Locals walking through the center of Vilnius now pass a hole in the ground, a portal to the rich Jewish past of a city once called the “Jerusalem of the North.” For the first time since 1940, they can see the polished, colorful floor and entire prayer platform of the Great Synagogue of Vilna, built in the 17th century, which became one the most important religious, cultural and intellectual hubs for Diaspora Jews. The community’s main representative body plans to build a new Jewish community...

Foreign ministers debated various tactics to respond to the settlements at their monthly council meeting in Brussels, against the backdrop of rising violence by settlers and efforts by the Israeli government to expand settlements in Palestinian territories. No decisions have yet been made, and the path forward is uncertain. Some EU member nations favor aggressive action against the settlements, while others are unlikely to back any measures that take aim at Israel. A number are in the middle...

Many people worldwide are asking questions with regard to the work of God among the nations of this world. God is indeed active in the affairs of humanity, and He is absolutely sovereign to accomplish His eternal decrees. Throughout the Bible, it is apparent that the people of God have always struggled with living holy and godly lives in the midst of a very perverse and wicked world. Leviticus is a book that is solely concerned with the holiness of God’s people (cf. Lev 19:1-2). God’s...

China launched the Shenzhou 23 spacecraft with three astronauts heading to its space station, including one set to stay in space for a year. The spacecraft blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China. The much-anticipated launch comes as China prepares for its first crewed lunar landing by 2030. The crew is set to conduct dozens of science and application projects, state media said. They are also expected to complete an in-orbit rotation with the crew of...

It was the latest tragedy in this part of the Mediterranean Sea. The Libyan coast is one of the main departure points for migrants from North Africa trying to reach European shores for a better life there. They are packed by smugglers into small and unsafe boats, with thousands dying during the perilous sea journey. Libya has in recent years emerged as the dominant transit point for migrants fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East, even though the country was plunged into chaos...

“For they speak not peace: but they devise deceitful matters against them that are quiet in the land” (Psalm 35:20). While antisemitism has been historically documented for the last 2,000 years, we also know it existed before that time to a degree. What is antisemitism? It is defined as “hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a religious, ethnic, or racial group,” according to Webster. So, we are not dealing with something new but ancient. However, even after 7 October 2023, when...

Against the backdrop of conflict, and despite reservations among some European leaders, the EU has been quietly seeking to reopen communications with Moscow even as it doubles down on its support for Kyiv. President Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, has tried to cut out Europe and Kyiv and negotiate Ukraine’s future with Washington. “In any future scenario, the EU has specific interests that will need to be defended, therefore it is important to have established diplomatic channels with Russia. The...

Police officers move past Ikshana, a mobile surveillance van, parked at the ongoing protest site, days after thousands of the supporters of India’s Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) marched towards parliament demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over National Eligibility. The surveillance controversy erupted during [the] student protest over exam paper leaks, when demonstrators posted pictures on social media of a mobile police surveillance van equipped with cameras on...

In this article, we continue our study of three major monetary conditions that the Bible indicates will typify the world order at the very end of the last days. At the end of Part 1, we were pursuing the question of whether government debt plays a prophetic role. We had been drawn to this question, given the unprecedented rise of government debt around the world in past decades. To date, we have reviewed one of these a priori conditions—a worldwide wealth skew. 2. Indebtedness is a necessary...

San Francisco-based Raffi Krikorian, the chief technology officer at Mozilla, which runs the Firefox browser, switched to Chinese AI startup Moonshot’s Kimi K3 for many of his day-to-day activities within days of the new, powerful model’s launch. Their popularity has frustrated some U.S. tech giants, but short of an outright ban, they’re likely to continue to appeal to independent software developers in the U.S. and elsewhere. The rapid rise of cutting-edge Chinese AI models this year shows...

The annual ranking assesses 173 cities worldwide across stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure to identify those offering the highest quality of life. Vienna, Melbourne, Sydney and Zurich rounded out this year’s top five, reflecting both Europe’s enduring dominance and Australia’s continued strong showing. Taking the top spot for the second year in a row, the Danish capital [Copenhagen] earned perfect scores in stability, education and infrastructure,...

Maryam Aminu was hardly surprised when the last of her six children was diagnosed with malnutrition in April for a second time. She was barely feeding the 18-month-old regularly, let alone with nutritious foods. Northern Nigeria, one of the world’s poorest regions, is already under pressure from an insurgency crisis. Now, the conflict in the Middle East has worsened food security for millions of people living in poverty, especially children. If the war in the Middle East continues, up to 23.4...