Hong Kong – A spokesman for China’s ceremonial legislature condemned statements from U.S. lawmakers supportive of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement, as more protests were planned Sunday following a day of dueling rallies that highlighted the political divide in the Chinese territory. You Wenze called the lawmakers’ comments “a gross violation of the spirit of the [...]

Ohio – An Ohio man was arrested after he appeared in a post on Instagram to threaten an attack on a local Jewish Community Center. James P. Reardon Jr., 20, was arrested early Saturday in connection with the threat on the Youngstown JCC. He is being held on charges of telecommunications harassment and aggravated menacing, [...]

Kabul, Afghanistan – The suicide bomber stood in the middle of the dancing, clapping crowd as hundreds of Afghan children and adults celebrated a wedding in a joyous release from Kabul’s strain of war. Then, in a flash, he detonated his explosives-filled vest, killing dozens — and Afghanistan grieved again. The local Islamic State affiliate [...]

Washington – By now it seems clear that Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib are not going to be visiting Israel or the Palestinian areas of the West Bank. Israel’s government announced Thursday that it would not allow the Democratic congresswomen to make their scheduled visit this weekend because both have declared support for the [...]

Washington – President Donald Trump said Friday he believes he has influence to rally Republicans around stronger federal background check laws as Congress and the White House work on a response to last weekend’s mass shootings in Texas and Ohio. At the same time, Trump said he had assured the National Rifle Association that its [...]

Washington – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday the U.S.-Israel relationship can withstand the “weakness” of President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who shook diplomatic norms this week in barring two members of Congress from visiting the country. Pelosi told The Associated Press that the “weakness of Netanyahu and the weakness of Donald [...]

Gaza – Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israeli troops have killed three Palestinians and severely wounded a fourth near the heavily guarded perimeter fence. The Israeli military said Sunday that a helicopter and a tank fired at armed suspects near the fence overnight. After weeks of calm, Palestinian militants have attempted a number of raids in [...]

Jerusalem – Dvir Sorek, the IDF soldier who was killed nearly 2 weeks ago, was a member of an interfaith dialogue group. The group arranged meetings every 2 weeks, between Israeli Jews and Palestinian Authority Arabs between the ages of 18 to 25. Some of the Arab youths from the group took the time to [...]

Sacramento, CA – California and three other states on Friday filed the latest court challenge to new Trump administration rules blocking green cards for many immigrants who use public assistance including Medicaid, food stamps and housing vouchers. Nearly half of Americans would be considered a burden if the same standards were applied to U.S. citizens, [...]

Washington – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday that the country’s elected officials have a responsibility to “ensure domestic tranquility” and called on the Senate to return to work to vote on the House’s bill bolstering background checks for gun purchases. In an interview with The Associated Press, Pelosi said she’s heard “grave concern” from [...]