WASHINGTON (RNS) — The recent U.S.-brokered agreement to normalize relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates has been lauded by some of President Donald Trump’s detractors as a breakthrough that could reconfigure relations in the Middle East and redeem three years of diplomatic efforts of his son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

But Monday morning (Aug. 17), Trump himself appeared to be concerned with acknowledging the influence of some of his greatest supporters: American evangelical Christians.

“It’s an incredible thing for Israel, (and) it’s incredible for the evangelicals, by the way,” Trump told “Fox and Friends.” “The evangelicals love Israel. Love Israel.”

Trump’s focus on the domestic implications of the Israel-United Arab Emirates deal signals the importance of religious conservatives to his general election strategy as the Democratic and Republican conventions convene over the next two weeks.

At a rally in Mankato, Minnesota, later on Monday, he again invoked religion, framing the ongoing coronavirus pandemic as a test from God.

“You know what that is?” Trump said, referring to the economic downturn caused by the pandemic. “That’s right. That’s God testing me. He said, ‘You know, you did it once.’ And I said, ‘Did I do a great job, God? I’m the only one that could do it.’ He said, ‘That, you shouldn’t say. Now we’re going to have…

Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts on Saturday signed into law a ban on “dismemberment abortion,” a second trimester procedure that involves tearing the unborn baby apart limb by limb until the womb is empty.

The bill, LB 814, passed the unicameral legislature by a bipartisan vote of 33-8, although seven senators – all Democrats – were present but did not vote.

The new law prohibits all dismemberment abortions except in the case of a medical emergency. Medical doctors call it a dilation and evacuation (D&E) abortion.

The doctor – and not the pregnant woman – would be charged with the crime under the text of the law.

A dismemberment abortion requires the dilation of the cervix and the removal of the unborn baby limb by limb – a hand, an arm, a foot, a leg, and so forth. It was described in excruciating detail in the movie Gosnell: The Trial of America’s Biggest Serial Killer.

State Sen. Suzanne Geist introduced the bill.

“Nebraska is a pro-life state, and this week the Legislature took an important step to strengthen our culture of life,” Ricketts said. “Senator Geist’s bill bans the horrific procedure of dismemberment abortion, which tears apart a living baby’s body limb by limb. This brutal procedure has no place in a humane, civilized society. I commend Sen. Geist, and the bill’s supporters in the Unicameral, for outlawing this barbaric practice…

Robert Trump, the younger brother to President Donald Trump, passed away over the weekend at 71 years old. The cause of death has yet to be released.

According to the Associated Press, Trump, who had previously been hospitalized for several days in June, died on Saturday in a New York hospital just one day after the President paid his ailing brother a visit.

“It is with [a] heavy heart I share that my wonderful brother, Robert, peacefully passed away tonight. He was not just my brother, he was my best friend,” President Trump said in a statement on Saturday regarding his brother’s passing.

“He will be greatly missed, but we will meet again. His memory will live on in my heart forever. Robert, I love you. Rest in peace,” the President concluded.

From President @realDonaldTrump on the passing of his brother and best friend, Robert – “We will meet again”: pic.twitter.com/1mBgx1td26

— Kayleigh McEnany (@PressSec) August 16, 2020

Evangelist and vocal supporter of President Trump, Franklin Graham, offered his condolences to the president on Twitter.

“My prayers are with President Donald Trump and the family as his brother, Robert, passed away today. The President shared that Robert was not only his brother, but his best friend. I know they would appreciate your prayers as well during this time,” Graham wrote.

My prayers are with @POTUS @realDonaldTrump and the family as his brother, Robert,…

Pastor Said Deeb of Life Center Church in Beirut said he had a feeling he needed to send staff home on the day a massive explosion rocked the city.

“I don’t know why, I was so rude, I told everyone, ‘Go home, go home, just close the Center’,” Pastor Deeb explained, according to CBN News. “But people said, ‘How come? We came a long way, we have commitments, we have meetings.’ I said I don’t know why but please go home and come back on Sunday and it was a Tuesday afternoon,” he said.

Deeb said he sent home 34 staff members and canceled children’s Bible classes.

“It was as if the Holy Spirit is saying, Go! Go! Go! Go! So I was saying everybody go home, turn off the computers, forcing them to leave, I was forcing them and they said, ‘We are cooking, cooking food for the refugees and for the poor,’ and I said, ‘Today cancel everything, put it in the fridge’.”

“They were thinking I lost my mind but they didn’t know and I didn’t know it was the Holy Spirit’s prompting.”

Then on Aug. 4, the roof of a warehouse near the Port of Beirut caught fire, sparking several blasts and then finally, an explosion.

Life Center Church in Beirut is only about a mile from the explosion’s epicenter. Church windows and doors were blown out in the explosion.

