How you could save up to 93% on a brand new iPad or iPhone?

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How you could save up to 93% on a brand new iPad or iPhone?

Megabargains report– You’ve probably noticed a new phenomenon spreading like wildfire across Europe and North America: auction sites selling warehouse clearouts & overstocked products for huge discounts.

In blogs all over the net, you can read the stories of happy winners who won fabulous, very expensive items – usually for a fraction of their normal price. We weren’t 100% sure that these amazing deals were real, so we decided to test them out. And what better reason to ensure that the test worked, by buying something that we really wanted.

I wanted to buy a new Apple iPhone 6, so I was responsible for the test.

I started doing a ton of research on the subject to determine which of these sites was the most reliable, and therefore more suitable for my test. After hours of research, I came to the conclusion that, because of its wide range of products and excellent reputation – MadBid was the site for testing.

To use these sites, you buy credits to bid against other users in online auctions. Then if you win – you enjoy a MASSIVE discount on the price of the item.

MadBid are so confident they can prove to users that it works that they were offering a limited-time promotion for new customers. They’ll give you free credits – double whatever you buy on your first purchase! This was ideal for a first time buyer like me, and I now had the credits needed to test the site in detail.

What can you buy at auction?

I saw everything from cars to phones to computers, laptops, TVs, cameras, stereo equipment and pretty much everything you could look for.

Madbid passes the test!

After a simple registration, I received my free credits from MadBid. I was now ready to try and win one of the items up for auction. Before I joined, I wasn’t too sure how the site worked, but all became clear once I created my account.

In order to place bids in the MadBid.com auctions, you have to purchase credits. The credits only cost you a couple of pence each and they can easily be acquired in packages (for example for £15). So after having purchased a small credit package, you can look for a product you like and start placing bids.

I started with a bid on the item I’d wanted for so long… a brand, spanking new iPad. After a relatively short auction, and much to my surprise… I won!

For only £28.22 in total I got an iPad worth £499!

To make sure it was no fluke, I decided to try and win something else. Much more to my surprise, I won again! This time, the savings were even more startling. In the end, I paid only £79.22 for a MacBook Pro worth £2,000. Very impressive! There’s no way that you can find savings like this anywhere else!

Delivery – Having won and paid for the items, I received them a few days later. It was just awesome, from start to finish.

In the end, I was completely satisfied with my experience.

Detailed instructions for MadBid

Now that you’re set on trying to get your own savings on MadBid – you’re probably wondering exactly how the site works. Don’t worry, I’ll explain everything. Here’s a detailed guide to help you get started. (If it looks short, it’s because it’s so simple!)

Step 1: Create an account on MadBid and get your free credits. Click our exclusive link to get a discount and the same offer as I did!
(Not sure when this offer will expire so take advantage of it while you can)
Code : starter24

Step 2: Look for an auction that you are interested in and start bidding.

Step 3: If you win an auction, you’ll be redirected to the payment page where you proudly buy your item at a massive discount!

Conclusion

In the end, I had an extremely positive experience with MadBid. Savings of 95% on the normal retail price had long seemed impossible, but now I know there’s a way!

Everyone here now uses MadBid now for their personal purchases. It’s that simple!

Source: Megabargains

‘The Darkness of ISIS will be Overwhelmed by the Light and Peace of Christ’ Says Justin Welby

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‘The Darkness of ISIS will be Overwhelmed by the Light and Peace of Christ’ Says Justin Welby

Christian Today report–  The Archbishop of Canterbury has condemned the “terrible cruelty” of the murder of 21 Coptic Christians in Libya, as well as the killings in Denmark and Nigeria over the weekend.

In a statement from Lambeth Palace, the Archbishop said: “The killers seem to rejoice in ever more extreme acts carried out to inflict ever greater terror. We must all weep with those affected, and know that in the love of Christ all evil will be overcome.”

Referring to Egypt and Libya as “the home of Christian faith,” Justin Welby praised the Coptic Church for responding with courage and faith to the most recent atrocity.

“The darkness which ISIS seek to spread will be overwhelmed by the faithful lives of Christians shedding the light and peace of Christ,” he said, adding that he has personally expressed solidarity with the Anglican Church in Egypt.

“Let us pray for the triumphant peace of Christ to be evident, and for governments affected to be wise and courageous.”

