World, US, Culture, Market, and Sci-Tech News Aggregation from MSM and Independent News
After a lower court issued an injunction temporarily blocking the abortion pill from being delivered through the mail, SCOTUS has lifted the injunction. The abortion pill will continue to be available online until the matter is fully adjudicated in the courts. The ruling could make abortion an issue in the 2026 midterms. This is an issue that favors the Democrats.
If you want to take your child out of the public school system in Connecticut, your family will be subject to a visit from the Department of Children’s Protective Services.
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The Center for Christian Virtue is prepared to pursue legal action after the group’s proposal for displaying three crosses on top of its building was rejected by the city of Columbus, Ohio.
The unanimous decision against the center, a 501(c)(3) family policy organization in downtown Columbus, was made on April 28 by six members of the city’s Downtown Commission, which laid out their objections in a staff report.
It’s a move that Aaron Baer, the center’s president, called “frustrating.”
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A national free speech group is calling on the Catholic University of America to allow pro-Israel speakers on campus – or else face an accreditation complaint.
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression sent a second letter to CUA leadership on Friday, asking it to remove its restrictions on Students Supporting Israel.
The intervention follows a proposal earlier this year for the group to host Israeli homeland security expert Dany Tirza as well as Jewish Republican Rep. Randy Fine of Florida, as The College Fix previously reported.
The university is requiring the club to host a pro-Palestinian or anti-Israel speaker.
While the school says this is part of their policy, that is only supposed to apply when an invited speaker takes a view contrary to the Catholic Church, such as if a club invited a pro-abortion speaker. However, the university did not even apply this policy, allowing the campus Democrats club to host a speaker who supports abortion, according to Student Supporting Israel’s leadership.
The Catholic university in Washington, D.C. allowed an event with an anti-Israel speaker, for example, but did not present the pro-Israel side, FIRE also said.
“We again strongly urge CUA to approve SSI’s event requests and assure students that the university will not condition event approval on student’s willingness to arrange for and host speakers opposed to their own viewpoint,” Program Counsel Jessie Appleby wrote to President Peter Kilpatrick.
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An Oklahoma couple and their pets got to safety in the nick of time on Friday when a possible tornado hit their community.
Shari and Dwain Short live in Ponca City, where video footage recorded outside their home shows the tense moments as the sky darkened and the wind whipped around their property, Fox Weather reported Saturday.
The clip shows Shari opening the door to what appears to be an underground storm shelter. The trees sway back and forth in the wind and the grey sky looks ominous as the couple prepares for the worst.
Moments later, Dwain is seen carrying a dog as he climbs into the shelter behind his wife. The second he tries to shut the door, the wind picks up. Dwain emerges from the shelter for a moment, then goes back inside as the storm hits.
Debris flies through the air, the camera shakes violently, and outside lights flash as gust after gust of wind hits their property and the surrounding community. A flash is seen in the sky seconds before the video ends:
In a social media post Sunday, Shari recalled how intensely frightening the experience was for them before acknowledging God’s hand in it.
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President Trump had criticized the pope on April 12 following remarks Leo made about ongoing global conflicts.
Vice President JD Vance responded to Pope Leo XIV’s comments downplaying the divide between him and President Donald Trump, after the pontiff called the reporting of the situation inaccurate.
Leo addressed the issue Saturday while speaking to reporters aboard the papal plane during a trip from Cameroon to Angola as part of an 11-day tour of Africa.
“There’s been a certain narrative that has not been accurate in all of its aspects, but because of the political situation created when, on the first day of the trip, the president of the United States made some comments about myself,” Leo said. “Much of what has been written since then has been more commentary on commentary, trying to interpret what has been said.”
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JERUSALEM: The Israeli army said on Monday (Apr 20) that it had determined an image circulating on social media that shows a soldier in south Lebanon hitting a statue of Jesus Christ is authentic and depicts one of its troops.
The image appears to show an Israeli soldier using a sledgehammer to strike the head of a statue of a crucified Jesus that had fallen off a cross.