Nearly 200 people were killed in the city and thousands were injured, according to reports.

“The…

A pastor in Beirut, Lebanon says a headmaster at a Syrian school may be executed after the school official was arrested by an Islamist group.

According to The Christian Post, Radwan Muhammad teaches English in Afrin in northern Syria. The Kurdish Christian was accused of apostasy and is being held at the Failaq Al-Sham headquarters in Afrin. Failaq Al-Sham is an Islamist group associated with the Muslim Brotherhood.

“We are extremely worried about Radwan’s life and wellbeing,” Pastor Nihad Hassan, who leads a Kurdish church in Beirut, Lebanon, said. “[T]hey may execute him.”

Failaq Al-Sham had ordered Muhammad to give up his Afrin school so it could be converted to an Islamic educational building, but Muhammad refused.

“I will hand you the building in one case only: if Jesus Christ comes down to earth again,” Muhammad reportedly told them.

Muhammad was arrested on July 30.

“Those Islamist groups and their Turkish masters are walking in the footsteps of IS (Islamic State),” Hassan said. “In fact, many of their fighters are former IS and al Qaeda members.”

Christian Solidarity Worldwide Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas is asking for Muhammad’s release.

“We also urge the Turkish authorities to intervene by restraining the various Islamist militia groups functioning under its command, and to immediately bring to an end all forms of violence and human rights abuses in the areas…

Disney continues to make headlines over its inclusion of LGBTQ+ characters in movies and TV shows. Most recently Disney included its first bisexual lead character on the supernatural animated series, The Owl House.

According to Breitbart, The Owl House, which premiered on the Disney Channel in January, follows a 14-year-old Dominican-American girl named Luz Noceda who travels to another world and hopes to become a witch.

While Luz shows interest in male characters throughout the show, she recently started to develop a relationship with a recurring female character, Amity, Variety reports.

In a recent episode, Amity and Luz share a dance and Amity desires to ask Luz to Grom, the show’s version of the prom.

Dana Terrace, the show’s creator, revealed that Luz is bisexual in a series of tweets following the episode. She explained that her creation of the character is reflective of her own sexual orientation.

“In dev I was very open about my intention to put queer kids in the main cast. I’m a horrible liar so sneaking it in would’ve been hard haha.” Terrace wrote. “When we were greenlit I was told by certain Disney leadership that I could NOT represent any form of bi or gay relationship on the Channel.”

Despite initial denials from Disney leadership over Terrace’s proposal featuring a bi character, it eventually was approved.

“I’m bi! I want to write a bi character, dammit!…

Throughout the pandemic, churches across the nation have been defying government restrictions on houses of worship as many believe religious freedom is being suppressed.

According to the Associated Press, on Thursday, three churches from Minnesota filed a lawsuit against Minnesota governor Tim Walz for his executive orders requiring people to wear masks and adhere to social distancing guidelines while attending religious gatherings.

The churches are being represented by the conservative law firm, Thomas More Society.

“Gov. Walz, a former teacher, gets an F in religious liberties,” said Erick Kaardal, special counsel for the Thomas More Society. “Other states, including Texas, Illinois and Ohio, have excluded churches from COVID-19 mask mandates.”

 “Unlike Walz,” he added, “those states have recognized that you cannot criminalize religious attendance at houses of worship for any reason. Governor Walz wants to prosecute Minnesotans for religious attendance. We are going to do our best not to see that happen.”

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison came to Walz’s defense, stating that the order was legally and constitutionally sound.

According to spokesperson Teddy Teschann, Gov. Walz stayed within his power in executing the order to ensure the public safety of the state’s citizens.

In early August, in Palmetto, Florida, Rev. Joel Tillis of Suncoast Baptist Church also took issue with…

Former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders acknowledged on Sunday he is more liberal than Joe Biden but nevertheless expressed belief that Biden could be the “most progressive president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt.”

Sanders, a self-described “Democratic Socialist” and the former frontrunner for the Democratic nomination, made the comments on NBC’s Meet the Press after being asked if he was disappointed the party platform barely mentioned Medicare For All – something Sanders champions.

“I am not the candidate, so my views are not the dominant views,” said Sanders, a senator from Vermont.

But Sanders pointed to “Unity Task Force” recommendations that were made in July by allies of Biden and Sanders. The document was posted on Biden’s official campaign website and lists areas of agreement. The document addresses climate change, the economy, criminal justice, education, immigration and health care.

“The people on those task forces worked very, very hard,” Sanders said. “And I’m not here to tell you, as a strong advocate for Medicare For All, that we got everything we wanted. We surely did not. But I think if people look at the outcome of those task forces, they’ll find the reality that if those task force proposals are implemented – you know what? – Joe Biden will become the most progressive president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt….