and encourage them to remain in Pakistan. (Read more from “Enormous Cross Arises in Pakistan” HERE)

US Special Forces Conduct Successful Raid in Syria, Kill High-Value Target [+video]

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Photo Credit: Controversial Times According to a White House press release, United States Special Operations Forces (specifically Delta Force) have killed a senior ISIS official, Abu Sayyaf, during a covert operation inside of Syrian borders.

The team reportedly managed to capture the commander’s wife during the raid while Sayyaf himself was killed. The raid was carried out by United States forces at the authorization of President Obama. The team entered Syria via Blackhawk helicopters and Osprey aircraft. According to statements made by defense officials, US personnel were forced to engage in hand to hand combat after landing at a multi-story building where the raid took place.

According to the White House statement, at least 12 ISIS fighters were killed during the raid. American forces suffered no casualties.

Sayyaf is reportedly in charge of oil and gas operations for the terror group. The sale of oil and gas is one of the reasons ISIS has been able to amass such a large fortune so quickly. With top ISIS leadership in question, it was believed Sayyaf was becoming more and more involved with day to day operations and may have been in line to become one of the top officials in the organization.

(Read more from “BREAKING: US Special Forces Raid in Syria” HERE)

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Russia Says It Can Deploy Nuclear Arms to Crimea

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Russia’s envoy to the NATO alliance said on Friday that Moscow will bolster military forces in occupied Ukraine, and is not banned from deploying nuclear arms in Crimea.

“Everything that we do in Crimea fully complies with all obligations of the Russian Federation under international treaties. We do not violate anything, there are no prohibitions on us deploying certain weapons systems,” said Alexander Grushko, the envoy, when asked if nuclear arms would be placed in Crimea.

Grushko also declined to say whether nuclear arms currently are deployed inside the Ukrainian territory forcibly annexed by Russia in March 2014. He made the remarks in a video press conference from Moscow with reporters in Brussels, where NATO headquarters is located.

European Command spokesman Capt. Greg Hicks said Grushko’s comments were “rhetoric” and a “diatribe” that would not alter the NATO position on the issue. . .

A State Department official agreed. Additionally, the official said stationing nuclear arms in Crimea would “violate Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in breach of [Russia’s] obligations under the U.N. Charter, and to be inconsistent with Russia’s commitments under the Helsinki Final Act and the Budapest Memorandum.” (Read more from “Russia Says It Can Deploy Nuclear Arms to Crimea” HERE)

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