Important Takeaways:
- While over 150 of them have been arrested, the whereabouts of over 50 remain unknown
- One of the U.S. officials said people affiliated with ISIS are operating as human smugglers in Central Asia and helping people there leave their countries and travel to the West, where they are then smuggled into the U.S.
- The official added that the U.S. has no indication that the more than 400 migrants brought to the U.S. by the network have plans to carry out terrorism in the U.S., but immigration agents are looking to arrest them out of an abundance of caution.
- Many of the more than 400 migrants crossed the southern border and were released into the U.S. by Customs and Border Protection because they were not on the government’s terrorism watchlist
- But recent terrorist attacks in Russia have fueled heightened concern about ISIS and its offshoot ISIS-K. In recent months, DHS has been looking more closely at migrants from Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia and Russia, countries where ISIS-K has been active.
- Thousands of migrants from those countries are already inside the U.S. awaiting court decisions on whether they can stay.
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Important Takeaways:
- A current president has never before debated his predecessor
- The two men are now facing off again for the presidency and this debate will mark the first time in this election campaign that millions of Americans are sitting up and paying attention.
- Unlike past debates, this one will be conducted in a cable television studio without a live audience
- The debate will also feature muted microphones for candidates during their opponent’s allotted speaking time
- This is the earliest presidential debate in modern US history – held before either candidate has become the formal nominee of their party.
- There’s another debate scheduled in September.
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Important Takeaways:
- “The enemy knows very well that no place will be safe from our missiles and drones,” Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, said on June 19.
- Keeping those weapons from hitting Israeli territory is the job of a sophisticated air defense system called Iron Dome.
- But some experts warn that Hezbollah’s arsenal could push the system past its limits.
- The Iranian-backed group has been conducting increasingly brazen attacks using exploding drones and low-flying missiles that Iron Dome has struggled to intercept.
- And last week, Hezbollah published a 10-minute-long surveillance video from an unmanned aerial vehicle that had slipped past multiple Iron Dome launchers.
- The implication was clear: Hezbollah has Iron Dome in its sights.
- Unlike the Palestinian group Hamas, Hezbollah is believed to have a large arsenal of precision-guided weapons that it could fire in a war with Israel.
- “Look, there’s not enough Iron Domes in the world to contend with the reported 100,000 or so rockets that Hezbollah may have”
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Important Takeaways:
- Church attendance has gone down a lot in the U.S. over the past ten years. More people say they don’t belong to any religion.
- Western Europe is now very secular, with non-practicing Christians being more common than church-goers.
- The way people think about religion and spirituality is changing. Less people trust organized religion.
- The number of Americans who never go to church went up from 23% in 2014 to 31% in 2023.
- But, a lot of adults still believe in God or something similar. Many also believe in spiritual things like angels, heaven, and prayer.
- Protestantism and Catholicism have seen fewer people in their ranks, too. The Protestant population went from 51% to 43% between 2009 and 2019. Catholics dropped from 23% to 20%4. But atheists and agnostics have seen a slight increase in the same time period4.
- Church membership is dropping every year. For the first time in over 80 years, it fell below 50% in 2020. In 1947, a high of 76% was recorded, but by 2021, only 47% of Americans were still members
- Rise of the “Spiritual but Not Religious” Population
- Many oppose strong religious views against LGBTQ+ communities and are alarmed by abuse scandals in religious bodies9
- A wish for spiritual communities that are more welcoming and up-to-date
- More exposure to different spiritual views through the internet and other technologies
- Millennials and Gen Z stand out as the least connected to religion. Gen Z, especially, shows this with 34% not claiming any religious affiliation. This is higher than millennials at 29% and Generation X at 25%. Also, 18% of Gen Z considers themselves atheist or agnostic, much more than older generations
- In the last decade, trust in religious groups has shrank. This is due to many scandals and arguments about what they teach. People are now questioning if these organizations are truly honest and needed in their lives.
- Confidence in many major groups, like the church, has fallen. From 2004 to 2003, it dropped from 43% to 26%16. Even in 2023, this trust was only 32%. This is a big drop from the 60% right after 9/11 in 200116.
- Trust has fallen across different groups, like age and political beliefs. Younger Americans, aged 18-34, show the least trust in the church at 24%. This is less than the 55+ group at 35%16.
- For churches to cope with changes, they need to get creative. They should focus on spiritual growth and reaching out to their communities. Using digital platforms can help. It’s also important for them to tackle social issues. This way, churches can be strong and keep playing an important role for the believers. Changing to meet the new demands and preferences of their members is key. This will help them build a space that supports spiritual growth and makes strong community ties, even as things change. Through these changes, faith communities can become more welcoming, more united, and ready to meet the spiritual needs of new generations.
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Important Takeaways:
- In a short interview with LifeSiteNews, Colonel Douglas Macgregor sounded the alarm about an Israeli attack on Hezbollah that could well widen the war, as well as the escalation of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
- We thank Colonel Macgregor for this interview, whose answers he wrote in the middle of last night.
- In recent weeks, you have sounded the alarm on the situation in Israel with regard to Hezbollah. What do you see happening very soon and when do you think it will happen?
- [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu must escalate or admit defeat. Attacking Hezbollah presents him with the opportunity to entangle American military power in his war for Jewish supremacy in the Near East. The prospect of employing U.S. military power (air and naval forces) against Israel’s enemies is probably appealing to Israelis.
- What will be the effects on the region in the Middle East and in the world should such an attack by Israel on Hezbollah take place within the next couple days?
