Podcasts about Islamic state

Officials say the Islamic State group was behind the deadly attack on the Mar Elias Greek Orthodox Church. Meanwhile, in the NYC mayoral primary, Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani has taken a decisive lead. And, Trump returns to Washington, D.C., following a “highly productive” NATO Summit.

A candlelight vigil to honor the late DFL House Leader Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark is planned for Wednesday night at Minnesota's state Capitol. Organizers are asking attendees not to bring signs of any kind. The Hortmans were the target of a political assassination early Saturday morning at their home in Brooklyn Park. The Capitol building will be closed to the public during the vigil that begins at 8 p.m.Federal authorities have revealed that the man suspected in the shootings had an alleged target list that included leaders of Planned Parenthood.A Twin Cities man who joined the Islamic State terror group a decade ago is out of federal prison after providing extensive help to investigators in other terrorism cases.The Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa recently celebrated the completion of a new heating facility.

 Israel Expands Bombing Campaign Across Iran As Middle East Braces For Islamic State To Retaliate! Now The Regime Has Responded To Trump's Warning By Pledging To Continue To Build The Bomb

A London-bound Air India plane with more than 200 on board has crashed in Ahmedabad. The U.S. is pulling personnel out of the Middle East amid rising tensions with Iran. Middle Eastern leaders and Western allies warn that Islamic State could exploit the fall of the Assad regime to stage a comeback in Syria and Iraq. An immigration raid at a meat production plant in Omaha fuels fears among undocumented workers. And the Marines will join the National Guard on the streets of Los Angeles within two days, with the authority to detain civilians.  Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter here. Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast here. Find the Recommended Read here. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anthony Loyd and the legendary photographer Don McCullin have been to Syria to chronicle the destruction of Palmyra by Islamic State and to see what is changing under the new Syrian regime. Manveen sat down with them at Don's house in Somerset to reflect on war, loss, friendship — and a remarkable career. This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestoryGuests: Anthony Loyd, Special Correspondent, The Times.Don McCullin, photographer.Host: Manveen Rana.Producers: Kizzy Bray and Edward Drummond.Further reading: Don McCullin, 89, returns to Palmyra: ‘This time will be my last'Clips: Reuters, NY Times.Photo: Anthony Loyd/The Times.Get in touch: thestory@thetimes.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In his latest hard-hitting Sunday Show with BizNews, Neil De Beer, the President of the United Independent Movement (UIM) , slams the way the African Congress (ANC) is operating without a national mandate in the Government of National Unity (GNU). “This government doesn't have a quorum. There's not a singular party in this country that received the right to establish itself on a 50 plus one quorum. So in my opinion, they are not a legitimate government,” he says. De Beer also lambasts the other parties in the GNU for their lack of effectiveness. “It's just a fact that the DA (Democratic Alliance) and the Freedom Front and the rest of the people in the GNU are not keeping them (the ANC) and him (the President) accountable and therefore we as the citizens are sitting in a canoe going up the stream and hearing the thunder of the water.” With a second group of Afrikaner “refugees” arriving in America, De Beer expressed outrage at President Cyril Ramaphosa's defense of the Kill the Boer song and says the matter should be pursued all the way to the International Criminal Court of Justice. (ICJ) As for the President doubling down on BEE policies, De Beer describes the stark contrast between Black Economic Empowerment and Afrikaner empowerment that built economically solid companies that bolstered the economy of this country to turn it into an economic giant. He also has harsh words for Mineral and Petroleum Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe as tensions are rising over proposed amendments to SA's mining legislation. Furthermore, he expresses grave concern over the registration move of an apparently fundamentalist political party, the Islamic State of Africa.

In 2017, the US dropped the “mother of all bombs” in a remote village in Afghanistan’s Achin district. Al Jazeera made the journey to see what’s left: homes destroyed, health problems mounting, and no accountability in sight. In this episode: Osama Bin Javaid (@osamabinjavaid), Al Jazeera Correspondent Episode credits: This episode was produced by Sarí el-Khalili, Sonia Bhagat, and Chloe K Li, with Phillip Lanos, Spencer Cline, Mariana Navarrete, Remas Alhawari, Kisaa Zehra, Kingwell Ma, Khaled Soltan, and our guest host, Natasha del Toro. It was edited by Noor Wazwaz. Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our video editors are Hisham Abu Salah and Mohannad Al-Melhem. Alexandra Locke is the Take’s executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio. Connect with us: @AJEPodcasts on Instagram, X, Facebook, Threads and YouTube

When ISIS was at its height, its ranks included several hundred Americans. They were often young men radicalized online by savvy marketing that promised free housing and the chance to meet a wife. When the Islamic State collapsed, some of them ended up in huge detention camps in Syria, and the U.S. has been trying to bring them home. NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer reports on one American family coping with the aftermath of the child they lost, and the children they found.What happened to the families of the Americans who joined ISIS? Not just the families they left behind in the U.S., but the ones they formed overseas? For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.Email us at considerthis@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

pWotD Episode 2947: Emmanuel Macron Welcome to Popular Wiki of the Day, spotlighting Wikipedia's most visited pages, giving you a peek into what the world is curious about today.With 364,690 views on Tuesday, 27 May 2025 our article of the day is Emmanuel Macron.Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron ([emanɥɛl makʁɔ̃] ; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France and Co-Prince of Andorra since 2017. He was Minister of Economics, Industry and Digital Affairs under President François Hollande between 2014 and 2016. He has been a member of Renaissance since he founded it in 2016.Born in Amiens, Macron studied philosophy at Paris Nanterre University. He completed a master's degree in public affairs at Sciences Po and graduated from the École nationale d'administration in 2004. He worked as a senior civil servant at the Inspectorate General of Finances and investment banker at Rothschild & Co. Appointed Élysée deputy secretary-general by President Hollande after the 2012 election, Macron was a senior adviser to Hollande. Appointed Economics Minister in 2014, in the second Valls government, he led several business-friendly reforms. He resigned in 2016, to launch his 2017 presidential campaign. A member of the Socialist Party between 2006-09, he ran in the election under the banner of En Marche, a centrist and pro-European political movement he founded in 2016.Partly due to the Fillon affair, Macron was elected President in May 2017 with 66% of the vote in the second round, defeating Marine Le Pen of the National Front. Aged 39, he became the youngest president in French history. In the 2017 legislative election, his party, renamed La République En Marche! (LREM), secured a majority in the National Assembly. Macron was elected to a second term in the 2022 presidential election, again defeating Le Pen, becoming the first French presidential candidate to win reelection since Jacques Chirac in 2002. Macron's centrist coalition lost its majority in the 2022 legislative election, resulting in a hung parliament and formation of France's first minority government since 1993. In 2024, Macron appointed Gabriel Attal as Prime Minister, after a government crisis. Following overwhelming defeat at the 2024 European Parliament elections, Macron dissolved the National Assembly and called for a snap legislative election which resulted in another hung parliament and electoral defeat for his coalition. Two months afterwards, Macron appointed Michel Barnier, a conservative and former chief Brexit negotiator, as Prime Minister. Only three months in, Barnier was toppled by a historic vote of no confidence, prompting Macron to replace him with centrist veteran François Bayrou.During his presidency, Macron has overseen reforms to labour laws, taxation, and pensions; and pursued a renewable energy transition. Dubbed "president of the rich" by opponents, increasing protests against his reforms, culminating in 2018–2020 with the yellow vests protests and the pension reform strike. In foreign policy, he called for reforms to the European Union (EU) and signed treaties with Italy and Germany. Macron conducted €40 billion in trade and business agreements with China during the China–United States trade war and oversaw a dispute with Australia and the US over the AUKUS security pact. From 2020, he led France's response to the COVID pandemic and vaccination rollout. In 2023, the government of his prime minister, Élisabeth Borne, passed legislation raising the retirement age from 62 to 64; this led to public sector strikes and violent protests. He continued Opération Chammal in the war against the Islamic State and joined in the international condemnation of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 01:24 UTC on Wednesday, 28 May 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Emmanuel Macron on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Joey.

KwaZulu Natal businessman Farhad Hoomer has applied to register a new political party named the Islamic State of Africa (ISA), which has raised widespread concern. Hoomer, was previously accused of terrorism-related charges and sanctioned by the United States for alleged ties to recruitment, kidnapping, extortion and robberies linked to terrorist financing. Hoomer is now seeking to enter the country's political sphere ahead of the 2026 local government elections. Elvis Presslin spoke to Farhad Hoomer, founder of the Islamic State of Africa (ISA)...

