VALLETTA, Malta (New York Times) — Lawmakers in Malta, a predominantly Roman Catholic country, voted to legalize same-sex marriage on Wednesday, joining much of Western Europe by replacing the traditional “you are now husband and wife” declaration in civil ceremonies with “you are now spouses.” Only one lawmaker out of 67 in the Maltese Parliament […]

NORTHEAST NIGERIA (Baptist Press) — Food aid is beginning to reach Nigerian Christians and others displaced by Boko Haram violence in the Lake Chad Basin, World Watch Monitor (WWM) reported July 10. WWM said food was delivered to at least 75,000 people in some of the most isolated camps in early July, citing reports from […]

(Washington Post) — Major technology companies and civil liberties groups have joined Facebook in a closed courtroom battle over secret government access to social media records. Facebook is fighting a court order that prohibits it from letting users know when law enforcement investigators ask to search their political communications — a ban that Facebook contends […]

(Middle East Concern) — Iranian Christians request prayer for Pastor Victor Bet Tamraz, Amin Afshar Naderi and Hadi Asgari, who face long prison sentences. Following a hearing on June 11, Judge Ahmadpour issued his verdict on July 3 and 4. Pastor Victor was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, Amin to 15 years (possibly including time […]

CHICAGO (USA Today) — More than 100 people were shot in Chicago over the long Independence Day weekend as a deadly wave of violence once again rocked the massive city besieged by unrelenting gun crime. At least 14 of the gunshot victims died, police said Wednesday. Officer Jose Estrada, spokesman for the police department, said […]

(Haaretz) — A newly discovered massive layer of fiery destruction confirms Pharaoh Merneptah’s boast that he “seized Gezer,” say archaeologists concluding their tenth season of excavations in the ancient Canaanite city – and report finding actual human remains there for the first time: two adults and a child, the latter still wearing earrings. The ancient […]

(The Guardian) — The Welsh and Scottish governments will offer free abortions to Northern Irish women, their leaders have confirmed, after the UK government said last week it would fund the procedures in order to head off a Commons revolt on the Queen’s speech. The confirmation came as the Democratic Unionist MP Ian Paisley Jr […]

(The Independent) — Evolution will no longer be taught in Turkish secondary schools after being described as a “controversial subject” by the government. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has personally approved the change, which will be part of a new national curriculum being published later this month. The head of the education ministry’s curriculum board, Alpaslan Durmuş, said a section on […]

(Voice of America) — Police and aid groups say more than 60 percent of illegal prostitutes in Belgium are trafficked from Nigeria. Many are only teenagers and almost all come from Benin City, a city in the south of Nigeria. Rosa was sexually exploited by Nigerian traffickers and had to prostitute herself on the streets […]

(The Independent) — Angela Merkel has voted against same-sex marriage in Germany because she believes that “marriage is between a man and woman.” Despite her opposition, the Bundestag voted to legalize equal marriage by 393 votes to 226, and the chancellor said she hoped the move would improve social cohesion. “For me, marriage in German law […]