Islamic State issued a video on Sunday purporting to show the beheading of 21 Egyptian Christian men kidnapped in Libya.

(Reuters)
(Reuters)

The five-minute video is titled: “A message signed with blood to the nation of the cross” and the men are identified as “people of the cross, the followers of the hostile Egyptian Church.”

In a message to the “crusaders”, a masked insurgent holding a knife says his fellow militants are “chopping off the heads of those that have been carrying the cross illusion.”

UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has strongly condemned the murders.

“Such barbaric acts strengthen our determination to work with our partners to counter the expanding terrorist threat to Libya and the region. Acts of terrorism should not be allowed to undermine Libya’s political transition,” Hammond said today.

“We remain fully supportive of the UN’s efforts to build a national unity government for Libya and to bring a political solution to the ongoing security crisis. Those who support terrorists can have no part in this process.”

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has called a seven-day mourning period, and state television reported that the military had carried out an air strike against IS targets in Libya at dawn on Monday.

On Saturday, two people were killed by a gunman in Copenhagen, who is thought to have been inspired by the January attack on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

In Nigeria, a female suicide bomber killed ten people and wounded at least 30 in an explosion at a crowded bus station in the northeast city of Damaturu on Sunday. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but it is thought to have been perpetrated by Islamist militant group Boko Haram.

Source: Christian Today

 

Copenghagen Shootings: Police Killed Man Believe to Be Gunman at Muhammad Cartoonist Event, Synagogue

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Copenghagen Shootings: Police Killed Man Believe to Be Gunman at Muhammad Cartoonist Event, Synagogue

Christian Today report– Police shot dead a 22-year-old Danish-born gunman on Sunday after he killed two people at a Copenhagen synagogue and an event promoting free speech in actions possibly inspired by an attack on the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, authorities said.

Spy chief Jens Madsen said the gunman was known to intelligence services prior to the shooting and had probably acted alone. Police said he had a record of violence, gang-related activities and weapons possession.

Two civilians – a synagogue guard and a film-maker – were killed and five police were wounded in the two separate attacks in the Danish capital on Saturday and Sunday.

Witnesses said the gunman had fired up to 40 shots at a cafe hosting a free speech event with Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who has received death threats for depicting the head of the Prophet Mohammad on a dog.

The gunman then moved on to a nearby synagogue where the guard, protecting a young girl’s confirmation, was gunned down.

On Sunday, thousands of Danes left a sea of flowers by the city’s ornate 180-year-old synagogue.

“We are a small nation and such things don’t happen here,” 28-year-old student Frederikke Baastrup said, reflecting a widespread sense of shock in a country that prides itself on its reputation for safety and social tolerance.

Police cordoned off several sections of a predominantly immigrant neighbourhood and took away several people for questioning, witnesses said.

Danish media widely reported the gunman to be . Reuters could not confirm his identity and police declined to comment.

ON ALERT SINCE PARIS ATTACKS

Danish media said El-Hussein had been jailed for stabbing a 19-year-old man in the leg on a Copenhagen train in 2013, and was freed a few weeks ago.

Danish authorities have been on alert since Islamist gunmen killed 17 people in three days of violence in Paris in January that began with an attack on weekly Charlie Hebdo, long known for its acerbic cartoons on Islam, other religions and politicians.

“Denmark and France are the same nations, feeling the same sadness but also the same will to resist, fight and defeat terrorism,” French President Francois Hollande said.

“They hit the same targets, they hit what we are, what we represent, the values of freedom, the rule of law, that all citizens, whatever their religion, should be able to enjoy.”

Madsen said the attacks appeared to have been inspired by the Paris attacks.

But police said they did not believe the suspect had received training in jihadist camps in the Middle East.

The man had two handguns on him when he was killed and the police search later found an automatic weapon that may have been used in Saturday’s attacks.

The gunman’s primary target was likely to have been the free speech event with Vilks.

Dozens of bullets were fired in quick succession, probably from an automatic weapon, according to a recording of the event obtained by Danish TV2.

Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt said the attacks were terrorism but said this was not the start of a war between the West and Islam.

“When you mercilessly fire deadly bullets at innocent people taking part in a debate, when you attack the Jewish community, you attack our democracy,” Thorning-Schmidt said outside the synagogue. “We will do everything possible to protect our Jewish community.”