Turkey and the United States are stepping up their cooperation in Syria, strengthening a partnership that has grown despite tensions with Israel. The two countries say they are working more closely on security and stability in the region, reflecting a broader reset in their relationship. The pledge was made during a meeting of the US-Turkey Working Group in Washington, where diplomats committed to “increasing cooperation and coordination on the security and stability of Syria”.Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, who heads the German Marshall Fund office in Ankara, said this signals progress.“I think it shows us that Turkey and the US can get on the same page when it comes to Syria,” he said. “Disagreements in Syria were part of the problem between Turkey and the United States. There are other issues, but this one was one of the core issues.”Unluhisarcikli believes the good chemistry between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Donald Trump is playing a role.“I think it's significant President Erdogan is one of the leaders that President Trump likes working with and trusts. But of course, this is the case until it's not,” he said.Macron urges Syrian leader to protect minorities after deadly clashesIsraeli pushbackThe move comes despite a warning from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who told Trump during his February visit to Washington that Turkey was a security threat in Syria.Both countries have troops in Syria and see each other as rivals.Trump appeared to dismiss Netanyahu's concerns, speaking to the international media from the Oval Office with the Israeli leader at his side.“I told the Prime Minister: Bibi, if you have a problem with Turkey, I really think I can be able to work it out,” Trump said. “I have a really great relationship with Turkey and its leader.”Erdogan, along with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is credited with helping persuade Trump to lift sanctions on Syria. Israeli foreign policy analyst Gallia Lindenstrauss said the decision went against Israel's position.She explained that Israel wanted any easing of sanctions to be linked to concessions by Damascus.“I think the fact the US ambassador to Turkey has been appointed as the envoy to Syria also means the Turkish position will get more attention from the US side,” Lindenstrauss said.“That in itself makes some concern in Israel. Because here Israel has its priorities with regards to Syria, it wants someone pushing Turkey to be more flexible and not, of course, to build bases throughout Syria. That would be a very threatening scenario regarding Israel.”Turkey's rivalry with Iran shifts as US threats create unlikely common groundTurkish airbasesIsraeli warplanes recently destroyed a Syrian airbase that Turkish forces were preparing to take over. Turkey says its growing military presence, including control of airbases, is aimed at helping Syria's new rulers fight insurgent groups like the Islamic State.“For Turkey, Syria's security and stability are of the utmost importance, and Turkey is devoting resources to keep Syria stable because Syria's stability is so important for Turkey's security, and that's what Israel should understand,” Unluhisarcikli said.But Turkish airbases equipped with missile defences would restrict Israel's freedom to operate in Syrian airspace.“Israel has just found an opportunity, an air corridor towards Iran (via Syrian airspace), which it can use without asking for permission from any third party,” Unluhisarcikli said. “If Turkey takes over the bases, then Israel would need to get permission from Turkey, which it doesn't want to, and I think that's understandable.”Azerbaijan has been mediating talks between Israel and Turkey to reduce tensions. The two sides have reportedly set up deconfliction systems, including a hotline.“There has been progress between Israel and Turkey over Syria. There have been at least three announced talks in Azerbaijan which is positive,” Lindenstrauss said.PKK ends 40-year fight but doubts remain about the next stepsIran and the F-35sIran's nuclear programme is another source of friction between Israel and Turkey.Unluhisarcikli said Trump seems to be leaning more towards Erdogan's view than Netanyahu's.“For Turkey, military conflict with Iran is a very bad scenario. I am not entirely sure that's how Trump feels, but for him, any conflict should be just a second choice because conflict is not good for business," Unluhisarcikli said."It seems Israel has made the judgment that it is time for military action, the time for talking is over. There should be military action. Trump disagrees. He thinks he does have a chance of negotiating.”US and Iranian negotiators met in Rome on Friday for the fifth round of talks. Erdogan supports the talks and has also claimed that Trump is open to lifting the US embargo on selling F-35 fighter jets to Turkey. That would remove Israel's technical advantage in the air.Trump's increasingly close relationship with Erdogan comes amid reports that he is uneasy about Israel's war in Gaza. But Lindenstrauss warned that Israel is counting on Trump's unpredictability.“We know that Trump has a basic favourable view towards Erdogan. This was already in his first term, and it is continuing now. But we also know that Trump can be tough towards Turkey, and he did implement sanctions against Turkey in his first term," she said."So this good relationship depends on whether Turkey is in line with US interests. But of course, Israel is watching.”However, with Israel's war in Gaza showing little signs of ending, threatening further diplomatic isolation, Erdogan for now appears to have Trump's ear, with the two leaders sharing similar agendas.

It's Wednesday, May 21st, A.D. 2025. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 125 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Jonathan Clark and Adam McManus British national Muslim fighters committed war crimes A recent report from the U.K. parliament found that hundreds of Islamic fighters have returned to England without facing prosecution. British nationals joined the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria between 2014 and 2019. The group targeted religious minorities and committed many war crimes. Since then, over 400 Islamic State fighters have returned to the U.K. However, the country's government has not prosecuted any of them for international crimes. Christians have faced high levels of persecution from Islamic fighters in Iraq and Syria. Both countries are ranked on the Open Doors' World Watch List of nations where it is most dangerous to be a Christian.  Ecclesiastes 8:11-12 says, “Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. Though a sinner does evil a hundred times, and his days are prolonged, yet I surely know that it will be well with those who fear God, who fear before Him.” Trump to Putin: “When are we going to end this bloodbath?” U.S. President Donald Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the war in Ukraine on Monday. Trump said Russia and Ukraine would immediately start negotiations toward a ceasefire. He noted that the new Roman Catholic pope, Leo XIV, has offered to host the talks at the Vatican. President Trump warned that the United States would back out of the situation if both sides can't reach an agreement. Listen. TRUMP: “I said, ‘When are we going to end this Vladimir?' I've known him for a long time now. I said, ‘When are we going to end this blood bath?' It's a blood bath. I think it'd be great to have it at the Vatican. There's tremendous bitterness, anger, and I think maybe that could help some of that anger.” Trump dropped $37 million fine against Christian University The Trump administration dropped a $37 million fine against the largest Christian university in America Initially, Biden's Department of Education leveled the fine against Grand Canyon University. Brian Mueller, the president of the university, said, “The facts clearly support our contention that we were wrongly accused of misleading our Doctoral students and we appreciate the recognition that those accusations were without merit.” Ellen Keast, an Education Department spokeswoman, noted, “Unlike the previous administration, we will not persecute and prosecute colleges and universities based on their religious affiliation.” FDA discouraging young, healthy Americans from getting COVID shot On Tuesday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced new rules for its approval of COVID-19 shots. The FDA said it will require more research before approving yearly COVID-19 boosters for young, healthy Americans.  The shots will still be approved for adults over 65 and for people with health problems that put them at higher risk. FDA officials noted, “The FDA will approve vaccines for high-risk persons and, at the same time, demand robust, gold-standard data on persons at low risk.” Man kills self, injured 4 outside in vitro clinic On Saturday, a car bomb was detonated outside an in vitro fertilization clinic called the American Reproductive Center in Los Angeles.  The blast killed 25-year-old suspect Guy Edward Bartkus and injured four other people. The in vitro fertilization facility was damaged, but the embryos stored inside were saved. Bartkus reportedly left behind a manifesto on a website. In it, he said he wanted to start “a war against pro-lifers” and “begin the process of sterilizing this planet of the disease of life.” Urge 19 Republican Congressmen to DEFUND Planned Parenthood Today, the House Rules Committee will have a hearing and vote on President Trump's “big, beautiful bill” to determine what budget items go to the House floor. If even a single amendment is added, the momentum we've built to stop funding Planned Parenthood and Big Abortion could vanish, reports Liberty Counsel Action. This is the last vote before the bill is placed on the House floor. Two conservative Republicans who voted “present” on Sunday night are also on the Rules Committee. The full House could vote on this bill as early as later today. Remember, there are 220 Republicans and 213 Democrats. Because the GOP majority is so slim, we need every one of them. Three moderate House Republicans are carrying the water for Planned Parenthood and pushing House leaders to continue funding the Murder Giant. Those three pro-abortion Republican Representatives include Mike Lawler (R-NY), Jen Kiggans (R-VA), and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA). These members are exerting significant pressure on House leadership to give up defunding Planned Parenthood and Big Abortion. We are on the cusp of victory, and we cannot allow this effort to fail. There are 19 key Republicans in leadership who need to hear from us. I've listed them in our transcript today along with a 3-sentence message you could read when you call today at www.TheWorldview.com.  Do not hesitate to leave a voicemail. Call as many of them as you can as early as you can! Email me at Adam@TheWorldview.com to let me know how many Congressmen you and your family members called. SAMPLE CALL: “I am calling to urge Representative _______ to defund Planned Parenthood. Nearly 60 percent of Americans oppose tax-funded abortion.  If a majority oppose it, then Congress should not fund it. Thank you!”    Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ) – (202) 225-2190    Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA) – (202) 225-2523    Rep. Vince Fong (R-CA) – (202) 225-2915    Rep. Young Kim (R-CA) – (202) 225-4111    Rep. Zach Nunn (R-IA) – (202) 225-5476    Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY) – (202) 225-4601    Rep. John James (R-MI) – (202) 225-4961    Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) – (202) 225-4155    Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-NJ) – (202) 225-5361    Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) – (202) 225-7896    Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) – (202) 225-3371    Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) – (202) 225-6506    Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY) – (202) 225-3826    Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) – (202) 225-4276    Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) – (202) 225-3176    Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-TN) – (202) 225-6831    Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-VA) – (202) 225-4215    Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ) – (202) 225-2542    Rep. Monica De La Cruz (R-TX) – (202) 225-2531 Kay Arthur, who showed how to study the Bible, died at 91 And finally, Kay Arthur, the beloved co-founder of Precept Ministries International and a pioneering advocate for inductive Bible study, died yesterday in Chattanooga, Tennessee, according to the Roys Report. She was 91. In an announcement on the Precept website, her ministry said,  Kay “will be remembered for her love for the Lord, His Word, and His people.” A prolific author, Arthur wrote more than 100 books and Bible studies over her lifetime including her bestseller, Lord, Teach Me to Study the Bible in 28 Days.  ARTHUR: “People need to discover truth for themselves because God promises in His word that He has given us everything that pertains, not only to life, but also to godliness, so that we might be fitted for every good work, so that nothing can come our way and throw us. “God is doing a work in their lives because the only text that they are looking at is the Bible, which is alive and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. It's a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. It is a light unto our path. It's the very Word by which we live. It's the Sword by which we stand against the enemy." She often said, “When you know what God says, what He means, and how to put His truths into practice, you will be equipped for every circumstance of life.” Through Precept's inductive Bible study method—teaching believers to observe, interpret, and apply Scripture—Arthur equipped millions around the world to study the Bible for themselves.  Indeed, the ministry was heard in 150 countries in 70 different languages. Close And that's The Worldview on this Wednesday, May 21st, in the year of our Lord 2025. Subscribe for free by Spotify, Amazon Music or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com. Or get the Generations app through Google Play or The App Store. I'm Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

On August 15, 2016, then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump delivered perhaps the most clear-eyed speech ever given by such a political figure about the grave threat posed by, and the necessity of countering, “Radical Islamic Terrorism.” He condemned its animating ideology rooted in “Sharia law,” which he promised to use “ideological warfare” to defeat. Mr. Trump pledged “a new approach, which must be shared by both parties in America, by our allies overseas, and by our friends in the Middle East…to halt the spread of Radical Islam.” That approach is especially needed now, following his trip to Qatar – the nation whose enormous wealth is relentlessly weaponized to spread Radical Islam and the Sharia-supremacism at its core. Ditto his sanctions-ending meeting with a Syrian president who was – until recently – a leader of al Qaeda and the Islamic State. Paging Candidate Trump. This is Frank Gaffney.

