Today's Breaking News
Around the World
U.N. envoy urges Obama, Putin to save Syria truce, peace process
The United Nations mediator on Thursday called on the leaders of the United States and the Russian Federation to salvage the 'barely alive' two-month-old ceasefire in Syria and revitalise the damaged peace process.
Major Iranian Missile Test to Coincide With U.S. Presidential Inauguration
Iran is preparing to conduct a major ballistic missile test in February 2017, following the inauguration of the next U.S. president into the Oval Office, according to a timetable issued by the Islamic Republic.
Half Australia's Great Barrier Reef northern coral 'dead or dying': scientists
Australian scientists said on Wednesday that just seven percent of the Great Barrier Reef, which attracts around A$5 billion ($3.90 billion) in tourism every year, has been untouched by mass bleaching that is likely to destroy half of the northern coral.
Egypt explorers hunt gold in the desert, following ancients
Off the off-road tracks deep in Egypt's eastern desert, prospectors are ramping up the hunt for the treasure once revered by the Pharaohs as the 'skin of the gods' -- gold.
Spanish scientists use skin cells to create human sperm
Scientists in Spain said on Wednesday they had created human sperm from skin cells, a medical feat which could eventually lead to a treatment for infertility.
China Successfully Tests Hypersonic Missile
China successfully flight tested its new high-speed maneuvering warhead last week, days after Russia carried out its own hypersonic glider test, according to Pentagon officials.
Oops! Rising CO2 proves beneficial to 'greening' Earth
For those who have staked their professional reputations on man-induced 'climate change' being 'settled science,' a new study that confirms rising CO2 levels are driving the 'greening' of the planet could be unsettling.

Israel-Palestinian Conflict
IDF officer: Hezbollah gearing up for war, just like in 2006
An IDF battalion commander stationed on Israel’s border with Lebanon on Wednesday said the Hezbollah terror group’s recent activity was “reminiscent of what they did before the Second Lebanon War.”

Inside the United States
Cartels Help Terrorists in Mexico Get to U.S. to Explore Targets; ISIS Militant Shaykh Mahmood Omar Khabir Among Them
Mexican drug traffickers help Islamic terrorists stationed in Mexico cross into the United States to explore targets for future attacks, according to information forwarded to Judicial Watch by a high-ranking Homeland Security official in a border state. Among the jihadists that travel back and forth through the porous southern border is a Kuwaiti named Shaykh Mahmood Omar Khabir, an ISIS operative who lives in the Mexican state of Chihuahua not far from El Paso, Texas. Khabir trained hundreds of Al Qaeda fighters in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Yemen and has lived in Mexico for more than a year, according to information provided by JW’s government source.
Significant premium hikes expected under Obama health law
Expect insurers to seek significant premium increases under President Barack Obama's health care law, in a wave of state-level requests rippling across the country ahead of the political conventions this summer.
Megyn Kelly grills Fiorina over $500K gift from Cruz super PAC
Carly Fiorina, the recent vice presidential pick for Ted Cruz should he get the Republican nomination, said she was unaware of details regarding a $500,000 contribution a super PAC for the Texas senator gave her fundraising arm last June, according to an interview late Wednesday.
Tennessee governor signs 'therapist bill' into law
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam on Wednesday signed a bill into law that allows therapists and counselors with 'sincerely held principles' to reject gay, lesbian, transgender and other clients.
House unanimously passes email privacy bill
The House of Representatives on Wednesday unanimously passed an overhaul of a 30-year-old electronic privacy law that would prevent the government from reading Americans' old emails without a warrant.
Oklahoma court: oral sex not rape if victim is unconscious from alcohol
An Oklahoma court has shocked local prosecutors by ruling that, according to state law, oral sex with an unconscious victim is not rape.
Former House Speaker Hastert gets 15 months in prison
Dennis Hastert, the Republican who for eight years presided over the House and was second in the line of succession to the presidency, was sentenced Wednesday to more than a year in prison in the hush-money case that included accusations that he sexually abused teenagers decades ago while coaching at an Illinois high school.

U.S. Politics
Trump blasts Obama over Israel, pledges to block Iran nuke
Speaking at the Center for the National Interest, Republican frontrunner Donald Trump laid out his vision for American foreign policy on Wednesday, attacking the Obama administration for a whole host of issues, including the president's treatment of Israel and the controversial Iran nuclear deal.
Trump goes 'presidential' in speech; Cruz picks early veep
With the general election in his sights, Republican Donald Trump delivered a sober foreign policy address Wednesday aimed at easing fears about his temperament and readiness to be commander in chief. Rival Ted Cruz made a desperate attempt to jolt the GOP race by tapping Carly Fiorina as his running mate.

Christian News
Christian Counseling Student Expelled for Refusing to Counsel Gay Couples
A Christian graduate student in counseling has been expelled from the program because he declined to counsel gay couples.
Oklahoma Police Seize Money That Christian Band Raised for Charity
An Oklahoma police officer seized $53,000 in charity money from a Christian rock band after suspecting the money was drug-related.
Court-martialed for expressing faith? Court hears ex-Marine's religious freedom case
A federal appeals court on Wednesday weighed the case of a former Marine court-martialed in part for expressing her Christian faith while on the job - though the Marine's lawyer faced tough questions from judges who suggested she was 'thumbing her nose at a superior' with her actions.
Christian Baker Can Be Forced to Make Gay Wedding Cakes to Stay in Business, Colorado Supreme Court Says
Colorado's highest court declined to hear an appeal from a Christian baker who was found guilty of discrimination for refusing to service a same-sex wedding ceremony.