Pentecostal Leaders Disavow Christian Nationalism in Stark Statement

Source: Newsweek

Stung by recent media coverage linking Pentecostal and charismatic Christianity to Christian nationalism, a group of Christian leaders has thrown down the gauntlet.

They've created a new website, www.narandchristiannationalism.com, that went live Wednesday - a mini-declaration of war.

It contains a 1,544-word statement that condemns Christian nationalism, which is the belief that America is a Christian nation and that its government must support Christianity as the nation's defining and original religion. The statement aims to separate the bulk of the nation's roughly 73 million Pentecostals and charismatics from what these leaders say is a fringe element that espouses "a dangerous and unhealthy form of 'Christian nationalism.' "

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/pentecostal-leaders-disavow-christian-nationalism-in-stark-statement/ar-AA13b940?ocid=EMMX&cvid=51a5d041b44549dbae98581a00361c80

Taliban shot gay Afghan man dead and sent graphic footage of the murder to his loved ones, boyfriend

Source: INSIDER

A gay Afghan man was kidnapped and shot to death by the Taliban, according to activists who knew him, Pink News was the first to report.

Hamed Sabouri of Kabul, Afghanistan, died on August 5, activists said. The news of the 22-year-old's death only became public this week after his former boyfriend informed the media.

Graphic video footage of a murder, which Insider has viewed, appears to show a man resembling Sabouri being shot in the neck and head at least 12 times.

Days later, the Taliban sent the disturbing execution video to Sabouri's relatives and friends, who, in turn, forwarded it to the Afghan LGBTQ+ group Roshaniya.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/taliban-shot-gay-afghan-man-dead-and-sent-graphic-footage-of-the-murder-to-his-loved-ones-boyfriend-says/ar-AA130GGB?ocid=EMMX&cvid=51a5d041b44549dbae98581a00361c80

Trump Let Corporations Defraud PPP Loan Program Before Leaving Office

4 hurt in shooting outside Atlanta university library

Source: Associated Press

ATLANTA (AP) — Authorities say four people were hurt, including three students, in a shooting during Clark Atlanta University’s homecoming outside a campus library early Sunday. Police say a large group of people were listening to a DJ near the Robert W. Woodruff Library around 12:30 a.m. Sunday when officers on patrol in the area heard gunshots. According to Clark Atlanta University, a preliminary investigation found three students and another person were injured when shots were fired from a vehicle. The historically Black college was celebrating homecoming. Atlanta police say one of the victims was grazed and refused medical attention. Three others were taken to a hospital, though they were conscious and alert.

Read more: https://kesq.com/news/ap-national-news/2022/10/16/4-hurt-in-shooting-outside-atlanta-university-library/

Salvador court orders arrests in Dutch journalist killings

Source: Associatd Press

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — A Salvadoran judge has ordered the provisional arrest of several retired high-ranking members of the armed forces accused of having participated in the killings of four Dutch journalists in 1982 while they were covering the Central American nation’s civil war. Among those facing arrest orders are former defense minister Gen. José Guillermo García and Col. Francisco Antonio Morán, former director of the now-defunct treasury police, according to the judge’s ruling, which was seen by The Associated Press. Neither the National Civil Police, which is charged with carrying out the court order, nor the Public Ministry have confirmed the arrest warrants or whether they have been carried out.

Read more: https://kesq.com/news/ap-national-news/2022/10/16/salvador-court-orders-arrests-in-dutch-journalist-killings/

Utah man, son, enter pleas in Jan. 6 Capitol riot cases

Source: Associated Press

A Utah man and his son, an Illinois resident, have pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Bradley Bokoski, 58, of Eagle Mountain, Utah and Matthew R. Bokoski, 31, of Chicago entered pleas on Thursday, according to documents filed with the U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia, to one count each of unlawful parading, demonstrating or picketing at the Capitol.