CARTOONS

Denmark became a target of violent Islamists 10 years ago after the publication of cartoons lampooning the Prophet Mohammad, images that led to sometimes fatal protests in the Muslim world. Many Muslims consider any representation of the Prophet blasphemous.

Vilks stirred controversy himself in 2007 with drawings depicting Mohammad’s head on a dog, triggering death threats.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said such attacks were likely to continue, and that Israel would welcome European Jews who chose to move to there.

Witnesses said French ambassador Francois Zimeray had just finished introducing the cafe event, entitled “Art, Blasphemy and Freedom of Expression”, when the assailant opened fire.

The venue was heavily guarded by police, who fired back, but the attacker nevertheless escaped.

Vilks sheltered on the floor of a cold room at the back of the cafe with one of the event’s organisers.

He has lived under Swedish police protection since 2010 and two years ago an American woman was jailed for 10 years in the United States for plotting to kill him.

Like other European governments, Scandinavian leaders have been increasingly concerned about the radicalisation of young Muslims travelling to Syria and Iraq to fight alongside violent jihadist groups such as Islamic State.

Authorities have also been worried about possible lone gunmen like Anders Behring Breivik, the anti-immigrant Norwegian who killed 77 people in 2011, most of them at a youth camp run by Norway’s ruling centre-left Labour Party.

Source: Christian Today

ISIS New Propaganda Video Shows Beheadings of Egyptian Christians in Libya

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ISIS New Propaganda Video Shows Beheadings of Egyptian Christians in Libya

CNN report– In a new propaganda video released Sunday by ISIS, the militant group claims to have beheaded over a dozen members of Egypt’s Coptic Christian minority on a Libyan beach.

The highly produced video shows an apparent mass execution with jihadists in black standing behind each of the victims, who are all are dressed in orange jumpsuits with their hands cuffed behind them.

The five-minute video, released by the terror group’s propaganda wing al-Hayat Media, includes a masked English-speaking jihadi who says, “The sea you have hidden Sheikh Osama bin Laden’s body in, we swear to Allah, we will mix it with your blood.”

Then on cue, all the victims are pushed to the ground and beheaded.

ISIS has imposed its brutal rule on the large areas of Iraq and Syria that it controls, but the beheadings of the Egyptians appears to have been carried out by an affiliate of the militant group in Libya.

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi confirmed in a statement that Egyptian “martyrs” had fallen victim to terrorism and expressed his condolences to the Egyptian people.

El-Sisi called for an urgent meeting of the Council of National Defense and declared seven days of official mourning.

Twenty-one Egyptian Christians were kidnapped in the Libyan coastal city of Sirte in two separate incidents in December and January. Officials said all of them had been killed.

El-Sisi said Egypt reserves the right to retaliate for the killings, according to the state-run website Ahram Online.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on Sunday after the grisly video emerged.

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“The secretary offered his condolences on behalf of the American people and strongly condemned the despicable act of terror,” the State Department said. “Secretary Kerry and Foreign Minister Shoukry agreed to keep in close touch as Egyptians deliberated on a response.”

The White House also condemned the attack, saying ISIS’ “barbarity knows no bounds.”

“This wanton killing of innocents is just the most recent of the many vicious acts perpetrated by ISIL-affiliated terrorists against the people of the region,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said in a statement, using an alternative acronym for ISIS.

Members of the U.N. Security Council strongly condemned what they called “the heinous and cowardly apparent murder” of the 21 Egyptians.

“This crime once again demonstrates the brutality of ISIL, which is responsible for thousands of crimes and abuses against people from all faiths, ethnicities and nationalities, and without regard to any basic value of humanity,” the U.N. statement said.

Coptic Christians are part of the Orthodox Christian tradition, one of three main traditions under the Christian umbrella, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Copts split from other Christians in the fifth century over the definition of the divinity of Jesus Christ.

Copts trace their history to the Apostle Mark, the New Testament figure who they say introduced Christianity to Egypt in A.D. 43. Egypt holds a special place for Coptic Christians because, according to the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus’ family fled there shortly after his birth to escape King Herod, who was calling for the execution of all Jewish boys younger than 2.

The largest group of Copts in the world is still in Egypt, where they make up between 8% and 11% of the nation’s 80 million citizens, most of whom are Sunni Muslims.

