The two leading political parties in Israel have agreed on a prospective date for a third election which will go ahead unless parliament can form a unity government by midnight Wednesday.

“Likud” party leader Benjamin Netanyahu and “Blue and White” frontman Benny Gantz announced the date on Monday. The two parties have been fighting head-to-head in a bid to try and form a majority in the 120-member Knesset (Israeli parliament). They have had no success thus far.

With Netanyahu currently facing bribery and fraud indictments, Gantz has requested that he not seek immunity from prosecution ahead of the election.

“You have already dragged us into elections twice because of immunity, and barricaded yourself in the bloc in order to achieve it,” Gantz said at Blue and White’s faction meeting, according to the Jerusalem Post. “Now you believe that additional elections will afford you the majority with which to achieve immunity. I call upon you to guarantee that you will not ask for immunity. The citizens of Israel deserve to know, before you drag them into another election, what your true intentions are.”

Netanyahu quickly refused the request, calling it “hollow spin” and “a transparent maneuver.” He has, however, attempted to extend a hand to Blue and White in order to achieve a functioning government.

“They refused every offer to form a wide unity government,” the…

A Christian doctor in the United Kingdom has been cleared of any wrongdoing following a three-month investigation into an allegation that his praying made a patient uncomfortable. 

The General Medical Council, which oversees and licenses doctors, cleared Richard Scott and said there was no evidence that Scott, 59, had done anything wrong. 

The National Secular Society (NSS) had lodged the complaint on behalf of a “highly vulnerable” patient who allegedly “felt discomfort at the use of prayer.”

Scott, who sometimes prays with patients, could have lost his license and job. The General Medical Council said in a letter there was “no first-hand account of complaint from any patient about Dr Scott’s practice.”

“The NSS sent an anonymous hearsay account about how Dr Scott expressed his religious beliefs to a ‘highly vulnerable’ patient,” the General Medical Council said. “There is no convincing evidence that Dr. Scott imposes his personal religious beliefs upon potentially vulnerable patients.”

Further, the General Medical Council said there “is no evidence that [Dr Scott] discusses faith in situations where the patient has stated that they do not wish to discuss these matters” or that “he has continued to discuss faith after a patient has indicated that they do not welcome such a discussion.”

Scott, who was supported by the Christian Legal Centre, said the NSS…

The Strength to Stand Student Bible Conference recently announced that Kanye West will be next month’s conference’s new headliner.

Christian Comedian John Crist was initially set to headline the January conference, but in November he was “removed due to moral failure,” Fox News reports.

As Christian Headlines previously reported, in November, Crist canceled the remainder of his “Immature Thoughts Tour” after news broke that a number of women were accusing him of sexual misconduct and manipulation.

The news was first brought to light after . Magazine began an investigation into the allegations.

Crist responded to the allegations through a statement also published by . Magazine. He said, “Over the past number of years, various women have accused me of behavior that has been hurtful to them. While I am not guilty of everything I’ve been accused of, I confess to being guilty of this—I have treated relationships with women far too casually, in some cases even recklessly. My behavior has been destructive and sinful. I’ve sinned against God, against women and the people who I love the most.”

He continued, “I have violated my own Christian beliefs, convictions and values, and have hurt many people in the process. I am sorry for the hurt and pain I have caused these women and will continue to seek their forgiveness. I have also hurt the name of Jesus and have…

More than 23,000 heard the Gospel and 1,396 made the decision to give their live to Christ during a two-day Franklin Graham Festival over the weekend in Cambodia, a nation that is 98 percent Buddhist.

“Did you know that you have a soul?” Graham asked the crowd. “One day you will die, but your soul continues to live. Your soul will live in the presence of God, or it will be separated from God. The decision you make tonight will decide where your soul will spend eternity.”

The “Love Phnom Penh Festival with Franklin Graham” was held Dec. 7-8 in the same country where Christianity was nearly eliminated during the Khmer Rouge – a genocide in the 1970s that sought to eliminate religion and develop a “master race”  under the leadership of Pol Pot. It was the focus of the film The Killing Fields. An estimated 2 million people died, and only about 200 Christians survived the atrocities, according to a press release. Missionaries fled during the genocide. 

Local Christian leaders say the Festival had a major impact. It was the largest Christian outreach ever in the country, with 23,700 attending, Christian Newswire reports. 

“The Holy Spirit has touched our city and entire land. We are thankful that people heard the Gospel that Jesus is the Truth, Way and Life,” said Sin Somnang, pastor of Fellowship Church of Pochentong and the…

NAIROBI, Kenya, December 9, 2019 (Morning Star News) – Suspected members of Somali Islamic extremist group Al Shabaab intercepted a bus in northern Kenya on Friday (Dec. 6), separated out those who were not local ethnic Somali Muslims and executed them, sources said.

The Medina Bus Co. vehicle en route from Nairobi to Mandera had 56 people aboard when it was intercepted at 5:30 p.m. between Kutulu and Wargadud in Wajir County, where the population is largely ethnic Somali Kenyans, sources said. A witness who escaped told a Morning Star News contact that the assailants separated out 11 Kenyan workers from the interior (assumed to be Christians) from local residents, assumed to be ethnic Somali Muslims.

“One of the Muslim men gave me Somali attire, and when the separation was being done I went to the side of the Muslims, and immediately we were told to get into the bus,” the survivor told the Morning Star News contact. “As the locals were getting back into the bus, the non-locals who were left behind were fired upon with gunshots.”
The bus was stopped as the workers were returning to their station in Mandera, he said.

“I think the attackers were monitoring our travelling all the way from Nairobi,” he said. “The militants knew that we were not armed.”

Two of the victims were teachers identified as evangelical Christians, but their names were withheld pending official…

When Tom Junod was assigned an interview with Mr. Rogers, never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that he would get the privilege to spend as much time with him as he did, let alone that he would be one of the main characters in the newly released film, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. The film depicts the life of Fred Rogers. 

Junod recently sat down for an interview with Christian Headlines to talk about the life of Fred Rogers and what the television icon taught him.  

When asked what it was like to see his life portrayed on the silver screen, Junod is quick to respond.   

“It was surreal to watch my life and relationship with Mister Rogers play out,” he answered. Junod is a critically acclaimed journalist who has covered some of the top stories in American history, so when he was assigned a story covering Mr. Rogers, at first, he was begrudged. Soon, however, Junod would become fascinated with the PBS actor.

In 1998, Junod was in New York covering another story when he reached out to Mr. Rogers for an interview. He was surprised when Rogers invited him to stop by his New York apartment for the meeting. 

“Meeting Mister Rogers was special,” Junod said, and he taught him many things. Four major life qualities, however, stood out the most.

Here are four life qualities to keep in mind, as taught by Mr. Rogers:

1. Parent Well

Junod, who is a husband…