Charges of impeding Congress by illegally entering the Capitol will be dropped as part of a plea agreement in each case, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

The misdemeanor charges carry a maximum sentence of six months in prison, five years’ probation and a $5,000 fine. Sentencing was set for Jan. 17.



Read more: https://apnews.com/article/radioactive-waste-elementary-school-florissant-missouri-dfe950231dd7828c50e518dee795c669

Migrants Flown To Massachusetts Certified As Crime Victims

Source: Associated Press

SAN ANTONIO - A Texas sheriff has certified 49 migrants flown from San Antonio to Massachusetts last month to be crime victims, a move that allows them to apply for special visas to remain in the United States.

Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar's certifications allow the mostly Venezuelan migrants to apply for special U-visas pending his department's investigation of the Sept. 14 flight to Martha's Vineyard, according to an ACLU Massachusetts statement Thursday.

U-visas would allow the migrants to remain in the U.S. lawfully as the criminal investigation by Salazar's department and the Bexar County District Attorney's Office proceeds.

The Treasury Department's internal watchdog is investigating whether DeSantis improperly used federal pandemic aid to fly migrants to Martha's Vineyard as part of his effort to "transport illegal immigrants to sanctuary destinations.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/travel-crime-texas-united-states-immigration-4c6f37e45fae9747dec204c237f3f358

TotalEnergies denies claim it made fuel for Russian forces

Source: Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — A French and a Ukrainian nongovernmental organization have filed a complaint for “complicity in war crimes” against TotalEnergies, which they accuse of having operated a gas field that allegedly produces kerosene used by Russian warplanes in Ukraine. The French oil giant denied producing kerosene for the Russian military.

The Paris counterterrorism prosecutor’s office confirmed on Friday that it formally received the complaint and is going to examine it.

A statement from TotalEnergies denounced “outrageous and defamatory” accusations which “are an insult to the integrity of our teams and go against our values.”

The move by Ukrainian human rights group Razom We Stand (Together We Stand) and French organization Darwin Climax Coalition follows the publication in August of an investigation by British NGO Global Witness and French newspaper Le Monde.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-business-paris-war-crimes-3fdfa477f806414019fc03226084b7db

Priest convicted of sexual assault on boy in Michigan church

Source: Assoicated Press

A Catholic priest has been convicted of sexual assaulting a 7-year-old boy in 2004 in a Detroit-area church.

A Wayne County jury convicted the Rev. Joseph “Jack” Baker on Thursday on a charge of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. Baker, 60, gasped as the verdict was read, The Detroit News reported.

Baker was a priest at St. Mary Parish in Wayne when Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel charged him in July 2019 with sexually abusing a minor.

Prosecutors alleged that Baker raped the boy in a church sacristy when the child was a second-grade student.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/religion-michigan-detroit-sexual-abuse-by-clergy-assault-ccb7064faed98a296e15f78f84fd24ca

Swedish parties make deal to govern with hard-right support

Source: Asssociated Press

Three Swedish center-right parties on Friday agreed to form a coalition government with the support of the Sweden Democrats, a once radical far-right group that has moved toward the mainstream but retains a hard line on immigration.

The agreement comes after a month of talks following Sept. 11 elections that gave the Sweden Democrats an unprecedented position of influence in Swedish politics with over 20% of the vote.

Conservative Moderate Party leader Ulf Kristersson said his party would form a center-right coalition government with the Liberals and the Christian Democrats, but remain in “close collaboration” with the Sweden Democrats. The center-right coalition depends on the support of the Sweden Democrats to secure a majority in Parliament, putting the party in a position to influence government policy from the sidelines even without Cabinet seats.

The party was founded in the 1980s by people who had been active in right-wing extremist groups, including neo-Nazis. They toned down their rhetoric and expelled openly racist members under Jimmie Akesson, who took over the party in 2005. Since then they have grown from a marginal movement with less than 2% support to become Sweden’s second biggest party.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/elections-immigration-migration-sweden-87f12257e2a879c000e54363e5fb2418