BBC World Service – Archaeologist Khalil Hariri risked his life to save hundreds of Syrian artefacts when Palmyra was attacked by the Islamic State group in 2015. https://x.com/renedepaula/status/1921902782409220399 Exquisite Head of Zeus Unearthed in the Ancient City of Aphrodisias https://greekreporter.com/2024/08/09/marble-head-zeus-aphrodisias/ (via ChatGPT) Pope and Pontifex Maximus https://chatgpt.com/share/6821f8d8-07b8-8006-a973-8cab448cabca Intelligence on Earth Evolved Independently at Least Twice ... Read more The post tesouros da antiguidade, o mundo é imperfeito? não somos os únicos com linguagem nem inteligência! appeared first on radinho de pilha.

In May 2015, when the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria was about to fall to jihadist fighters, a group of men risked their lives to load centuries-old artefacts from the city's museum onto trucks and drive them to safety. Before their advance to Palmyra, members of the group that called itself Islamic State had already been filmed for social media smashing statues that dated back to religious life in the Middle East before the Prophet Muhammad. Khalil Hariri, an archaeology expert who worked at Palmyra's museum, tells Josephine McDermott about his passion for its history and the personal price he has paid for the daring rescue.Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more. Recent episodes explore everything from football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic' and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy's Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they've had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America's occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.(Photo: The damaged site of Palmyra in 2016. The graffiti reads ‘We remain'. Credit: Reuters)

www.limatangosurvival.com

The writer Colum McCann isn't afraid to take on big subjects – and his ambition has delivered a shelf full of awards, from both sides of the Atlantic. He grew up in Dublin but moved to the United States in the mid-1980s and now lives in New York. That city is the setting for his international bestseller Let the Great World Spin, in which Philippe Petit's tightrope walk between the Twin Towers in 1974 plays a key role. He's also written a novel about both sides of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian people, from the perspectives of two fathers.He collaborated with Diane Foley, whose son James was executed by Islamic State militants, to create a memoir, American Mother, which was published last year. Most recently his novel Twist focuses on the vulnerability of the undersea cables carrying the world's internet data. Colum's music includes Gorecki, Prokofiev, Brahms and Haydn.

Late last year, Syrian opposition forces captured Damascus and put an end to the regime of Bashar al-Assad. The Syrian dictator, whose family had ruled the country for more than 50 years, fled to Moscow. Across the country, Syrians celebrated. Assad's fall exposed the brutality of his regime, including gruesome discoveries in government prisons, tens of thousands of disappeared people, and mass displacement. But the group that replaced it also has a record of violence—and a former affiliation with al Qaeda and the Islamic State. Welcome to Counterpoint. Each week, we look at one pressing question facing world leaders—from two opposing points of view. Today, we're tackling the question: Is Syria on a path to realizing the hopes of the revolution? With us to make the case for viewing Syria's new government with skepticism is David Adesnik, the vice president of research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Arguing that Syrians are capable of securing a democratic future for themselves is Alia Malek, a journalist, former civil rights lawyer, and the author of The Home That Was Our Country: A Memoir of Syria. Counterpoint is hosted by Sasha Polakow-Suransky, a deputy editor at Foreign Policy. The show is a production of Foreign Policy, in partnership with the Doha Forum. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Six years after the fall of the Islamic State group's self-proclaimed caliphate, thousands of women and children linked to IS group fighters remain detained in camps across northeastern Syria. Managed by Kurdish authorities since 2019, these detainees fall under a non-state jurisdiction — one that cannot try or extradite them, and where international humanitarian law offers little protection. This legal limbo could now shift with the fall of the Assad regime. The new government in Damascus is expected to take control over the camps. Kurdish officials — and the families themselves, including dozens of French nationals — are waiting anxiously to see what the future holds. FRANCE 24's Marie-Charlotte Roupie and Lina Malers report.

Trevor Aaronson - How a Landlord and a Florida PR Firm Helped Trump Kick Off the Tren de Aragua Gang PanicTrump's “Operation Aurora” swept up only one suspected gang member — but set the stage for a radical expansion of government power.Trevor Aaronson is an American journalist. He is a contributing writer at The Intercept and author of The Terror Factory: Inside the FBI's Manufactured War on Terrorism. He was a 2020 ASU Future Security Fellow at New America and a 2015 TED Fellow.Aaronson is the creator and host of the documentary podcasts American ISIS, which tells the story of Russell Dennison, an American who joined the Islamic State as a fighter in Syria; and Chameleon: High Rollers, which investigates an FBI undercover operation in Las Vegas.In January 2023, Aaronson launched a podcast series called Alphabet Boys about "secret investigations of the FBI, CIA, DEA, ATF, and other alphabet agencies". The first season, "Trojan Hearse", focuses on the summer 2020 COINTELPRO-like infiltration of antifa / Black Lives Matter protesters and activists in Denver, Colorado, following the murder of George Floyd in Minnesota in May 2020. The second season, "Up in Arms," tells the story of a DEA narcoterrorism sting that targeted a former FBI informant who claimed to work for the CIA.Aaronson has won the Molly National Journalism Prize, the Data Journalism Award, and the John Jay College/Harry Frank Guggenheim Excellence in Criminal Justice Reporting Award.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-opperman-report--1198501/support.

Trevor Aaronson - How a Landlord and a Florida PR Firm Helped Trump Kick Off the Tren de Aragua Gang PanicTrump's “Operation Aurora” swept up only one suspected gang member — but set the stage for a radical expansion of government power.Trevor Aaronson is an American journalist. He is a contributing writer at The Intercept and author of The Terror Factory: Inside the FBI's Manufactured War on Terrorism. He was a 2020 ASU Future Security Fellow at New America and a 2015 TED Fellow.Aaronson is the creator and host of the documentary podcasts American ISIS, which tells the story of Russell Dennison, an American who joined the Islamic State as a fighter in Syria; and Chameleon: High Rollers, which investigates an FBI undercover operation in Las Vegas.In January 2023, Aaronson launched a podcast series called Alphabet Boys about "secret investigations of the FBI, CIA, DEA, ATF, and other alphabet agencies". The first season, "Trojan Hearse", focuses on the summer 2020 COINTELPRO-like infiltration of antifa / Black Lives Matter protesters and activists in Denver, Colorado, following the murder of George Floyd in Minnesota in May 2020. The second season, "Up in Arms," tells the story of a DEA narcoterrorism sting that targeted a former FBI informant who claimed to work for the CIA.Aaronson has won the Molly National Journalism Prize, the Data Journalism Award, and the John Jay College/Harry Frank Guggenheim Excellence in Criminal Justice Reporting Award.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-opperman-report--1198501/support.

The Islamic State, once a local insurgency rooted in Iraq and Syria, has transformed into a global network with far-reaching influence. In this episode of the podcast, we chart how its operations have expanded beyond the Middle East, as the group leveraged technology, propaganda, and local affiliates to spread its ideology across borders. Host Lucas Webber is joined by Aaron Zelin, a Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and founder of the widely acclaimed website, Jihadology. Aaron explains how The General Directorate of Provinces, a global hierarchy structure responsible for overseeing and coordinating Islamic State's global affiliates, is central to much of the group's expansion.

In the latest episode of the Security Sprint, Dave and special co-host Alec Davison talked about the following topics:Insider Risk ConcernsWhat impact will the current political and economic environment have on stressors and grievances.At the end of last month, a former water utility employee pleaded guilty in federal court for tampering with the drinking water supply at his former workplace. https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/former-stoughton-water-department-employee-pleads-guilty-tampering-drinking-water Nation State's Using Non-state actors for violence and to further geopolitical interestsHybrid warfare is a new normal – we're experiencing a breakdown of the traditional perception of the binary notion of war and peace.US neo-Nazi group with Russia-based leader calls for targeted Ukraine attacks – https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/05/the-base-neo-nazi-russia-ukraine Iran recruited Swedish minors for attacks on Israeli targets https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2025/world/iran-israel-swedish-teenagers-shadow-war-intl-invs Quick HitsTwo men suspected of plotting an attack arrested in Paris in support of the Islamic State – https://www.lemonde.fr/en/france/article/2025/04/07/two-men-suspected-of-plotting-an-attack-arrested-in-paris_6739914_7.html Man who hates big pharmacies allegedly guns down Walgreens worker: Policehttps://abcnews.go.com/US/man-hates-big-pharmacies-allegedly-guns-walgreens-worker/story?id=120408357 Death toll rises from weekend storms in US – severe weather in US - https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crrzd0lge28o Ivanti Connect Secure appliances are susceptible to attacks exploiting a recently disclosed vulnerability, which Chinese threat actors are actively exploiting - https://www.securityweek.com/exploited-vulnerability-puts-5000-ivanti-vpn-appliances-at-risk/

Bill and Caleb discuss updates from "the Sunni side of the aisle," including Washington's policy pivot on the Haqqani Network, the U.S. military's airstrike strategy in Somalia, the Turkestan Islamic Party's rebranding attempt, the recent death of a key Islamic State leader, and Shabaab's current operations.

