World

WASHINGTON (BP) -- The number of Christians suffering high to extremely high persecution is 14 percent more in 2019, Open Doors reported, counting 245 million individuals globally.

Thousands of people were killed, millions were displaced and billions of dollars in damages occurred in 2018 due to extreme weather events related to human-caused climate change, according to a Christian Aid report published on Dec. 27.

MOGADISHU, Somalia (RNS) — In a small single-room house in the Banaadir district of Somalia, dozens of Christians worship in secret out of fear of persecution in a country where no official churches exist.

Indonesia and Australia are the world’s most generous countries, according to a Gallup report published Dec. 12. The report focused on more than charitable giving in order to assess a nation’s generosity more broadly.

(RNS) — Faith-based organizations in Canada are welcoming changes to the federal government’s summer jobs program that remove language interpreted by many to require support for abortion.

KIGOMA, Tanzania (BP) -- At the end of a beaten-up road in Tanzania, a small hospital occasionally is filled to capacity with patients -- and then supplies begin to run thin.

DEAD SEA, Israel (BP) -- The Dead Sea has been receding for decades, with some experts predicting its total demise by 2050. But a $1.5 billion plan to resurrect the biblically prominent sea is nearing fruition, NBC News reported Nov. 29.

ASHKELON, Israel (RNS) — The moment Judy Spanglet heard the words “Color Red" come over Israel’s incoming-rocket alert system, she rushed into her apartment’s concrete-reinforced “safe room" and bolted the heavy door.

Moments later her building shuddered as a Grad rocket landed in a park across the street.

Most of the world’s children (93 percent) live in areas where air pollution levels exceed air quality guidelines, according to a recent World Health Organization report.

TORONTO (RNS) — Donald Trump isn’t at the Parliament of World Religions in Toronto, but his influence is widely felt here.

Speakers from around the world — and especially the U.S. — often refer to the situation in that country, expressing disappointment at the anger dividing Americans.