In the United States, there are approximately 90,000 Copts organized under 170 parishes, according to the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the United States.

Source: CNN

History of Assemblies of God Church

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History of Assemblies of God Church

About Religion report– The Assemblies of God denomination traces its roots back to a religious revival that started during the late 1800’s and continued through the early 1900’s. The revival was characterized by a widespread experience of spiritual manifestations such as speaking in tongues and supernatural healing, giving birth to the Pentecostal movement.

Charles Parham is a prominent figure in the history of the Assemblies of God and the Pentecostal movement. His teachings greatly influenced the doctrines of the Assemblies of God. He is the founder of the first Pentecostal church – the Apostolic Faith Church. He started a Bible School in Topeka, Kansas, where students came to learn about the Word of God. The Baptism in the Holy Spirit was emphasized here as a key factor in one’s walk of faith.

During the Christmas holiday of 1900, Parham asked his students to study the Bible to discover the biblical evidence for the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. At a prayer meeting on January 1, 1901, they concluded that the Holy Spirit Baptism is expressed and evidenced by speaking in tongues. From this experience the Assemblies of God denomination can trace its belief that speaking in tongues is the biblical evidence for the Baptism in the Holy Spirit.

The revival quickly spread to Missouri and Texas, and eventually to California and beyond. Pentecostal believers from around the world gathered at the Azusa Street Mission in Los Angeles for a three year (1906–1909) revival meeting.

Another important meeting in the denomination’s history was a gathering in Hot Springs, Arkansas in 1914, called by a preacher named Eudorus N. Bell. As a result of the spreading revival and the formation of many Pentecostal congregations, Bell recognized the need for an organized assembly. Three hundred Pentecostal ministers and laymen gathered to discuss the growing need for doctrinal unity and other common goals. As a result the General Council of the Assemblies of God was formed, uniting the assemblies in ministry and legal identity, yet preserving each congregation as a self-governing and self-supporting entity. This structural model remains intact today.

In 1916 a Statement of Fundamental Truths was approved and adopted by the General Council. This position on the essential doctrines of the Assemblies of God denomination remains virtually unchanged to this day.

The Assemblies of God ministries have focused and continue to concentrate on evangelism, missions and church planting. From its founding attendance of 300, the denomination has grown to more than 2.6 million members in the United States and over 48 million overseas. The national headquarters for the Assemblies of God is located in Springfield, Missouri.

Source: About Religion

 

The Man Who Averted Another Abduction of School Girls by Boko Haram

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The Man Who Averted Another Abduction of School Girls by Boko Haram

Channel4 News report– He has been credited with averting a repeat of the abduction, in April last year, of 279 students from the town of Chibok, most of whom are still missing.

Ibrahim Garuba Wala, better known as I G Wala, a leader of Nigeria’s National Consensus Movement (NCM) arranged for the daring evacuation of the children from deep in the bush, where they had fled with their teachers.

His rescue operation was conducted under the noses of the Nigerian military, which had reportedly refused to enter the area because it was too dangerous.

The incident happened two months ago, but has remained virtually unreported, even in Nigeria. I G Wala has provided photographs and video of the rescue, showing the 470 girls, all wearing school uniforms, running in single-file through dusty terrain, many barefoot.

Liaising with their teachers, who had alerted the NCM leader to their plight by mobile phone, I G Wala agreed a rendezvous point near a remote village accessible by road. He hurriedly arranged a fleet of passenger vans from the state capital, Gombe, 50km away, which whisked the girls to safety.

They had been boarding at the Federal Government College in Bajoga town, which had come under fierce attack by the jihadi insurgents, who entered the town in stolen Armoured Personnel Carriers. They attacked the police station, robbed the bank and looted shops.

A heavy gunfight ensued between the insurgents and the Bajoga police, alongside a few dozen soldiers based near the town. An unknown number of militants, police and military personnel were reportedly killed.

As the Boko Haram fighters entered the school compound, I G Wala was on the phone to a member of staff at the school.

“I could hear the teachers screaming at the girls just to drop everything and run. All I could think of was the girls from Chibok and I knew that we could not let this happen again,” he said. I G Wala has been an active member of the Bring Back Our Girls campaign.

He claims he begged a Nigerian military commander to send in his troops to rescue the school girls but was told that the situation there was out of control. When I G Wala insisted on leading a group of civilians to rescue the girls, the commander, he says, agreed to supply two military escort vehicles.

