Around the World
Amnesty: 'Massacre In Northern Ethiopia'
Rights group Amnesty International said Thursday that "scores and probably hundreds" of civilians have been massacred in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region. Witnesses blamed forces of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which rules Tigray, for the bloodshed. They said the TPLF carried out the massacre after Ethiopia's federal government troops defeated them in the Lugdi area.
Russia plans to have naval base in Sudan
Russia and Sudan have drafted a bilateral agreement that would allow for a Russian naval logistics base in Sudan, Radio Free Europe reported Thursday. The Sudanese are top importers of Russian arms in Africa, and Russia has economic and geopolitical interests in oil and minerals-rich Sudan.
Iran reportedly has 12 times more low-enriched uranium than allowed under nuclear deal
The Islamic Republic of Iran has about 12 times the quantity of low-enriched uranium as allowed under the 2015 nuclear deal, noted the United Nations atomic agency in a report, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Chinese 'cartels' quietly operating in Mexico, aiding US drug crisis
From nondescript buildings in the industrial nucleus of Wuhan, across wavy seas to dusty tented super laboratories in the heart of Mexico, and then across the jagged southwest border and dispersing like a wild bomb ripping through every crevice of the United States, the growing presence of Chinese drug lords and cartels below the southern border is one that is killing an unprecedented amount of Americans.
Key Al-Qaida Leader Killed in Western Afghanistan
Authorities in Afghanistan said Tuesday an intelligence-led security operation had killed a key al-Qaida leader in a western region close to the Iranian border.

Israel-Palestinian Conflict
Poll shows vast majority of Americans want Saudi Arabia to make peace with Israel now
A new poll shows that, following Israel’s normalization agreements with three Arab countries, an overwhelming majority of Americans now want the US to broker a peace treaty between Israel and Saudi Arabia, All Arab News reports. While the UAE, Bahrain, and Sudan normalized relations without ever actually being at war with Israel, Saudi Arabia has participated in major wars against Israel and is an official enemy of the Jewish state.
Israel announces plan to legalize recreational cannabis within 9 months
Israel is planning to legalize cannabis for recreational use within nine months while balancing “liberalism and responsibility,” Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn said Thursday.

Inside the United States
Trump nominates loyalists to senior Pentagon positions
While pursuing a legal challenge to the November 3 election results, President Donald Trump has nominated three loyalist officials to senior Defense Ministry posts, the Voice of America reports. The nominations were made Wednesday, a day after the President fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper.
Justice Samuel Alito rips Supreme Court for not considering church coronavirus lawsuits
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on Thursday criticized his colleagues' decision not to consider two lawsuits in which churches fought state coronavirus worship restrictions.
'No evidence' any voting system lost or changed votes, Trump's election security agency says
The Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and other groups said on Thursday that “there is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised” as President Trump pushes claims that the election was rigged in favor of President-elect Joe Biden.
GOP, state, make closing arguments on Arizona ballot ‘overvote’ challenge
The fate of a narrow challenge about potentially uncounted votes in Maricopa County now lies in the hands of a circuit judge.
Trump Scores First Legal Victory in PA Against Extension of Mail-in Ballot Deadline
President Trump's legal team scored their first court victory in Pennsylvania in one of several lawsuits challenging voting issues in the Nov. 3 presidential election.
Trump tees up executive orders as Biden eyes post-inauguration reversals
President Trump signed an order on Thursday barring U.S. investments in Chinese companies owned or controlled by China‘s military, as he tees up a series of executive actions on school choice, immigration and other conservative priorities before Jan. 20 that would force presumptive President-elect Joseph R. Biden to work to reverse next year.

Christian News
'Church Elder Homeless As China Harasses Independent Church'
Chinese security forces harass Christians of an independent church in western China because they still worship after their building was destroyed, and the pastor jailed, friends say.
U.S. churches challenge COVID-19 orders that limit crowds
As the COVID-19 pandemic surges again in the United States, churches are fighting state and local orders that cap attendance at services at lower numbers than allowed at nonreligious places and events, such as stores and protests.