(SRN NEWS)- ( ) The new patriarch of the Chaldean (KAL-dee-an) Church — one of the most important churches in the Middle East — has assumed his duties in Baghdad. Polis the Third previously served as the Archbishop of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. His inauguration comes at a time when the number of Christians in Iraq has […]
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( ) The new patriarch of the Chaldean (KAL-dee-an) Church — one of the most important churches in the Middle East — has assumed his duties in Baghdad. Polis the Third previously served as the Archbishop of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. His inauguration comes at a time when the number of Christians in Iraq has been dropping since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, followed by the rise of ISIS. That Muslim terror group declared a caliphate in large parts of Iraq and Christian suffered greatly. The number of believers in Iraq today is estimated at 150,000, compared with 1.5 million in 2003.
( ) President Trump is moving to give administration officials more control over the billions of dollars in grants awarded by federal agencies in an effort to root out waste, fraud and abuse. The Human Rights Campaign, America’s largest gay pressure group, is complaining because the president’s action will strip money from any program that promotes abortion, transgenderism or the LGBT lifestyle. Mr. Trump says taxpayers should not be forced to support such things. His proposed new regulations would require senior appointees to review funding to see if it complies with the law and with White House priorities.
( ) Lawmakers in Ghana have passed a bill that would impose prison terms of up to 10 years for people who promote LGBT activities, reviving legislation that has long been promoted by religious groups in the West African country. The legislation, which is expected to be signed into law by President John Mahama (mah-HAH-mah), would also impose prison terms of three years for people who engage in LGBT acts. A similar bill was passed in Ghana two years ago but never signed by the president. Since then, activists and church groups have continued to push for a new version of the legislation and Mahama has indicated he will support it.
( ) Jewish advocates in New York City and across the country are expressing dismay that Mayor Zohran Mamdani did not attend the annual parade honoring Israel over the past weekend. He broke with a decades-long political custom in the city because of his support for the Palestinians. Sunday’s Israel Day parade in Manhattan has for years drawn mayors and political leaders. It also attracts a crowd of thousands of blue-and-white flag-waving revelers celebrating the birth of the Jewish state in 1948. Mamdani’s absence had been expected. But it has riled opponents who view his criticism of Israeli policy as anti-Semitic.