Pictures show a handful of armed soldiers observing the evacuation. From where the road ended, the rescuers had to continue into the bush using motorcycles borrowed from villagers.

The civil rights worker took with him the speaker of the Gombe State Assembly, Inuwa Garba, who has confirmed the entire account to Channel 4 News.

Mr Garba said military aircraft were bombing Boko Haram positions in the bush which is why the army commander had been reluctant to let the civilian rescue party enter the area.

While travelling by motorcycle, a preferred mode of transport for Boko Haram, they had to fly white flags so that military pilots above would not bomb them.

 

Channel4 News
Channel4 News

The girls ran a total of 15km through the bush. They had been unable to take any water and many were severely dehydrated, I G Wala said. One had been injured by treading on a spike with bare feet.

“We carried some of them on our backs for the final kilometre back to the nearest village, which was as far as our vans had been able go. We had brought with us a vehicle loaded with bottles of water for the girls.”

The children and their teachers emerged from the bush at dusk. The area was extremely insecure and “we had to get out quickly,” he said. The girls were driven to the Government Girls’ Secondary School in Gombe city.

One of the students was I G Wala’s own niece, 13-year-old Miriam Mohammad Garuba Wala.

“When she saw me, she cried out ‘Uncle!'” he said. “She ran up to me, crying, and hugged me. I told her and her friends not to worry and that everything would be OK now. You should have seen their faces,” he said. “They were distraught.”

“When we finally arrived in Gombe, we were met by teachers and many parents of the girls from Bajoga. There was nothing quite like that feeling. It was very emotional,” said I G Wala.

“I had a sense of accomplishment on completing this task,” he said. “After the whole thing, what is important is that whenever you feel that you just have to do something, you just have to do it, regardless of risk.”

The militants have led sustained attacks in the Gombe area in recent weeks. Ten days ago, a car bomb exploded 200m from a stadium in Gombe city, just minutes after President Goodluck Jonathan had left a political rally there. The bomb killed at least one bystander and wounded seven. The previous day, a suicide bomber killed five and wounded eight near a mosque in the city.

Boko Haram, an Islamist group which has affiliated itself with Islamic State and has established a self-declared caliphate across northeastern Nigeria. The group’s name roughly translates as “Western Education is Forbidden.” It has repeatedly attacked schools and abducted children. Those who have escaped say they are used by the insurgents as porters for weapons, as cooks and sex slaves.

In February last year, the insurgents killed 59 boys at the Federal Government College of Buni Yadi in Yobe State. One month ago, an attack on a boy’s school in Potiskum, also in Yobe State, killed nearly 50, when a suicide bomber, dressed in school uniform, detonated his vest during morning assembly.

I G Wala’s civil rights organisation, the National Concensus Movement, is a coalition of youth groups across northern Nigeria. It agitates against “the gross insensitivity of the Federal Government of Nigeria,” towards those who have suffered “unimaginable atrocities and calamities.”

I G Wala said he had received no word of thanks or even acknowledgement from the Nigerian federal authorities or the military, only from the principal of the school in Bajoga. He has remained friends, he said, with the ten soldiers “who shared this ordeal” and escorted his rescue convoy.

The Nigerian military has reportedly refused to confirm that any of the events described here even happened. Channel 4 News has repeatedly called the Nigerian military spokesman but so far has not received a response.

The girls of the Federal Government College in Bajoga are now back at school. There is now a heavy military presence in the town. The day after the girls were rescued, the Nigerian military is understood to have deployed reinforcements to Bajoga town but the convoy was reportedly ambushed by the insurgents and 28 soldiers were killed.

Source: Channel4 News

 

Virginia Church Uses ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ to Create Message That Combats Divorce, Adultery and Pornography

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Virginia Church Uses ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ to Create Message That Combats Divorce, Adultery and Pornography

Christian Post report– A Virginia church is using the buzz over the wildly popular Fifty Shades of Grey book and movie to create a message that combats some of the themes found in the film.

Richmond Community Church in Glen Allen will address topics of adultery, divorce, co-habitation, pornography and gay marriage with a new sermon series titled “5 Shades of Grey” which will start the Sunday after Valentine’s Day.

