Today's Breaking News
Around the World
U.S. to activate $800 million missile defense site in Romania
The United States will switch on a $800 million missile shield in Romania on Thursday, part of an umbrella from Greenland to the Azores against Iranian rockets that Russia aims to knock out its nuclear weapons.
U.S., Russia fine tune deal to share Syrian airspace
Senior Pentagon leaders and their Russian counterparts on Wednesday fine tuned plans to ensure warplanes from both countries operating in the skies above Syria stay out of each other’s way.
Saudis braced for release of hidden pages of 9/11 report
Saudi Arabia is confident nothing in a secret 28-page section of a US congressional report on the September 11 attacks implicates its leaders.

Israel-Palestinian Conflict
Al-Qaeda leader urged trainee to target Israelis, Americans
An al-Qaeda operative facing sentencing in a New York court next week said bomb-making instructor Anwar al-Awlaki had encouraged him to target Israeli and US nationals at London's Heathrow Airport.
In new Gaza clip, kids urge 'martyrdom, blowing up enemies'
New footage to emerge out of a children's festival in the Gaza Strip shows play-acting Palestinian kids urging each other to 'die as martyrs' and 'blow up their enemies,' and includes mock presentations of them capturing Israeli soldiers and running through what appears to be a tunnel.

Inside the United States
Judge: Man accused of killing 3 at Colorado Planned Parenthood 'incompetent' to stand trial
The man accused of shooting three people dead at a Colorado Planned Parenthood last fall is not mentally fit to understand the case against him at trial, a district court judge ruled Wednesday.
Obama signs bill to boost trade secret protection
President Obama signed a law Wednesday intended to protect the trade secrets and intellectual property of U.S. companies and inventors.
0 to 400 mph in mere seconds: Welcome to the age of hyperloop
Hyperloop One successfully demonstrated Wednesday one key part of how it plans to send people and cargo racing through cushioned tubes at nearly the speed of sound. This transportation alternative, its backers claim, could reduce the journey between Los Angeles and San Francisco to just 30 minutes.
$1,914,651,000,000: FY2016 Taxes Set Record Through April
The U.S. Treasury raked in a record of approximately $1,914,651,000,000 in tax revenues in the first seven months of fiscal 2016 (Oct. 1, 2015 through April 30, 2016), according to the Monthly Treasury Statement released today.
Middle class takes financial hit in most US cities this century
More than four-fifths of America's metropolitan areas have seen household incomes decline this century, according to new research that exposes the politically charged reality of middle-class decline at the heart of this year's presidential election.

U.S. Politics
Trump's Refusal to Release Tax Returns Is a Ticking Time Bomb for the GOP
When Donald Trump sits down with Speaker Paul Ryan and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tomorrow, there is a pressing issue that they should put before their party's presumptive presidential nominee. He told the Associated Press on Tuesday that he has no plans to release his tax returns before the November election. 'There's nothing to learn from them,' he said. Previously, he had claimed he would love to release the returns as soon as an IRS audit is completed.
Poll: Nearly half of GOP voters disapprove of Ryan
Nearly half of Republican voters disapprove of Paul Ryan's performance as House speaker, according to a new poll released Wednesday by Public Policy Polling.
Sanders: Nominating Clinton would be 'disaster' for party, nation
Fresh off a big win in the West Virginia primary, Sen. Bernard Sanders' campaign said Wednesday the Democratic Party would be courting 'disaster' if it nominates Hillary Clinton as its presidential nominee.

Christian News
Myanmar: Pagodas being built on church lands
In the face of a campaign by a Buddhist monk to build pagodas on church property, Christians in Myanmar have decided to turn the other cheek.
Germany: 80 Muslim Refugees Convert to Christianity and are Baptized
Over 80 Muslim refugees from Iran and Afghanistan have converted to Christianity and been baptized in Hamburg, Germany, according to ChristianToday.com.
Three-fourths of Christian refugees in Germany persecuted by Muslim counterparts: Report
A nonprofit organization that has studied religious persecution around the globe for decades says Germany's Christian refugees are under constant assault by their Muslim counterparts.