The second verse in the 23rd Psalm is a peculiar one for those of us not accustomed to the undeveloped lands of the Bible. When you read of green pastures and quiet waters you most likely think of Goshen County, WY which produces more beef cattle than any other Wyoming county in our state. When I read Psalm 23, I think of the New Jersey Highlands consisting of lots of green and lots of water. But the green pastures that David had in mind was a dry and rocky set of rolling hills with tough grass sparsely scattered throughout. The grass was so sparsely scattered, that if one of the sheep wandered off, he would most likely starve to death if any of the predators in the region didnt find him first, and depending on the season, water was even more difficult to find. Because sheep are the most helpless of animals; they are not just dependent on the shepherd but are in absolute need of a shepherd for survival. Sometime ago there was a story out of Istanbul that reported the death of four sheep. Their shepherds reportedly neglected their flock by leaving the sheep to roam free so that they could eat breakfast. The sheep followed their leader right off a cliff; one by one, four hundred of them fell nearly 50 feet to their deaths. The loss of sheep was estimated to be $74,000. In the ancient world, shepherding was the least respected of occupations and required the full attention of the shepherd all the time. If a family had sheep, the youngest son was expected to serve as a shepherd. Because David was the youngest of eight sons, his job was to shepherd the sheep for his father Jesse. When David wrote this psalm, he wrote from his own experience, and like all other shepherds, David lived with the sheep. To appreciate this Psalm, we need to understand why it is structured the way that it is. There are five images that include the critical role of the shepherd as he leads, guides, and provides for his sheep; each Sunday, we will consider one of the five images we are given. So that you know where we are going, I will list them for you here: Image #1: The Abundant Life (vv. 2-3a) Image #2: The Secure Life (v. 3b) Image #3: The Hard Life (v. 4) Image #4: The Victorious Life (v. 5) Image #5: The Everlasting Life (v. 6) Today we will consider the first image, which is where the Shepherd of the 23rd Psalm is ultimately leading His sheep, and that is the abundant life. What is the Way to the Abundant Life? For a sheep to lie down four things need to happen: They need to be free of fear, friction, flies, and hunger. Phillip Keller spent eight years as a shepherd before he became a pastor, in his book, A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, he wrote of what it takes to get sheep to lie down: It is almost impossible for sheep to be made to lie down unless four requirements are met. Owing to their timidity they refuse to lie down unless they are free of all fear. Because of the social behavior within a flock sheep will not lie down unless they are free from friction with others of their kind. If tormented by flies or parasites, sheep will not lie down. Only when free of these pests can they relax. Lastly, sheep will not lie down as long as they feel in need of finding food. They must be free from hunger.[1] It is only the shepherd who can provide the kind of trust, peace, deliverance, and pasture that the sheep need. Yet, of the five images in this Psalm, David begins with the one about rest. The first thing that we receive from Yahweh as our Shepherd, is rest. How does He provide us with rest? According to the NASB2020, He lets me lie down in green pastures... He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul... The Hebrew word for lets is the Hebrew word rbṣ and most translations translate this word as make. If you are using the NIV, the ESV, or an older version of the NASB, Psalm 23:2 reads something like this: He makes me lie down in green pastures... So which is it? Does Jesus, as our good Shepherd make us lie down or does He, let us lie down in green pastures? The Hebrew word for lets is both causative and imperfect so literally it can be translated, He causes me to lie down in green pastures... So, why does all matter? Our Shepherd removes from His sheep every agitation and threat that would keep us from the kind of rest we were made for and the rest that we need. However, the presence of Jesus in our lives not only causes us to lie down, but He also takes us to quiet waters; in Hebrew, quiet waters is literally waters of rest. Where the quiet waters are, so there is life for all that surrounds those waters, and where there are green pastures and still waters in the dry and rocky climate of a cursed world, there is renewal. What kind of renewal you ask? The kind that restores the soul of the sheep. The Hebrew word used for restores means to turn back or return. The place that the Psalmist is describing is the place where those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matt. 5:6) will be filled and refreshed by resting in the Shepherd of the 23rdPsalm. It is Jesus who said, Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest (Matt. 11:28). It is the Lord of the 23rd Psalm who said: I am the bread of life; the one who comes to Me will not be hungry, and the one who believes in Me will never be thirsty (John 6:35). The Good Shepherd said, The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came so that they would have life, and have it abundantly (John 10:10). According to Psalm 23, the Christian life begins with rest, and the kind of rest we receive is the abundant life that can only come through Jesus. But what is the abundant life? Is it prosperity in the worlds eyes? Is it the pain free life? What is the abundant life that Jesus came so that we, as His sheep, would have? What Kind of Abundant Life Does the Shepherd Provide? The abundant life is a life rooted in Jesus. The abundant life comes out of the abiding life. So, what is the abiding life you ask? Jesus told us what the abiding life is in John 6:54-56, The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in him (John 6:5456). The Greek word for remain is menō. If you are using the ESV or an older version of the NASB, you will see the word abide instead of remain. To remain or abide is to rest in Jesus and to rest in Him is to take up residence in the life of Christ. How does one do that? You do it by taking into your mind, heart, and soul all that Jesus is and all that he taught and commanded us to do. The same Greek word is used in John 15:5, I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. So what does it mean to have the abundant life? Does the abundant life mean that you have a pain free life? If the abundant life means that the Shepherds will for you is to be comfortable with little to no suffering in this life, then what do you do with our Shepherds words to his sheep: In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world (John 16:33b)? The New Living Translation is closer to Jesus point: Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world. If the green pastures and quite waters do not include the kind of agitation and trouble that suffering brings, then what do you do with Jesus warning to his disciples: You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, other relatives, and friends, and they will put some of you to death, and you will be hated by all people because of My name. And yet not a hair of your head will perish (Luke 21:1618). If the green pastures and quiet waters that the Jesus leads his people to does not include suffering and even death, then what do you say to the fathers, the mothers, the children, and the friends of the 70 Christians who were taken from their village at 4am on the morning on February 13th of this year by a rebel group with ties to the Islamic State? They were taken by force to a Protestant church where they were slaughtered with machetes and hammers; those 70 Christians were our brothers and sisters in the faith. They heard the call of Jesus and followed Him (see John 10:14-16), yet when their bodies were discovered, each of them was also beheaded. Where are the green pastures and quiet waters of those 70 beheaded Christians from the Congo if the 23rd Psalm is also for them? Those 70 beheaded brothers and sisters are now included among the martyred saints described in Revelation 6:9-11, When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been killed because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who live on the earth? And a white robe was given to each of them; and they were told that they were to rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers and sisters who were to be killed even as they had been, was completed also. (Rev. 6:911) Those 70 Christians among the masses in heaven who are asking the question: How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who live on the earth? Notice the answer they received: rest for a little while longer, until the number of your fellow servants and their brothers and sisters who are to be killed even as you have been killed, is complete (v. 11). There will be more who will be massacred, butchered, and slaughtered in the name of the Good Shepherd, but that is not the end of their story! In March another 47 Christians from the Congo were martyred for following Jesus, and to date 287 Christians have been killed for their faith since Christmas of 2024. So, where was their green pasture? Where were the quiet waters for those followers of the Good Shepherd? We are given an answer in Revelation 7:9-17. We are told that right now all 287 of those who died for their faith in the Congo sing, and they are joined with other brothers and sisters who followed the Good Shepherd to their deaths, from every nation and all the tribes, peoples, and languages. Today, they shout triumphantly: Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb (Rev. 7:9ff.). But that is not all that we are told, for what they have is infinitely more precious than the comfort and safety we all hope to have in this life. I want to show you something from Revelation 7:13-17 that will help make sense of what is promised to us in the 23rd Psalm: Then one of the elders responded, saying to me, These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from? 14I said to him, My lord, you know. And he said to me, These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15For this reason they are before the throne of God, and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them. 16They will no longer hunger nor thirst, nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any scorching heat; 17for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes. Do you see the answer for where the green pastures and quiet waters are for those who suffer, especially for those who suffer for their faith in the Good Shepherd? God currently shelters the scores of martyred Christians with His presence according to Revelation 7:15, but do you see what verses 16-17 say and how familiar it sounds to Psalm 23? Lets look at these verses again: They will no longer hunger nor thirst, nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any scorching heat; 17for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes. The reason why these Christians, and every other Christian in heaven no longer hungers or thirsts is because they are in the presence of the Lamb who is their shepherd. The sun no longer beats down on them with its scorching heat because they have been delivered from the wilderness of a cursed world! The Lamb is the spring of water of life, and it is because of the triumph of the Lamb that every tear will be wiped from their eyes. Conclusion Listen, the 70 who were beheaded, those who suffer in this life, and every other Christian who belongs to the Good Shepherd had the green pastures and quiet waters during their life on earth because they had Jesus, and they found that their hunger and thirst for righteousness was satisfied in Him. Although the 70 Christians from the Congo lost their lives, they did not lose what belonged to them, for they have what is promised to every Christian in the 23rd Psalm because they have the Lamb who is their Shepherd. Psalm 23 is not some cute passage for coffee mugs, t-shirts, and memorial cards! It is so much more. If Jesus is your shepherd, you have all that you need in Him. If you have Jesus, then you have the green pastures and quiet waters promised to all whose Lord is their shepherd. My question for you dear friend, is this: Who is the Lamb of God to you? If Jesus is your shepherd, then in what ways are you abiding in Him? How can you expect to experience the kinds of green pastures and quiet waters promised in Psalm 23 if you are not going to Jesus to satisfy the kind of hunger and thirst that only He can satisfy? [1] James Montgomery Boice, Psalms 141: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2005), 209.