Arab media reports indicated that the statue was in the Christian village of Debl in south Lebanon, near the border with Israel.
The Debl municipality told AFP that the statue was located in the village, but could not confirm whether it had been damaged.
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The US president has lashed out at the pontiff over his criticism of the war in the Middle East
Pope Leo has sought to downplay his public spat with US President Donald Trump, rejecting claims that he was trying to challenge the president with his criticism of the war in Iran and calls for peace.
Speaking to reporters on a flight to Angola on Saturday, the US-born pontiff insisted that his remarks were not meant to be confrontational, while criticizing the media for inflating the row through excessive commentary and speculation.
“There’s been a certain narrative that has not been accurate in all of its aspects… much of what has been written… has been more commentary on commentary, trying to interpret what has been said,” the Pope said. He stressed that his remarks in Cameroon earlier this week, blasting leaders who spend billions on wars and describing the world as “ravaged by a handful of tyrants,” were not directed at Trump.
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The Supreme Court will hear from Catholic preschools that say Colorado violated their religious rights by excluding them from a state-funded program over their admission policies.
The court agreed on Monday to take up the appeal from St. Mary Catholic Parish, which is supported by the Republican Trump administration.
Joined by the Archdiocese of Denver, the facilities argue it’s unconstitutional to bar them from a taxpayer-funded universal preschool program because of their faith-based restrictions on admission of LGBTQ+ families and kids.
The state said that religious schools are welcome to participate but are required to follow nondiscrimination laws. The program was created by a 2020 ballot measure and provides public funding for free preschool at centers selected by parents.
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After visiting Cameroon, Pope Leo XIV landed in Luanda, Angola on Saturday, where he was welcomed by faithful. The Holy Father is about to become the third pontiff to visit Angola, after John Paul II (1992) and Benedict XVI (2009).
Meanwhile, during Pope Leo XIV’s plane journey on Saturday he said that it was “not in my interest at all” to debate President Donald Trump about the US-Israeli war in Iran.
But the American pope also took the opportunity to set the record straight, insisting that not everything he says was directed at Trump, but reflects the broader Gospel message of peace.
As soon as Pope Leo XIV landed in Luanda he was scheduled to meet with Angola’s president, João Lourenço, and deliver a speech, the latest on a trip during which he has been stepping up his rhetoric, after becoming the target of criticism from Donald Trump.
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Ever since Pope Leo assumed the papacy, PBS News Hour Friday contributors MS NOW host Jonathan Capehart and The Atlantic staff writer David Brooks have tried to claim him as one of their own in their fight against the Trump administration. That continued this Friday as the duo essentially told Vice President JD Vance to shut up when it comes to criticizing Leo’s remarks about the Iran War, with Capehart claiming they are among “the most insulting things” a VP could say and Brooks arguing the Iran War is permissible under just war theory, but also isn’t because Trump.
Host Amna Nawaz began with Capehart and wondered, “Pope Leo issued a pretty strong statement rebuking the war in Iran. Trump then unloaded on him online. Vice President Vance jumped in to criticize him as well, telling him to be careful on matters of theology. Is it smart for the president to be getting into it with the pope? What does he stand to gain from that?”
Jonathan Capehart tells PBS that JD Vance’s pope criticisms are “one of the most insulting things I think I could possibly ever hear being said, one, to the pontiff, but, two, from the vice president of the United States. All of this is maddening and surreal.” (1/2) pic.twitter.com/UFV2kYbz1e
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) April 18, 2026
Using logic he would never apply to abortion, Capehart replied:
No, it’s not smart at all to be getting into it with the pope, to be fighting with the pope, even though the president says, ‘I’m not fighting with the pope.’ Yes, you are, and over something where it’s like the president is taking the words from the pope very, very seriously, when any pope, Pope Leo, Pope Francis, Pope John Paul, would have been saying the same thing, because this is about life and death. This is about right and wrong. And it’s something big that’s happening in the world that has commanded the pope’s attention.