“I want them to have a positive view of sexuality, but I want them to understand the dangers that are out there,” pastor Rick McDaniel told CBS 6 News.

The film “Fifty Shades of Grey” releases in theaters on Friday and tells the story of a college student who engages in an unorthodox tryst with a wealthy businessman that includes bondage.

McDaniel believes the movie portrays a lot of human interaction that wouldn’t be pleasing to the God of the Bible and hopes to piggy back off the film’s popularity while teaching his congregants more acceptable ways to view sex and love.

“What they get involved in would not be the kinds of things that I believe would please God,” McDaniel said about the relationship between the film’s two main characters.

He’s also alarmed by the high number presale ticket sales for “Fifty Shades of Grey” in the Southern Bible belt states.

“A lot of mothers and women are interested in it, erotica, whatever you want to call it, and that tells me there is something going on that needs to be addressed,” he said.

McDaniel and his church are not the only Christians to voice concern about the overwhelming popularity of the film.

Dr. Juli Slattery, who’s a clinical psychologist and co-author of a book that deals with some of the concepts presented to women in the film, titled Pulling Back the Shades: Erotica, Intimacy and the Longings of a Woman’s Heart feels that the movie is working toward a movement to normalize porn for women.

“There are a lot of people who won’t read, but will go see a movie,” Slattery told The Christian Post in July. “The fact that this movie is so mainstream and that it’s on ‘Good Morning America’ and all over social media means that [our culture] is normalizing pornography.”

She agrees that “Fifty Shades of Grey” shows sinful behavior with the hopes of normalizing it in American culture. Her nonprofit, Authentic Intimacy, fights to convey healthy messages of love and intimacy to women.

“At Authentic Intimacy we constantly hear from Christian women that are defending ‘Fifty Shades of Grey;’ they don’t see the problem with it,” she said. “Having read the book, not just the sexual content that’s included, but the fact that the F word is used over 100 times in each of three books, that there are spiritual themes that are very dark [in them]. When Christian women are engaging in them and not having the discernment that there’s something wrong [with them] there’s a huge negative effect.”

Source: Christian Post

 

Atheist Group May Sue Florida School Over Student’s ‘God Bless America’ Comment

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Atheist Group May Sue Florida School Over Student’s ‘God Bless America’ Comment

Christian Post report– A school district in Florida is considering a complaint sent by a Washington, D.C.-based atheist organization regarding a high school’s morning announcement including the phrase “God Bless America.”

The legal arm of the American Humanist Association recently sent a letter of complaint to Nassau County School District and Yulee High School on behalf of two students who took issue with the phrase “God bless America” being used on the school intercom.

Sharyl W. Wood, spokesperson for Nassau County School District, told The Christian Post that the school is reviewing the situation.

“The Superintendent of Schools is conducting a research process on this issue and will respond when prepared to do so,” said Wood.

Recently during the morning announcements at Yulee High a student over the intercom said: “God bless America.”

The reportedly improvised declaration prompted two students to contact the Appignani Humanist Legal Center, a division of the American Humanist Association.

On Monday, the legal center sent Nassau County Superintendent John L. Ruis and Yulee Principal Natasha Drake a letter of complaint.

Monica Miller of the legal center stated in the letter that “it is clear that the school district is in violation of the Establishment Clause.”

“As such, the school district and its officials may be sued under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for damages, an injunction, and attorneys’ fees,” wrote Miller.

“This letter serves as an official notice of the unconstitutional activity and demands that the school district terminate this and any similar illegal activity immediately.”

Miller also wrote that public schools are meant to be neutral on religious matters and having an official announcements with religious messages violates that neutrality.

In comments to local media and to CP, Wood of Nassau County explained that the student who said the “God bless America” comment was talked to for going off script for the announcements.

“If a student is reading the announcements over the PA system, the student should read the scripted announcements and not add any further comments,” said Wood.

“The student may then go out on the campus as an individual student and say ‘God bless America’ any time he wants.”

Sent to school officials Monday, the legal center gave Nassau County seven days to provide an official response. Failure to do so could lead to legal action against the school district.

Source: Christian Post

 

Yemen:Muslim Clashes Left 26 Dead

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Yemen:Muslim Clashes Left 26 Dead

Christian Today report– Tens of thousands of Yemenis demonstrated in several cities on Saturday against the rule of the Shi’ite Muslim Houthi movement as clashes between Houthis and Sunnis in a southern mountainous region left 26 dead.