- I expect the assault on Hezbollah to begin any time after June 24. The effects will be profound. More Muslims will flee to Europe. The economic life of the region will be destroyed, and Russia + China and Iran will likely directly engage Israeli and U.S. forces involved in the war.
- Do you expect Israel to use nuclear weapons?
- The IDF [Israel Defense Forces] can employ tactical nuclear weapons. Given the density of Hezbollah defenses and the numbers of rockets and missiles Hezbollah can launch against targets in Israel, a tactical nuclear weapon is the most appealing option. Heavy casualties in Gaza have reduced IDF fighting power. Israel cannot afford the heavy losses that systematic IDF conventional attacks on Southern Lebanon would produce. However, the use of these weapons would likely precipitate massive Iranian missile attacks against Israel in retaliation. From there the war will spread and other nation states will turn out to have nuclear weapons. Instead of abruptly ending the war as the Israelis hope, it will widen and lengthen the war with ominous implications for Israel’s very existence.
- What would you tell the leaders of our country in light of the escalation in both conflict regions, Israel/Palestine and Ukraine/Russia?
- Washington is taking unacceptable risks in its relations with Moscow. It would be wise as well as humane to end the suffering in Ukraine. It is time for the [U.S. government] to admit defeat and reach an accommodation with Moscow that ends the war in Ukraine.
- Meanwhile, Israel is overreaching. It runs the risk of war with Iran and the whole region if it acts in Southern Lebanon as anticipated above. Washington has no strategic interest that justifies a regional war with Islam in the Near East. If Washington persists, it will discover that Russia will not abandon Iran and that many other countries, including China, will line up in support of Iran and Russia against Washington.
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Important Takeaways:
- Vladimir Putin’s forces are holding yet more nuclear missile drills amid an ongoing program of strategic military exercises, wheeling out terrifying intercontinental ballistic missiles in new footage released today.
- Unsettling footage shows mobile Yars intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) being moved from hangars into forest locations in Russia’s remote Irkutsk region of Siberia for potential combat use.
- The missiles, which soar through space and re-enter the atmosphere at Mach 25 have a range of up to 7,500 miles, enabling a strike on Europe and the US.
- Yars missiles carry six independently targetable nuclear warheads, each with a power of more than 100 kilotons.
- That means one Yars strike can hit six different targets with each resulting explosion some six times more powerful than the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
- Unlike Russia’s largest nuclear missile, the Sarmat, the Yars system is a solid fuel rocket, meaning it is easier to transport and faster to launch as it does not have to be fueled at the launch site.
- Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov oversees relations with the US, which diplomats in both countries say are at their lowest point since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis due to a confrontation over the conflict in Ukraine.
- He warned that if the West underestimated Moscow’s resolve, it could lead to ‘tragic and fatal’ consequences because the US and its allies were confronting a major nuclear power in Russia.
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Important Takeaways:
- World on the brink as North Korea sends ‘cannon fodder’ troops to Ukraine
- The North Korean unit is expected to arrive in Ukraine as soon as next month, raising fears that Pyongyang is becoming an active combatant in the war.
- Last week, Putin made an official state visit to North Korea, the first time in 24 years that he had travelled to the country.
- The Russian leader and his host Kim Jong Un signed a defense pact on June 19 in Pyongyang, promising military assistance to one another.
- Within days of signing the agreement, North Korea has announced it will be sending a unit of military engineers to join Russia’s army on the ground in the Donetsk region.
- The country is already supplying Russia with ammunition and missiles and is reported to have shipped as many as 1.6 million artillery shells to Putin’s army.
- A spokesman for the Pentagon said North Korean troops would be sent to their slaughter and questioned the wisdom of the deployment.
- The military alliance between Putin and Kim states: “In case any one of the two sides is put in a state of war by an armed invasion from an individual state or several states, the other side shall provide military and other assistance with all means in its possession without delay.”
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Important Takeaways:
- Israel is facing rising pressures from outside and within today. As the Jewish state is simply looking to protect its people from daily rocket attacks, the U.S. is pushing for a diplomatic solution to the fighting between Lebanon-based Hezbollah and Israel before it turns into a full-blown war. Meanwhile, Israel’s Supreme Court ruling Tuesday concerning the drafting of ultra-Orthodox men could also pose problems for Netanyahu’s government.
- U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned Hezbollah that Washington can’t stop Israel from going to war to prevent the terror group’s daily attacks on the north.
- “Hezbollah’s provocations threaten to drag the Israeli and Lebanese people into a war that they do not want,” Austin said Tuesday. “And such a war would be a catastrophe for Lebanon, and it would be devastating for innocent Israeli and Lebanese civilians.”
- Yoav Gallant says Israel is determined to establish security in the north and bring back some 80,000 citizens evacuated from their homes. He asked the U.S. to focus on heading off a larger threat: Iran getting nuclear weapons.
- “The greatest threat to the future of the world and the future of our region is Iran. And time is running out,” Gallant insisted.
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Important Takeaways:
- Minnesota dam at risk of total failure amid “historic” flooding
- Threat level: Recent heavy rain, including a foot-and-a-half in southern Minnesota, has already closed roads, caused serious damage, and left some communities under feet of water.
- The latest: Blue Earth County officials warned Monday that a breached dam outside Mankato is in “imminent failure condition.”
- Those alarms came as the state deployed 46 National Guard soldiers to Waterville in Le Sueur County in response to what local officials say is the worst flooding in its history.
- By the numbers: The governor said while the $26.4 million currently in the account is “probably not” enough to cover the damages, the federal aid that would flow from a disaster declaration could help fill the gap.
- Another $50 million is already set to be transferred to the account in August, per KARE 11.
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