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As Congress debates antisemitism legislation and the Religious Liberty Commission holds hearings on rising hate, a case pending before the Supreme Court reveals a more mundane threat: city officials who use zoning bureaucracy to shut down Jewish prayer in a private home.
Daniel Grand invited a handful of neighbors to his house on a Saturday morning to pray. The City of University Heights, Ohio, served him with a cease-and-desist order, calling his home an “illegal house of worship.” Mayor Michael Dylan Brennan then encouraged Grand’s neighbors to surveil his home and report any religious activity for punishment.
When a city criminalizes home worship, you’d figure the homeowner has recourse. On paper, yes. In practice, no. In reality, municipalities across the country destroy faith communities not through action but through something more sinister: selective inaction.
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Pope Leo XIV called on young people in Africa to resist emigration and corruption, and to work for the good of their own countries.
On April 17, Pope Leo XIV addressed students and faculty at the Catholic University of Central Africa in Yaoundé and later celebrated Mass in Douala, urging African youth to remain in their homeland, combat corruption through moral integrity, and contribute to national development, during the midpoint of his pastoral journey to four African nations.
“Do not give in to distrust and discouragement,” the Pope said during the Mass in Douala. “Do not forget that your people are even richer than this land, for your treasure lies in your values: faith, family, hospitality, and work.”
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The Trump administration abruptly canceled an $11 million contract with Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami to shelter and care for migrant children who enter the U.S. alone, ending a relationship between the Catholic Church and the U.S. government dating back more than 60 years to the first arrivals of Cuban exiles in South Florida.
Gee, do you think this has anything to do with Pope Leo not kissing his ass like the evangelical fundies do?
The Office of Refugee Resettlement, part of the federal Department of Health and Human Services, has paid Catholic Charities in Miami for several years to house immigrant children who enter the U.S. without parents or adult supervision. The non-profit operates the equivalent of a federally funded foster care system, separate and apart from state agencies that have custody of abused and neglected children. The federal government reached out to the charity in late March about the cancellation of the funding.
Amid his one-way feud with the pope, Trump has abruptly canceled funding for Catholic Charities of Miami to provide housing and foster families for unaccompanied immigrant children, ending a 60-year partnership and possibly forcing hundreds of children to be relocated.
-Keith Boykin
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(LifeSiteNews) — A Montreal doctor called on the Liberal government under Prime Minister Mark Carney to support a private members’ bill that will stop a planned expansion of euthanasia to those with mental illness in Canada.
In a Monday press conference on Parliament Hill on Monday, members of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (EPC), including Dr. Peter Blusanovics, who has treated many with mental illnesses, urged support of Conservative Private Members Bill C-218.
Blusanovics, who is a family doctor based in Montreal, said he spoke to be a voice to “provide a voice for our most vulnerable — those who have and are suffering from mental illness.”
“Bill C-218 needs to pass to put a stop to euthanasia for people with mental illness,” said the doctor, adding, “Basic needs are currently not being met in our health care system.”
“Without this bill, we are condoning a bypass towards suicide and blatantly admitting defeat. Mental illness needs to be properly identified and treated,” he said.
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Hal Lambert, a prominent supporter of President Donald Trump and CEO of Point Bridge Capital, has sparked controversy by warning that former President Barack Obama’s political network is working in coordination with Pope Leo XIV to weaken Republican support among Catholic voters ahead of the midterm elections.
Lambert made the remarks during an appearance on CNN’s NewsNight with Abby Phillip.
He laid out what he described as a coordinated political effort involving the Vatican and top Democrat strategists.
Lambert Alleges Coordinated Political Effort
“This is 100 percent political, ok?” Lambert said.
“This is all about trying to hurt President Trump’s Catholic vote during the midterms and Republicans in the midterms.”
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International communities like Nigeria and Syria are experiencing seasons of bloodshed. Islamist militants are attacking churches, villages, and Christian neighborhoods while governments do little to stop them.
