Over a dozen House Democrats have sided with their Republican colleagues to condemn President Joe Biden's border and immigration policies. Thirteen Democratic representatives on Wednesday voted in support of House Resolution 1112, "Denouncing the Biden administration's immigration policies." Another 210 Republicans also voted to pass the Resolution, with 191 Democrats voting against, and seven Republicans and eight Democrats not voting.
Seventy-six-year-old Jimmy Lai, a media tycoon known for role as a leader in pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, faces three charges of sedition and collusion in a pivotal national security trial in Hong Kong. The prominent Catholic activist and self-made billionaire has sacrificed a great deal his effort to preserve and strengthen Hong Kong's democratic spirit in its face off with China's Communist Party leaders. Now, a bill has been introduced in the U.S. House to rename a Washington, D.C. street adjacent to a Chinese government building as "Jimmy Lai Way" in his honor.
A bill (H.R. 6090) to make the Department of Education adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism "is unnecessarily raising concerns" about its effect on the gospel message, said Quena Gonzalez, senior director of government affairs at Family Research Council. The IHRA definition includes "contemporary examples," he told The Washington Stand, among which is "using ... claims of Jews killing Jesus ... to characterize Israel or Israelis."
Britain's top health authority is officially rejecting transgender ideology and declaring that biological sex is a reality, while "gender identity" isn't. The U.K.'s National Health Service (NHS) is revising its constitution to state, "We are defining sex as biological sex." The proposed constitutional revisions stress a need for "respecting the biological differences between men and women," further warning, "If these biological differences are not considered or respected, there is the potential for unintended adverse health consequences."
Tens of thousands of events took place nationwide to mark the 73rd annual National Day of Prayer (NDP), as Christians of every background folded their hands, closed their eyes, and raised their voices to Heaven in unison. Celebrations were capped off by a 90-minute-long official rally led by National Day of Prayer Task Force President Kathy Branzell and Pastor A.R. Bernard in Washington, D.C. The speakers focused their prayers and intercessions on this year's theme, "Lift Up the Word - Light Up the World," taken from II Samuel 22:29, which reads: "You are my lamp, O Lord; The Lord shall enlighten my darkness."
A Florida bill, the Heartbeat Protection Act (HPA), went into effect on Wednesday, which increases protections for the unborn after six-weeks, as opposed to the state's previous 15-week rule. The HPA initially became law in April 2023 as part of the Florida Supreme Court's decision that abortion is not a given right under the Constitution. That decision was key in upholding the 15-week law, and only a month later, proved relevant to the six-week law.