It was the second day of nationwide demonstrations against the Iranian-backed Houthis in less than a week after their dissolution of parliament this month unraveled security and sent Western and Arab embassies packing.

Houthi gunmen fired on protesters in the central town of Ibb and wounded four, medics said.

Activists said they were enraged by the death on Saturday of Saleh al-Bashiri, who they say was detained by gunmen as they broke up an anti-Houthi protest in Sanaatwo weeks ago and was released to a hospital with signs of torture on his body on Thursday. There was no immediate comment from the Houthis.

Yemen’s upheaval has drawn international concern as it shares a long border with top world oil exporter Saudi Arabia. It is also fighting one of the most formidable branches of al Qaeda with the help of US drone strikes.

Heavy clashes between Houthi fighters and Sunni Muslim tribesmen fighting alongside al Qaeda militants in the rugged southern province of al-Bayda on Saturday killed 16 Houthi rebels along with 10 Sunni tribesmen and militants, security officials and tribal sources told Reuters.

Two weeks after the Houthis took formal control of the capital and continued an armed push southward, Yemen appears to be barely functioning as a state.

INTERNATIONAL PULLOUT

The United States, Western European countries, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey have closed their missions in Sanaa and withdrawn staff, citing security concerns.

Yemen’s rich Sunni Gulf Arab neighbors loathe the Houthi fighters and have called their rise to power a coup backed by Shi’ite Iran, Saudi Arabia’s main rival for power in the Gulf region.

Gulf foreign ministers on Saturday urged the United Nations Security Council to pass a “Chapter 7” resolution authorizing economic or military force to compel the Houthis to back down, Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV said.

The Houthis say they are trying to drive out corrupt officials and avert economic ruin. They have dissolved parliament and set up their own ruling body earlier this month.

The Houthis’ advance from the north towards well-armed tribal regions in the east and south has led locals to make common cause with Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, one of the deadliest arms of the global Sunni Muslim militant organization.

Source: Christian Today

 

Iraq:Priest Kidnapped by Islamists Returns to Home Country as Bishop

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Iraq:Priest Kidnapped by Islamists Returns to Home Country as Bishop

Catholic Herald report– An Iraqi priest who survived a traumatic kidnapping in his homeland is to return there as bishop.

Fr Basel Yaldo, a Chaldean Catholic priest who has spent the last nine years in Michigan, was installed as Auxiliary Bishop of Baghdad last Friday. The 44-year-old was one of two Chaldean priests from the Detroit area recently elevated by Pope Francis, along with 58-year-old auxiliary bishop Emanuel Shaleta, who will serve in Toronto.

Fr Basel was kidnapped by Islamists in 2006 and for three days was beaten, and continued to receive death threats until in 2007 he was transferred to Michigan, which has a large Chaldean population, where he has served at served at St George Chaldean Catholic Church in Shelby Township, north of Detroit.

Fr Basel told the Detroit Free Press that the kidnapping “brought me closer to God and strengthened my faith. It also pushed me to be more serious and be more involved. Virgin Mary was the one who helped me when I was kidnapped, and I’m sure she will help me in Iraq.”

Since the US-led invasion of 2003 between a half and two-thirds of Christians have fled the country, and last summer over 100,000 were forced out of the Nineveh Plains after the area was overrun by ISIS. Most are refugees in the Kurdish-controlled north of the country, while up to 4,000 Assyrian Christians have signed up to a new militia, the Nineveh Plains Protection Units, to take back their homeland.

Chaldean Catholics, who came back into Communion with Rome in the 16th century, are more likely to come from Iraq’s major cities, Baghdad and Mosul being home to large, thriving communities until the late 20th century.

Bishop Basel comes from Tel Keppe, formerly a Christian town of 40,000 people which was overrun by ISIS last August. Born in 1970, he entered seminary in 1994 and went to Rome two years later for his theological studies. He was ordained in 2002. He taught at a seminary in Dora, Baghdad, a heavily Christian area of the town that has seen some of the worst violence in the post-Saddam age.

Bishop Yaldo will serve under Patriarch Louis Raphael I Sako. His goal, according to the Detroit Free Press, will be to “give people hope and to keep their faith alive”.

Source: Catholic Herald

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