The second verse in the 23rd Psalm is a peculiar one for those of us not accustomed to the undeveloped lands of the Bible. When you read of green pastures and quiet waters you most likely think of Goshen County, WY which produces more beef cattle than any other Wyoming county in our state. When I read Psalm 23, I think of the New Jersey Highlands consisting of lots of green and lots of water. But the green pastures that David had in mind was a dry and rocky set of rolling hills with tough grass sparsely scattered throughout. The grass was so sparsely scattered, that if one of the sheep wandered off, he would most likely starve to death if any of the predators in the region didnt find him first, and depending on the season, water was even more difficult to find. Because sheep are the most helpless of animals; they are not just dependent on the shepherd but are in absolute need of a shepherd for survival. Sometime ago there was a story out of Istanbul that reported the death of four sheep. Their shepherds reportedly neglected their flock by leaving the sheep to roam free so that they could eat breakfast. The sheep followed their leader right off a cliff; one by one, four hundred of them fell nearly 50 feet to their deaths. The loss of sheep was estimated to be $74,000. In the ancient world, shepherding was the least respected of occupations and required the full attention of the shepherd all the time. If a family had sheep, the youngest son was expected to serve as a shepherd. Because David was the youngest of eight sons, his job was to shepherd the sheep for his father Jesse. When David wrote this psalm, he wrote from his own experience, and like all other shepherds, David lived with the sheep. To appreciate this Psalm, we need to understand why it is structured the way that it is. There are five images that include the critical role of the shepherd as he leads, guides, and provides for his sheep; each Sunday, we will consider one of the five images we are given. So that you know where we are going, I will list them for you here: Image #1: The Abundant Life (vv. 2-3a) Image #2: The Secure Life (v. 3b) Image #3: The Hard Life (v. 4) Image #4: The Victorious Life (v. 5) Image #5: The Everlasting Life (v. 6) Today we will consider the first image, which is where the Shepherd of the 23rd Psalm is ultimately leading His sheep, and that is the abundant life. What is the Way to the Abundant Life? For a sheep to lie down four things need to happen: They need to be free of fear, friction, flies, and hunger. Phillip Keller spent eight years as a shepherd before he became a pastor, in his book, A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, he wrote of what it takes to get sheep to lie down: It is almost impossible for sheep to be made to lie down unless four requirements are met. Owing to their timidity they refuse to lie down unless they are free of all fear. Because of the social behavior within a flock sheep will not lie down unless they are free from friction with others of their kind. If tormented by flies or parasites, sheep will not lie down. Only when free of these pests can they relax. Lastly, sheep will not lie down as long as they feel in need of finding food. They must be free from hunger.[1] It is only the shepherd who can provide the kind of trust, peace, deliverance, and pasture that the sheep need. Yet, of the five images in this Psalm, David begins with the one about rest. The first thing that we receive from Yahweh as our Shepherd, is rest. How does He provide us with rest? According to the NASB2020, He lets me lie down in green pastures... He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul... The Hebrew word for lets is the Hebrew word rbṣ and most translations translate this word as make. If you are using the NIV, the ESV, or an older version of the NASB, Psalm 23:2 reads something like this: He makes me lie down in green pastures... So which is it? Does Jesus, as our good Shepherd make us lie down or does He, let us lie down in green pastures? The Hebrew word for lets is both causative and imperfect so literally it can be translated, He causes me to lie down in green pastures... So, why does all matter? Our Shepherd removes from His sheep every agitation and threat that would keep us from the kind of rest we were made for and the rest that we need. However, the presence of Jesus in our lives not only causes us to lie down, but He also takes us to quiet waters; in Hebrew, quiet waters is literally waters of rest. Where the quiet waters are, so there is life for all that surrounds those waters, and where there are green pastures and still waters in the dry and rocky climate of a cursed world, there is renewal. What kind of renewal you ask? The kind that restores the soul of the sheep. The Hebrew word used for restores means to turn back or return. The place that the Psalmist is describing is the place where those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matt. 5:6) will be filled and refreshed by resting in the Shepherd of the 23rdPsalm. It is Jesus who said, Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest (Matt. 11:28). It is the Lord of the 23rd Psalm who said: I am the bread of life; the one who comes to Me will not be hungry, and the one who believes in Me will never be thirsty (John 6:35). The Good Shepherd said, The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came so that they would have life, and have it abundantly (John 10:10). According to Psalm 23, the Christian life begins with rest, and the kind of rest we receive is the abundant life that can only come through Jesus. But what is the abundant life? Is it prosperity in the worlds eyes? Is it the pain free life? What is the abundant life that Jesus came so that we, as His sheep, would have? What Kind of Abundant Life Does the Shepherd Provide? The abundant life is a life rooted in Jesus. The abundant life comes out of the abiding life. So, what is the abiding life you ask? Jesus told us what the abiding life is in John 6:54-56, The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in him (John 6:5456). The Greek word for remain is menō. If you are using the ESV or an older version of the NASB, you will see the word abide instead of remain. To remain or abide is to rest in Jesus and to rest in Him is to take up residence in the life of Christ. How does one do that? You do it by taking into your mind, heart, and soul all that Jesus is and all that he taught and commanded us to do. The same Greek word is used in John 15:5, I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. So what does it mean to have the abundant life? Does the abundant life mean that you have a pain free life? If the abundant life means that the Shepherds will for you is to be comfortable with little to no suffering in this life, then what do you do with our Shepherds words to his sheep: In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world (John 16:33b)? The New Living Translation is closer to Jesus point: Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world. If the green pastures and quite waters do not include the kind of agitation and trouble that suffering brings, then what do you do with Jesus warning to his disciples: You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, other relatives, and friends, and they will put some of you to death, and you will be hated by all people because of My name. And yet not a hair of your head will perish (Luke 21:1618). If the green pastures and quiet waters that the Jesus leads his people to does not include suffering and even death, then what do you say to the fathers, the mothers, the children, and the friends of the 70 Christians who were taken from their village at 4am on the morning on February 13th of this year by a rebel group with ties to the Islamic State? They were taken by force to a Protestant church where they were slaughtered with machetes and hammers; those 70 Christians were our brothers and sisters in the faith. They heard the call of Jesus and followed Him (see John 10:14-16), yet when their bodies were discovered, each of them was also beheaded. Where are the green pastures and quiet waters of those 70 beheaded Christians from the Congo if the 23rd Psalm is also for them? Those 70 beheaded brothers and sisters are now included among the martyred saints described in Revelation 6:9-11, When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been killed because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who live on the earth? And a white robe was given to each of them; and they were told that they were to rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers and sisters who were to be killed even as they had been, was completed also. (Rev. 6:911) Those 70 Christians among the masses in heaven who are asking the question: How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who live on the earth? Notice the answer they received: rest for a little while longer, until the number of your fellow servants and their brothers and sisters who are to be killed even as you have been killed, is complete (v. 11). There will be more who will be massacred, butchered, and slaughtered in the name of the Good Shepherd, but that is not the end of their story! In March another 47 Christians from the Congo were martyred for following Jesus, and to date 287 Christians have been killed for their faith since Christmas of 2024. So, where was their green pasture? Where were the quiet waters for those followers of the Good Shepherd? We are given an answer in Revelation 7:9-17. We are told that right now all 287 of those who died for their faith in the Congo sing, and they are joined with other brothers and sisters who followed the Good Shepherd to their deaths, from every nation and all the tribes, peoples, and languages. Today, they shout triumphantly: Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb (Rev. 7:9ff.). But that is not all that we are told, for what they have is infinitely more precious than the comfort and safety we all hope to have in this life. I want to show you something from Revelation 7:13-17 that will help make sense of what is promised to us in the 23rd Psalm: Then one of the elders responded, saying to me, These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from? 14I said to him, My lord, you know. And he said to me, These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15For this reason they are before the throne of God, and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them. 16They will no longer hunger nor thirst, nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any scorching heat; 17for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes. Do you see the answer for where the green pastures and quiet waters are for those who suffer, especially for those who suffer for their faith in the Good Shepherd? God currently shelters the scores of martyred Christians with His presence according to Revelation 7:15, but do you see what verses 16-17 say and how familiar it sounds to Psalm 23? Lets look at these verses again: They will no longer hunger nor thirst, nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any scorching heat; 17for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes. The reason why these Christians, and every other Christian in heaven no longer hungers or thirsts is because they are in the presence of the Lamb who is their shepherd. The sun no longer beats down on them with its scorching heat because they have been delivered from the wilderness of a cursed world! The Lamb is the spring of water of life, and it is because of the triumph of the Lamb that every tear will be wiped from their eyes. Conclusion Listen, the 70 who were beheaded, those who suffer in this life, and every other Christian who belongs to the Good Shepherd had the green pastures and quiet waters during their life on earth because they had Jesus, and they found that their hunger and thirst for righteousness was satisfied in Him. Although the 70 Christians from the Congo lost their lives, they did not lose what belonged to them, for they have what is promised to every Christian in the 23rd Psalm because they have the Lamb who is their Shepherd. Psalm 23 is not some cute passage for coffee mugs, t-shirts, and memorial cards! It is so much more. If Jesus is your shepherd, you have all that you need in Him. If you have Jesus, then you have the green pastures and quiet waters promised to all whose Lord is their shepherd. My question for you dear friend, is this: Who is the Lamb of God to you? If Jesus is your shepherd, then in what ways are you abiding in Him? How can you expect to experience the kinds of green pastures and quiet waters promised in Psalm 23 if you are not going to Jesus to satisfy the kind of hunger and thirst that only He can satisfy? [1] James Montgomery Boice, Psalms 141: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2005), 209.

