The persecution of Christians in parts of the world is at near “genocide” levels, according to a report ordered by Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt. The review, led by the Bishop of Truro the Right Reverend Philip Mounstephen, estimated that one in three people suffer from religious persecution. Christians were the most persecuted religious group, it found. Mr Hunt said he felt that “political correctness” had played a part in the issue not being confronted.

The interim report said the main impact of “genocidal acts against Christians is exodus” and that Christianity faced being “wiped out” from parts of the Middle East.

It warned the religion “is at risk of disappearing” in some parts of the world, pointing to figures which claimed Christians in Palestine represent less than 1.5% of the population, while in Iraq they had fallen from 1.5 million before 2003 to less than 120,000. “Evidence shows not only the geographic spread of anti-Christian persecution, but also its increasing severity,” the Bishop wrote.(BBC)…[+]

WASHINGTON – Democrats intensified their pressure on President Donald Trump’s administration yesteday as U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused Attorney General William Barr of committing a crime by lying to lawmakers and a key committee chairman threatened to hold Barr in contempt of Congress.

Even as Democratic lawmakers accused the Trump administration of a growing attack on U.S. democracy and the authority of Congress, the White House showed no sign of backing down. White House legal counsel Emmet Flood said in a defiant letter that Trump had the right to tell advisers not to testify to congressional panels on the findings of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia inquiry.

The dueling statements marked a sharp escalation in the conflict between the White House and Democrats who control the House of Representatives. With Trump seeking re-election next year, Democrats are weighing whether to try to remove the Republican president from office using the impeachment process while pressing forward with demands for information on his taxes, businesses and other topics.

Shortly after Barr refused to appear before the House Judiciary Committee, Pelosi accused him of lying to lawmakers about interactions with Mueller after the special counsel ended a 22-month investigation into Russia’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. election to boost Trump’s candidacy. “That’s a crime,” Pelosi, the top Democrat in Congress, told reporters, referring to Barr’s congressional testimony.(Reuters)…[+]

One day af­ter cel­e­brat­ing his 70th birth­day, John “Jok­er” Mills, 70, a for­mer Amo­co oil work­er and his com­mon-law wife of 40 years, Eu­lyn John, 61, were found mur­dered in their home yes­ter­day. The cou­ple was found in the bed­room of their Cocrico Av­enue, Buc­coo home around 11.30 am by a nephew who had vis­it­ed to check on them.

Po­lice said Eu­lyn was found with her hands and feet bound with tie straps and gagged with a cloth and duct tape. John was found with a tie strap drawn tight­ly around his neck and his hands and feet bound with tie straps. He was re­port­ed­ly stabbed sev­er­al times about his chest, head, face and body, his throat was slit and the back of his head was bashed in. Po­lice be­lieve rob­bery may have been the mo­tive for the killing, but sources said there were no signs of forced en­try to the house.

Rel­a­tives and neigh­bours de­scribed the cou­ple as very qui­et and lov­ing peo­ple and could not un­der­stand who would want to per­pe­trate such a bru­tal act on them.(Trinidad Guardian)…[+]