Current News

Eight prominent Muslim-majority countries announced their decision this week to join U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed Board of Peace, a move framed by its supporters as a step toward stability — but viewed in Israel with deep skepticism given past regional failures in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted an invitation from U.S. President Donald Trump to join the newly proposed Board of Peace, his office confirmed Wednesday, as a growing number of European governments signaled they will not participate in the initiative.

The United States and Israel signed a landmark joint statement on Friday launching a strategic partnership in artificial intelligence, research, and critical technologies under the U.S.-led Pax Silica initiative, underscoring a shared vision that economic cooperation can outweigh ideological divides.

Israeli authorities on Tuesday began demolishing the former headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency at Ammunition Hill in Jerusalem, marking a decisive enforcement of legislation passed by the Knesset banning UNRWA activity inside Israeli territory.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared Monday that no Turkish or Qatari soldiers will be allowed to operate in the Gaza Strip, acknowledging a “certain dispute” with the United States over the composition of a U.S.-backed body intended to oversee Gaza’s postwar governance.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has been invited to join a Board of Peace for Gaza proposed by U.S. President Donald J. Trump, to oversee post-war reconstruction in the Palestinian enclave, Hungary’s foreign minister said.

Leaders from Israel, Russia and several other countries have been invited to join President Donald Trump’s newly announced “Board of Peace” overseeing Gaza — with permanent membership reportedly carrying a $1 billion price tag.

President Donald Trump called off tariffs on U.S. allies opposed to his plans to annex Greenland after announcing a tentative deal with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte for a future deal on Greenland.

President Donald Trump said the United States is pursuing negotiations to acquire Greenland while ruling out the use of military force, framing the controversial proposal as a necessary security measure rather than an economic or mineral-driven ambition.

Gold prices surged to a record high on Wednesday as investors sought safety the deepest crisis in the transatlantic alliance in decades with U.S. President Donald J. Trump saying Europe “is not heading in the right direction.”

Thousands in Ukraine’s capital braced for a bitter winter night late Tuesday after Russian forces unleashed another deadly barrage of missiles and drones that severely damaged critical infrastructure and worsened a deepening humanitarian crisis. The winter offensive has knocked out power, water, and heating across much of Kyiv, officials said.

Dutch firebrand politician Geert Wilders, leader of the anti-Islam Party for Freedom (PVV), faced his most severe political crisis Tuesday after seven members of parliament resigned from the party’s parliamentary group, dramatically weakening its influence in the House of Representatives of the Netherlands.

President Donald Trump is continuing to press senior advisers for what he calls “decisive” military options against Iran, even after pulling back from strikes last week, as Tehran intensifies a violent crackdown on protesters that has killed thousands, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

Guards from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) withdrew Tuesday from the sprawling al-Hol detention camp in northeast Syria, triggering accusations from Damascus that the move allowed Islamic State-linked detainees to escape, as fighting between the two sides pushed the country closer to renewed instability.

U.S. President Donald J. Trump marked one year since returning to the White House with a wide-ranging and often confrontational press conference, defending his record while renewing criticism of political opponents, major media outlets, and several U.S. allies.

Since 2020, fraudsters have scammed at least $36 billion and as much as $3 trillion in tax money from federal entitlement programs, dwarfing the amount federal prosecutors claim was stolen in Minnesota’s federal food aid scandal known as Feeding Our Future, an investigation by The Center Square found.

Ten days before the government funding deadline, congressional appropriators released the last four fiscal year 2026 spending bills for the U.S. House to vote on.

The number of abortions in the United States continues to rise despite stronger state protections for unborn life following the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, with pro-life advocates pointing to mail-order abortion pills as the primary driver. Pro-choice researchers estimate the nation averaged nearly 99,000 abortions per month in early 2025, a trend conservatives say reflects regulatory loopholes rather than public rejection of pro-life laws.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Tuesday in a case over whether states can prevent concealed carry holders on private property that is open to the public.

A member of Cities Church said protesters who disrupted a Sunday morning service in St. Paul were seated throughout the congregation before the service began.

A federal judge in Minnesota has imposed new limits on how federal immigration agents may respond to protesters, a decision that comes as authorities investigate the disruption of a Christian worship service in St. Paul by anti-ICE agitators—an incident that has intensified concerns over public order, religious freedom, and the rule of law.

Nigerian police have confirmed that a large group of Christian worshippers were kidnapped by suspected Muslim gunmen from three churches in a remote area of Nigeria’s northern Kaduna State, reversing an earlier denial that authorities said had been “widely misinterpreted.”

The era of foreign missionaries in Turkey is drawing to a close as authorities increasingly detain, deport, or bar Christian workers from reentering the Muslim-majority nation, according to church leaders and human-rights advocates.

A record 388 million Christians faced persecution and were at risk of violence worldwide over the past year—eight million more than in previous periods—according to new findings by Christian charity Open Doors.

There was mounting concern Monday over the fate of an Egyptian Christian who hosts a channel on the video-sharing platform YouTube, after authorities sentenced him to five years of hard labor for content that rights groups say defended Christianity online.

The wife and daughter of a late Anglican priest who died in captivity have regained their freedom after nearly three months in the hands of kidnappers, as concern mounted Monday over the abductions of more than 150 worshippers in coordinated attacks on churches in northern Nigeria, officials and sources said.