In the latest episode of Nerd Out, Dave and Alec talked about the following topics.Quick thoughts on Signal-gate.Deep dive into radicalization including the latest trends, concerning behaviors and what individuals and organizations can do.Other all-hazard quick hits.Some of the references from the show include:Youth RadicalizationYoung people and violent extremism: a call for collective action - https://www.counterterrorism.police.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Unclassified-Five-Eyes-CT-minors-paper.pdfYoung guns: Understanding a new generation of extremist radicalization in the United States - https://www.isdglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Young-guns_Understandings-a-new-generation-of-extremist-radicalization-in-the-United-States.pdfTeenage Terrorists and the Digital Ecosystem of the Islamic State - https://ctc.westpoint.edu/teenage-terrorists-and-the-digital-ecosystem-of-the-islamic-state/Antioch, Tenn., Shooter Inspired by Broad Extremist Beliefs and Previous Mass Killers - https://www.adl.org/resources/article/antioch-tenn-shooter-inspired-broad-extremist-beliefs-and-previous-mass-killersEnhancing Bystander Reporting to Prevent Terrorism - https://www.dni.gov/index.php/nctc-how-we-work/joint-ct-assessment-team/first-responder-toolbox/terrorism-prevention/enhancing-bystander-reporting-to-prevent-terrorism#:~:text=The%20First%20Responder's%20Toolbox%20is,and%20responding%20to%20terrorist%20attacks.Quick hitsU.S. Military Targets Houthis in Yemen - https://apnews.com/article/yemen-houthi-us-airstrikes-israel-hamas-takeaways-0d080ffc7c01b423cb81ec27713cdbc7Israel Resume Combat Operations in Gaza - https://www.axios.com/2025/03/18/israel-gaza-war-resumes-airstrikes-hamasCENTCOM Forces Kill ISIS Chief of Global Operations Who Also Served as ISIS #2 - https://www.centcom.mil/MEDIA/PRESS-RELEASES/Press-Release-View/Article/4121311/cent[…]ll-isis-chief-of-global-operations-who-also-served-as-isis-2/Russia behind arson attack on Ikea store in Lithuanian capital, says prosecutor - https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/17/russia-behind-arson-attack-on-ikea-store-in-lithuania-capital-says-prosecutorDieNet Activity Escalates Against US Organizations - (hacktivists - geopolitical threat actors targeting wide variety of infrastructure) -  https://www.radware.com/security/threat-advisories-and-attack-reports/dienet-activity-escalates-against-us-organizations/Thailand - Myanmar earthquake - https://apnews.com/article/thailand-earthquake-bangkok-4fce87aced74b1fc0cf260fb5454d353

  On this episode of Unsupervised Learning, Razib talks to Graeme Wood. Wood is a staff writer at The Atlantic, where he usually covers geopolitics and international affairs. His work ranges from a profile of Richard Spencer, the American white nationalist public figure with whom he went to high school with, to the Islamic State. He is the author of The Way of the Strangers: Encounters with the Islamic State. Wood grew up in Dallas, Texas, and graduated from Harvard College. He also studied at the American University in Cairo, Indiana University and Deep Springs College. Today Razib talks to Wood about his piece in The Atlantic, Germany's Anti-Extremist Firewall Is Collapsing. Wood addresses the economic malaise of contemporary Germany, in particular, the former East Germany, and how that is impacting the national cultural climate. More concretely, they consider why the right-wing Alternative For Deutschland (AFD) party is so popular, and its transformation from an anti-EU party to an anti-migrant party. Wood emphasizes that Germany has become a highly polarized society when it comes to ethnicities, with very cosmopolitan cities, but small towns in rural eastern provinces where he recalls feeling like possibly the only non-white face at the local beer hall (his father is a white American while his mother is ethnically Chinese). Razib muses whether German multiculturalism as an ideology has allowed for more, not less racism, while Wood reflects on his multi-decade experience visiting the nation as an outsider.

We go behind the computer screen to understand how social media is aiding extremists—including brutal jihadist organizations like the Islamic State group and white supremacists around the world— and in the United States. Terrorgram is an online community used to recruit would-be domestic terrorists. A ProPublica-Frontline investigation charts the rise and fall of Terrorgram,

In January, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger officially withdrew from the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, having already established the Alliance of Sahel States, or AES, as an alternative regional grouping. The move has had a multitude of consequences, including ongoing diplomatic spats between the AES states and those that remain committed to ECOWAS, as well as challenges to trade and freedom of movement across the region. But the security implications of the fracturing of ECOWAS as a regional bloc are also important to consider, as West Africa faces an array of challenges that are increasingly affecting what are usually thought of as the region's more stable coastal countries, such as Senegal, Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire. All three of the military-run AES states face long-running jihadist and domestic insurgencies, including armed groups with links to the Islamic State and al-Qaida. Most prominent among them are the Islamic State-Sahel Province and Jamaat Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin, or JNIM, which is affiliated with al-Qaida and is also active in northern Cote d'Ivoire, Benin and Togo. These groups have been active throughout the Sahel for over a decade, typically exploiting local grievances and intercommunal tensions, particularly between farmers and pastoralists as well as against the Peuhl community, which is often portrayed as being sympathetic to the jihadists. The jihadists mobilize these tensions to stoke conflict and recruit among marginalized communities in a broader effort to seize territory and create an Islamic caliphate in the Sahel and West Africa. These groups have targeted civilians and government forces alike, and their attacks have often been tactically sophisticated and significant in impact. In August 2024, for instance, an attack by JNIM in Barsalogho, in northern Burkina Faso, killed around 600 people. And in November 2023, an ambush in Niger's Tillaberi region killed at least 200 soldiers and wounded at least 34 others. Jihadist violence has increased at an accelerating rate in recent years, killing 11,643 people across the Sahel in 2023, a 43 percent increase from the previous year and a threefold increase since 2020, according to the African Centre for Strategic Studies. It has also increasingly spilled over into coastal West African states, with Ghana, Togo, Benin and Cote d'Ivoire all now threatened by these groups as well, albeit to a much lesser extent than the Sahelian states. In Togo, an attack on an army barracks last year killed 12 soldiers, for instance, and JNIM is increasingly fortifying its positions near the borders of Togo and Benin. The problems posed by insecurity are exacerbated by the refugee crisis that violence in the Sahel is causing. By early 2025, nearly 87,000 people had fled their homes in the Sahel into coastal countries. This has put a strain on local communities, especially in Cote d'Ivoire, where nearly 58,000 of the refugees have fled. The rampant insecurity has also fueled political instability, with the three AES states having experienced a combined five coups between 2020 and 2023. The ECOWAS split could exacerbate many of these security challenges, not least because it has created or exacerbated tensions between many countries that have remained in ECOWAS and those that have left. In the past 12-18 months, for instance, Cote d'Ivoire, known as a staunch defender of ECOWAS, and neighboring Burkina Faso have engaged in repeated diplomatic spats linked to mutual fears of destabilization as well as Burkina Faso's rejection of the region's and ECOWAS' historical pro-Western leanings. Gun battles and disputes at the border between Burkinabe and Ivoirian troops have become common, with Ivoirian gendarmes having even been detained in Burkina Faso. Earlier this year Burkina Faso withdrew its diplomatic personnel from Cote d'Ivoire. These disputes have increased instability on the two countries' shared border, exacerbating tensions driven by an inflow of Burk...

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Hello and elcome to Colonial Outcasts, the anti-imperialist podcast that needs a vacation, but is unlikely to get one. Today we are going to be doing a round table of the conflicts arising in the West Asia which I am calling the Global War on Terror 2.0 - and we're doing 2.0 because 1.0 only lasted twenty years, killed millions from Afghanistan to Lybia, and accomplished pretty much nothing. AQ is still around, the Taliban are still around, there are open air slave markets in Lybia and the Islamic State ideaology has spread its way across Africa in the Sahel. And yes, all the while you got poorer, less educated, and we want more of that. Join us as we look at the violence of late-stage imperial power.

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief:   • The U.S. launched major airstrikes against the Houthis in Yemen after the group vowed to resume attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea. We break down the targets hit, the impact of the strikes, and how the Houthis are responding.   • A joint U.S.-Iraq operation took out a senior Islamic State leader responsible for funding and planning global terror operations.   • After seven months, Ukraine's bold push into Russia's Kursk region appears to be over—what this means for the battlefield.   • In today's Back of the Brief, negotiations to secure American hostages in Gaza have stalled as Hamas refuses to release a captive and four bodies unless Israel agrees to its ceasefire terms.   To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President's Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com.   Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief.   YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week's Spectator Out Loud: Colin Freeman explains how Islamic State tightened its grip on the Congo (1:23); Harry Ritchie draws attention to the thousands of languages facing extinction this century, as he reviews Rare Tongues: The Secret Stories of Hidden Languages by Lorna Gibb (8:00); Max Jeffery highlights the boxing academy changing young lives (13:20); Michael Gove reflects on lessons learned during his time as education secretary (20:30); and, Catriona Olding introduces the characters from her new Provence-based memoir club (29:27).  Produced and presented by Patrick Gibbons.

Kate Adie introduces dispatches from Mexico and the USA, Bangladesh, Syria and the Faroe Islands.Donald Trump has threatened Mexico with sanctions if it does not do more to halt the flow of deadly fentanyl into the US. Quentin Sommerville gained rare access to a Mexican drug smuggling operation, meeting the foot-soldiers of a prominent cartel as it prepares to send fentanyl north of the border.Bangladesh is homes to hundreds of thousands of Rohingya people, who have been living in refugee camps since fleeing pesecution in Myanmar back in 2017. The Rohingya's survival has been dependent on foreign aid – but that lifeline is now at risk, following cuts to the US aid budget. Samira Hussain visited one of the refugee camps.US negotiators proposed an immediate 30 day ceasefire in Ukraine this week. While President Zelensky accepted the proposal, President Putin said questions remain about the nature of the truce. Frank Gardner assesses the chances for a lasting peace.Back in 2014, swathes of north-east Syria came under the control of Islamic State - though when its fighters reached the city of Kobane, they met strong resistance from Kurdish forces. With the help of international allies, IS was eventually driven out, but local Kurds still worry that IS may one day return, reports Jiyar Gol.In the autonomous Danish territory of the Faroe Islands, locals have been keeping an eye on what's been going on in another Danish territory – Greenland. Donald Trump's proposal that the US might look to buy it has sparked fresh conversations over Faroese independence – and a growing sense of local pride, finds Amy Liptrot.Series Producer: Serena Tarling Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith Production Coordinators: Katie Morrison & Sophie Hill

Michael Safi travelled to north-east Syria to speak to IS foreign fighters imprisoned there. And discovered that a change in the US administration, and USAid funding cuts, means there is a growing fear of prison breaks. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus

