(SRN NEWS)- ( ) Belgian officials say Monday’s explosion near a synagogue in the eastern city of Liege (lee-EHSH) was an anti-Semitic act. Federal prosecutors are investigating and several other countries in Europe are tightening security. Police say the blast happened in the early hours of Monday. No one was injured but the windows of a building in […]
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( ) Belgian officials say Monday’s explosion near a synagogue in the eastern city of Liege (lee-EHSH) was an anti-Semitic act. Federal prosecutors are investigating and several other countries in Europe are tightening security. Police say the blast happened in the early hours of Monday. No one was injured but the windows of a building in front of the synagogue were blown out. The Belgian government has issued a statement saying “The explosion was a despicable act that directly targeted the Jewish community of Belgium. Security around similar sites will continue to be strengthened.” Belgium is home to about 40,000 Jews.
( ) The Communist government in Beijing persecutes Christians within its borders, but it doesn’t stop there. Now the Congressional Executive Committee on China is urging Congress and the president to do something about China’s campaigns against Chinese Christians living here in the U.S. The Committee says China uses verbal and online harassment to silence believers in this country, and sometimes even resorts to physical intimidation by Communist agents. Beijing is in the midst of a multi-year crackdown on believers, designed to make sure that all Chinese citizens give their first loyalty to the government.
( ) Pope Leo says a Catholic bishop has resigned after he was arrested while trying to leave the U.S. following accusations that he embezzled 270,000 dollars from his parish near San Diego. The resignation was announced after Bishop Emanuel Shaleta (shah-LET-uh) was charged with felonies including money laundering. Shaleta, who pleaded not guilty, was arrested at San Diego International Airport. The sheriff’s office says someone from Shaleta’s church provided documentation “showing potential embezzlement from the church.” The bishop is a leader in the Chaldean (kal-DEE-an) Catholic Church, which represents more than a million Aramaic-speakers.
( ) International Christian Concern says there’s a war against the Bible going on all around the globe. Simply owning a copy of the scriptures can result in capital punishment in North Korea, Yemen and Afghanistan. In countries such as Somalia and Mauritania, Bibles cannot be printed, translated, sold or imported. Iranian authorities have forbidden the translation of the scriptures into Farsi — the language most Iranians speak. And ICC reports that the government in Tehran has “printed a number of counterfeit Bibles with the intention of purposefully misleading individuals seeking to learn more about Christ.”