Ancient Christian communities that have survived for centuries now face extinction.
In parts of Nigeria, being a Christian can be a death sentence. During Easter week, Islamist gunmen unleashed a wave of terror on Christian communities, slaughtering more than 60 believers in villages, businesses, and churches—turning sacred days of celebration into unimaginable horror.
On Palm Sunday alone, armed militants stormed Angwan Rukuba, a predominantly Christian neighborhood in the city of Jos. That night, they fired on villagers, killing at least a dozen innocent people.
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A controversial Islamic project in Texas tried to stop Christian evangelists from preaching and distributing literature on property outside their mosque.
But a Texas court dismissed the lawsuit, enabling the Christians to continue sharing the gospel in the area.
The East Plano Islamic Center — also known as EPIC — filed a lawsuit against Testimonies of God, a Christian evangelism ministry, in October 2025, according to a report from The Christian Post.
The mosque complex wanted a “temporary and permanent injunction” barring the Christians from “handing out evangelical pamphlets, letters, fliers, or other documents offensive to the Islamic faith.”
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Although it was completely expected, it’s wonderful to hear that Mississippi pro-life Gov. Tate Reeves has signed House Bill 1613.
HB 1613 amends the state’s drug trafficking statutes to make it illegal “to create, sell, barter, transfer, manufacture, distribute, dispense or prescribe an ‘abortion-inducing drug.’”
HB 1613 passed both the House in February and the Senate in March by overwhelming margins
“Penalties for those convicted of a crime include up to ten years in prison,” according to Bridget Sielicki. “Additionally, the legislation allows the Attorney General to bring a civil lawsuit against anyone accused of violating the law” but imposes “no penalties on the mother taking the abortion drug — only those involved in trafficking and distributing.”
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Joy Behar says a lot of dumb things, but this might be the most foolish thing she has said to date.
Many instances in the Bible prove that Jesus confirmed he is the Messiah. You don’t even need to be a Christian to understand this very obvious truth. In fact, the entire premise of Christianity was founded on the idea that Jesus is the Messiah. This is why it is bizarre, naive, and objectively stupid for Behar to claim Jesus never said he is who he said he was. And when she was called out of her stupidity, she decided it was narcissism that caused Jesus to confirm he is the Messiah…
We have Matthew 16:15–20, Matthew 26:64, and John 4:25-26, to name several. Does Behar believe all of this was fueled by narcissism? Because if so, that screams more about her arrogance than anyone else’s.
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Tensions between Donald Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni escalated Tuesday after the U.S. president publicly rebuked one of his closest European allies, accusing her of lacking “courage” and failing to support Washington’s efforts against Iran.
In a phone interview with Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera, Trump called Meloni “unacceptable” and said he was “shocked” by her stance, according to the outlet’s English-language version.
The dispute with Trump was further fueled by Meloni’s criticism of his recent remarks targeting Pope Leo XIV, which she called “unacceptable,” prompting Trump to respond that “she is the one who is unacceptable.”
In a scathing rebuke of the Vatican’s call for Middle Eastern de-escalation, President Trump took to Truth Social to blast Pope Leo XIV. Labeling the pontiff “WEAK on Crime” and “terrible for Foreign Policy,” Trump warned him to “focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician.” The post, which quickly went viral, accused the first American pope of “catering to the Radical Left” at the expense of global security.
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(LifeSiteNews) — Two “non-binary“ leftist activists in Germany showed homosexual pornography to 14-year-old students during a school project week, according to a new report.
A high school in Schleife, Saxony, hosted a project week for students in the 9th grade (14 to 15 years of age) from March 16 to 20, during which two left-wing radicals were invited to lead the class.
According to a report by Junge Freiheit that caused political shockwaves in Germany, school Principal Jan Rehor sent “non-binary” activists to the class without any supervision. A girl from the class said, “The principal personally brought these people into the classroom and then left us alone with them.”