It's Tuesday, February 25th, A.D. 2025. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 125 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Kevin Swanson Muslims beheaded 70 Christians in Congo The Islamic State of Central Africa Province, a terrorist group, is reported to have killed 107 Christians between mid-October 2024 and early January 2025 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.   In fact, more than 5,000 Christians have been killed by this Muslim terrorist group since October of 2017, according to figures recorded by the Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium.   This just in.  International Christian Concern reports that the Islamic State of Central Africa Province, formerly known as Allied Democratic Forces, is thought to be responsible for the horrific massacre of 70 Christians by beheading in Congo's eastern Lubero Territory near the country's border with Uganda and Rwanda last week. Pray for the Congo. It's the 35th most dangerous country worldwide for Christians, according to Open Doors. God transformed Central Asian prison with Bible In their March/April Magazine, Barnabas Aid included an article entitled ”God's Word Unchained.” (page 13) It tells the story of a Christian woman who was released from prison in Central Asia after serving four years.  The unnamed Christian was able to smuggle a Bible into the prison. When administrators confronted her, she told them, “The Bible is God's Word and shows you the way for eternal life.” Four days later, the official came into the cell and told her, “You must read the book -- all of you.” Pointing to the woman, the official said, “Let her teach you all and you must listen to her!” The Christian prisoner reported that she “started to read the Bible for everyone. Many women asked me to give them the Bible, so they could read it personally. … We read the Bible aloud during the day, and some women read it in the night. The cell in which discord, slander, and enmity reigned turned into a quiet place. Women became friendly with each other.”   The sister recounted how women were healed from sickness by prayer. and even the prison staff began to request prayer for themselves and their sick relatives. She was released from prison recently, after having served four years and one month of her ten-year sentence. In Isaiah 55:11, God makes a promise about His Word: “My Word that goes out from My mouth; it shall not return to Me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” German voters move right The German elections over the weekend produced one more political shake-up for Europe.   The far left gained only four percent, while the right gained 14%, reports the Associated Press. America refused to blame Russia for invasion of Ukraine On Monday, the United States parted with European countries in an important United Nations vote.  The United States refused to blame Russia for its invasion of Ukraine in votes on three U.N. resolutions Monday which sought an end to the three-year war. The resolution, which passed 93-18, called for the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops and referred to Moscow's aggression as a violation of the United Nations Charter.  America voted with Russia and 16 other countries. J.D. Vance affirmed young men at CPAC Last Friday, Vice President J.D. Vance had a word for young men at the Conservative Political Action Conference held in National Harbor, Maryland. VANCE: He told the group that “our culture sends a message to young men that you should suppress every masculine urge.” He also spoke to the cultural zeitgeist. VANCE: “Wants to turn everybody, whether male or female, into androgynous idiots who think the same, talk the same and act the same. We actually think God made male and female for a purpose. We want you guys to thrive as young men and as young women, (applause) and we're going to help with our public policies to make it possible to do that.” Gallup: 9.3% of Americans now identify as homosexual or transgender The prevalence of homosexuality in the United States increased by 22% in just a single year.  That's according to a recent Gallup poll, revealing that now 9.3% of Americans identify on the sexually-perverted LGBTQ spectrum. That's also up from 3.5% in 2012.   Incredibly, 31% of young Gen Z women, and 12% of Gen Z men identify themselves with some form of sexual perversion that violates the laws of God. Romans 1:25-27 explains how they “worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator. … For this reason, God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise, also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another.” West Virginia might allow religious exemption for vaccines West Virginia's legislature is considering a religious exemption for vaccinations applying to children attending schools in the state. The state senate voted 20-12 to approve the measure on Friday. Only seven states provide for no religious exemption on vaccinations.  How God used a one-arm woman to triumph in softball Despite the fact that Katelyn Pavey was born with only one arm, she excelled in women's softball. Conceived by parents involved in a sinful affair who became Christians, they raised her in the church. Remarkably, Katelyn became an all-state player in high school and received a full-ride to Cincinnati Christian University. Her story is told in a new movie entitled “I Can.” MovieGuide, the Christian movie review site, wrote, “'I Can' has a strong Christian, moral worldview stressing God's grace and forgiveness. … Ultimately, ‘I Can' tells an uplifting, inspiring, heartfelt story that champions God's faithfulness to help people overcome problems. The movie has many Christian elements like church and prayer. Circumstances point Katelyn to faith in God when she hits rock bottom. [However], due to some mature themes like death, an affair and injury, MovieGuide advises caution for younger children.” “I Can” can be streamed for free and is available on DVD through a special link in our transcript today at www.TheWorldview.com.   Blue Ghost spacecraft reveals new video of moon And finally, another moon landing with a craft produced by a private company is scheduled for March 2nd. This comes on the heels of last year's Odysseus landing last February. Blue Ghost, also known as one of the Ghost Riders in the Sky, produced by Firefly, is circumnavigating the moon right now, sending back some pretty awesome video of God's creation.  Check it out through a special link in our transcript today at www.TheWorldview.com. In Psalm 8:3-4, David asked, “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?” Close And that's The Worldview on this Tuesday, February 25th, in the year of our Lord 2025. Subscribe by Amazon Music or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com. Or get the Generations app through Google Play or The App Store. I'm Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

It's Friday, February 21st, A.D. 2025. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 125 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com. I'm Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Jonathan Clark 10th anniversary of Muslim beheading of 21 Libyan Christians Saturday was the 10th anniversary of when 21 Christians died for their faith in Libya. Islamic State militants beheaded them on February 15, 2015 for refusing to deny Christ. Most of the believers were Egyptian Coptic Christians. Vicky Hartzler with the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said, “Today, we remember the 21 young men who were brutally murdered by ISIS solely for being Christian. The U.S. government must continue to be an unrelenting voice against violence that targets religious communities, including Coptic Christians.”  In memory of the 21 Christian martyrs, More Productions released a short, 13-minute animated film last year called “The 21.” You can watch it through a special link in our transcript today at TheWorldview.com.  Libya has been in turmoil since 2011 and the overthrow of its then-leader, Col. Muammar Gaddafi. Since then, numerous other militia groups have battled for control. According to Open Doors, Libya is the fourth most dangerous country worldwide in which to be a Christian. 74-year-old pro-life woman arrested for praying outside abortion mill Authorities in Scotland arrested a 74-year-old pro-life woman recently for standing silently outside an abortion mill in Glasgow. Rose Docherty was holding a sign that read, “Coercion is a crime, here to talk, only if you want.” Officials charged her with violating a new “buffer zone” law that limits activities around abortion mills. It's the first arrest under the law.  The arrest comes days after U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance called out European leaders for violating the religious freedom of pro-lifers.  Kash Patel confirmed as FBI Director In the United States, the U.S. Senate confirmed Kash Patel as FBI Director on February 20th, reports The Epoch Times. PRESIDING OFFICER: “The Yeas are 51; the Nays are 49. The confirmation is confirmed.” Senators voted 51–49 to confirm Patel who gained prominence for exposing alleged FBI and Justice Department malfeasance during the Crossfire Hurricane probe into the Trump campaign. Crossfire Hurricane was the code name for the counterintelligence investigation undertaken by the FBI from July 2016 to May 2017, into links between Donald Trump's presidential campaign and Russia. Republican Senators  Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine crossed the aisle to join Democrats in voting against Patel's nomination. Surprisingly, GOP Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky supported Trump's nominee. Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, age 91, serves as the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Before the vote was cast, he made this last-minute appeal. GRASSLEY: “Mr. Patel has spent his whole career fighting for righteous causes. He's been a public defender, representing the accused against the power of the state. He's been a congressional staffer, investigating the partisan weaponization of our legal system. And he served in key national security roles, protecting Americans from foreign enemies. He's received support from former FBI agents, former federal and state prosecutors, and organizations representing more than 680,000 law enforcement officers. “But Mr. Patel's resume, his accomplishments, aren't why he's the best person for this job. Mr. Patel should be considered our next FBI director because the FBI has been infected by political bias and weaponized against the American people. Mr. Patel knows it. Mr. Patel exposed it. I've got plenty of examples to show what's wrong with the FBI.” Kash Patel wrote the 2024 book entitled, Government Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth, and the Battle for Our Democracy. Military chaplain fired for citing Romans 1 in sermon A Veterans Affairs chaplain is fighting for his religious freedom.  Rusty Trubey served as a chaplain at the Coatesville Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Pennsylvania. However, Veterans Affairs removed him from his duties for preaching a sermon from Romans 1. The sermon was entitled, “When a Culture Excludes God,” and included homosexuality as an example.  First Liberty Institute and the Independence Law Center are representing Trubey. Last week, they sent a letter to Douglas Collins, the U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs. The letter noted, “This is a systemic problem. We know that you will do the right thing to correct not only the unconstitutional policies at the Coatesville Facility, but also throughout our [Veterans Affairs] system.” 2 Timothy 4:2 says, “Preach the Word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.” U.S. poll: Only 40% believe in God of Bible; 4% have Biblical worldview Dr. George Barna released his latest American Worldview Inventory report. The study found that 46% of Americans agree that there is only one Supreme Spiritual Being who created and rules everything in existence. That number rose to 60% among self-identified Christians.  Dr. Barna noted many have a mix-and-match approach to faith: “The latest research finds that while two-thirds of Americans identify as Christian, only 4% hold a Biblical worldview. Even more alarming, just 40% believe in the God of the Bible, down from 73% three decades ago. Instead, Syncretism—blending elements from multiple worldviews—has become the dominant perspective.” Joshua 24:15 says, “But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Meta plans to build 30,000-mile-long sub-sea cable And finally, Meta announced last week it is building the world's largest sub-sea cable. The tech giant is known for its social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram.  Under its new plan called Project Waterworth, it will bring industry-leading connectivity around the world. The cable will connect five major continents and measure over 30,000 miles. That's more than the earth's entire circumference! Close And that's The Worldview on this Friday, February 21st, in the year of our Lord 2025. Subscribe by Amazon Music or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com. And now to close the newscast is my youngest child, Valor Tyndale McManus, who is turning 10 today. He's finally hit the double digits! Seize the day for Jesus Christ. (Adam@TheWorldview.com). 

Some might think of veterans issues and national security issues separately, but they are intricately intertwined. There's a moral imperative to care for those who have risked their lives to defend freedom. There's also a national security imperative to do so.This fact raises several questions: How are America's veterans doing? How well are we taking care of those who have served our country in uniform? How can we do better?To discuss these questions and more, as well as some new research, guest host Bradley Bowman is joined by Marcus Ruzek and retired Navy Captain Dan Goldenberg. Marcus RuzekMarcus is Senior Program Director at The Marcus Foundation. The Marcus Foundation is a leader in philanthropy, specifically in the areas of military and veterans' support. He has worked at The Marcus Foundation for over 10 years, supporting its Free Enterprise initiatives, National Security/Foreign Policy, and Free Market Ideals programs. An infantryman and combat veteran, Marcus deployed to both Afghanistan and Iraq. He commanded a Special Forces “A Team” which partnered with Kurdish Peshmerga in the fight against Islamic State terrorists (aka: ISIS).  Dan GoldenbergDan had led the Call of Duty Endowment or CODE since 2013. During his tenure there, the Call of Duty Endowment has become the largest philanthropic funder of veteran employment, backing more than 150,000 high-quality job placements and driving more than $9 billion in economic value for veterans and their families. Dan is a retired Navy Captain. His military service includes four tours as a commanding officer, as well as serving as a carrier-based naval flight officer, and special assistant to four Secretaries of the Navy. He also has two decades of business experience. Discussed in the episodeCODE ReportH.R. McMaster's article "Preserving the Warrior Ethos"

JVN sits down with journalist and author James Longman to explore one of the most fascinating questions in mental health: can you inherit trauma? Drawing from his deeply personal journey and his new book The Inherited Mind, James unpacks the science behind genetic predisposition, epigenetics, and the interplay between nature and nurture. Together, they explore how trauma shapes our brains, why mental illness remains so stigmatized, and whether healing can be passed down just as much as hardship. James shares his own family's history, the groundbreaking research that's reshaping our understanding of mental illness, and the hopeful innovations that might change how we address treatment in the future. James Longman has been a foreign correspondent for ABC news since 2017. Based in London, his work takes him all over the world -- to date, more than 45 countries and counting. He has covered some of the most important international events of our time. He was in Moscow when Vladimir Putin declared war on Ukraine and spent a month reporting from the Russian capital with the situation deteriorating by the day. He then spent more than 12 weeks in Ukraine and was one of the first reporters to see firsthand the horrors in Bucha. From the fight against the Islamic State group on the Syrian front line, confronting Chechen authorities about abuses against LGBTQ+ people, terror attacks across Europe and further abroad to tagging humpback whales in the Antarctic, Longman has one of the most varied briefs in American network news. His new book, The Inherited Mind, is out now! You can find James Longman on Instagram @jameslongman Follow us on Instagram @CuriousWithJVN to join the conversation. Jonathan is on Instagram @JVN. Transcripts for each episode are available at JonathanVanNess.com. Find books from Getting Curious guests at bookshop.org/shop/curiouswithjvn. Our senior producer is Chris McClure. Our editor & engineer is Nathanael McClure. Production support from Julie Carrillo, Anne Currie, and Chad Hall. Our theme music is “Freak” by QUIÑ; for more, head to TheQuinCat.com. Curious about bringing your brand to life on the show? Email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“We had a case of a little cell of Christian believers who were all converts from Islam, and they were meeting secretly. And they were infiltrated by a radical terrorist group called Al Shabaab, and they burnt down the house. They captured some of them, they took them onto the beach, and only two of them managed to survive, because they killed the rest of them.”Charmaine Hedding is the founder and president of the Shai Fund, a humanitarian organization that aids, protects, and even rescues persecuted minorities throughout the Middle East and Africa.“In 2014, I watched as the Islamic State swept over Syria and Iraq. And I watched as the Yazidi and the Christian women were taken as sex slaves and sold in the markets of Raqqa and in Turkey and across the Middle East. And I thought to myself, ‘Who's going to do something about this?'” she says. “The greatest struggle in the Middle East and in Africa, at the moment, is this concept of freedom of religion and belief.”Hedding was born and raised in South Africa, where her father and grandfather were outspoken anti-apartheid activists. Because of their activism, they were eventually forced to flee to Jerusalem when Hedding was a child.“By the time I was 12, we were harassed by agents. And we had agents in the church. We were followed,” she says. “The question that I remember asking myself as a child after reading the stories of the Holocaust is: If I was a European, what would I have done? And would I have put myself at risk to save a Jewish family? And that's what motivated me, that question.”Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: Arab nations are turning up the heat on Hamas—just weeks after President Trump floated his controversial plan for Gaza. Some leaders are now openly calling for Hamas to step aside. We'll unpack what's behind this shift. A White House team heads to Saudi Arabia for Russia-Ukraine peace talks, while European leaders scramble to respond. Western intelligence agencies say Russia has formed a secretive new spy unit, tasked with carrying out sabotage, assassinations, and attacks across Europe. And in today's Back of the Brief—a deadly knife attack in Austria has been linked to the Islamic State. Authorities say the terrorist threat in Europe isn't going away anytime soon. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President's Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybrief Ramp: Get $250 when you join Ramp. Go to ramp.com/PDB. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Danny and Derek reveal their true faces. This week: Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin agree to start bilateral peace talks for the war in Ukraine (1:05), with anticipated fallout for the latter nation (6:17); Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth makes some frank comments on Europe, Ukraine, and NATO (8:06); an update on the situation in Israel-Palestine, including Hamas threatening to delay the next hostage release over Israeli transgressions (12:06) and Trump continuing to push a US takeover of Gaza (16:53); in Lebanon, a new government is formed (21:22) and the IDF seeks to extend its occupation there (23:28); a Washington Post report suggests Israel might be planning to strike Iran (25:33); in China news, Trump reinstates a de minimis tariff exemption, but there is still no sign of a meeting with Xi Jinping (28:46); the Sudanese military is close to driving the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) out of the Khartoum region (31:20); the so-called Islamic State group appears to be on the rise in Somalia (33:36); a regional summit demands a ceasefire in the Democratic Republic of Congo as M23 continues its advance (35:38); and back in the United States, Trump announces new steel and aluminum tariffs (39:03) in addition to presenting exciting new opportunities for corruption (40:57). News updates will also be on our YouTube channel going forward. Check out this week's! Subscribe now for much more content and an ad-free experience. Join the Discord! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bill is joined by Caleb Weiss and Edmund Fitton-Brown to discuss the latest UN Sanctions Monitoring Team report on the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda that was released this week.

On this week's news roundup from American Prestige: Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin agree to start bilateral peace talks for the war in Ukraine (1:05), with anticipated fallout for the latter nation (6:17); Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth makes some frank comments on Europe, Ukraine, and NATO (8:06); an update on the situation in Israel-Palestine, including Hamas threatening to delay the next hostage release over Israeli transgressions (12:06) and Trump continuing to push a US takeover of Gaza (16:53); in Lebanon, a new government is formed (21:22) and the IDF seeks to extend its occupation there (23:28); a Washington Post report suggests Israel might be planning to strike Iran (25:33); in China news, Trump reinstates a de minimis tariff exemption, but there is still no sign of a meeting with Xi Jinping (28:46); the Sudanese military is close to driving the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) out of the Khartoum region (31:20); the so-called Islamic State group appears to be on the rise in Somalia (33:36); a regional summit demands a ceasefire in the Democratic Republic of Congo as M23 continues its advance (35:38); and back in the United States, Trump announces new steel and aluminum tariffs (38:58) in addition to presenting exciting new opportunities for corruption (40:52).Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

What is in the manifesto by the man suspected of blowing himself up in a Tesla Cybertruck outside a Trump hotel in Vegas? Glenn picks through what we know and whether or not we can trust the government, and he discusses the terrifying secrets that might be lurking within our government. Glenn also discusses the terrorist attack that occurred early New Year's Day when an Islamic State radical drove into a crowd in Bourbon Street. Glenn asks the questions we should all be asking: Are we prepared for a terrorist attack in 2025? How did a Texan-born man become radicalized? In possibly the biggest story in human history, have we reached the singularity regarding artificial intelligence? Glenn goes through the most transformative stories since 2001 and how they changed the world. It's been four years since the events of January 6, and the more we find out about that day, the more questions we have. Adam Johnson, also known as "Lectern Guy," joins to reflect on the events of January 6 over four years later. "Patriot Plea" author and January 6 attendee John Strand joins to reflect on his life since serving a prison sentence for attending the January 6 riot.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On New Year's Day in New Orleans, a man drove a pickup truck into a crowd of people, killing 14 and leaving many others injured. In the aftermath law enforcement found an Islamic State flag in the truck, and evidence that shows the man was inspired by the extremist group. This wasn't the only Islamic State-inspired incident in recent months.Today on “Post Reports,” guest host Rachel Siegel speaks with national security reporter Joby Warrick about how people become radicalized by the Islamic State and what the New Orleans attack and the canceled Taylor Swift concerts in Austria tell us about the power of extremist propaganda. Warrick's book “Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS” was awarded a 2016 Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction. Today's show was produced by Elana Gordon, with help from Ariel Plotnick and Rennie Svirnovskiy. It was edited by Monica Campbell, with help from Reena Flores, and mixed by Sam Bair.Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

Early in the morning on New Year's Day, a man drove a truck into a crowd of people celebrating on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. In the hours since, law enforcement has discovered key details that point to a possible motive, including an Islamic State flag in the attacker's car. Guest host Rachel Siegel and Justice Department reporter Perry Stein break down what we know about the terrorist attack in New Orleans.We also talk about the investigation into a possible attack in Las Vegas with some eerie similarities, though no known connection. Today's show was produced by Ariel Plotnick with help from Emma Talkoff and Elana Gordon. It was edited by Maggie Penman with help from Monica Campbell and Reena Flores. It was mixed by Sam Bair.Subscribe to The Washington Post here.

P.M. Edition for Jan. 2. Experts have been warning about an increase in attacks from people affiliated with Islamic State and lone attackers. WSJ reporter Alan Cullison tells us why, and what is being done about it. And details emerge about the suspects behind the vehicle attacks in New Orleans and Las Vegas. Plus, WSJ White House economic policy reporter Brian Schwartz and economics reporter Rachel Wolfe discuss the challenges the U.S. economy might face in 2025. Alex Ossola hosts. Sign up for the WSJ's free What's News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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