International
JUST IN: Prominent Televangelist and Founder of Christian Broadcasting Network, Pat Robertson is Dead
A prominent televangelist who founded the Christian Broadcasting Network, Pat Robertson, is reportedly dead at the age of 93 made the Christian right a powerful political force and unsuccessfully ran for president in 1988, died on Thursday.
According to a release by the network, “Pat Robertson, longtime TV host, religious broadcaster, educator, humanitarian, and one-time presidential candidate died at his home in Virginia Beach early Thursday morning. He was 93”.
Regent University in Virginia also released a statement saying it was mourning the loss of Robertson.
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of our beloved founder,” Regent University Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs William L. Hathaway said.
“Dr. Robertson was a globally-renowned leader, broadcaster, philanthropist, educator, author, accomplished businessman, and – most importantly – a faithful servant of God who dedicated his life to glorifying the Lord and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Born in 1930, Robertson founded the Christian Broadcasting Network in 1960 and was ordained as a Southern Baptist minister a year later. He used that TV perch to push his message of conservative Christian values to people at home, taking aim at gay rights, feminism, abortion and other social issues.
Robertson helped transform the conservative evangelical movement into a political force on the American right that helped elect Ronald Reagan. He then ran for the Republican nomination for president in 1988, coming in behind both George H.W. Bush and Bob Dole.
Afterwards, he founded the Christian Coalition of America, which promoted conservative Christian political candidates, and returned to his TV show “The 700 Club.”
Robertson made a series of inflammatory and controversial opinions and repeatedly said that acts of terrorism or weather disasters were a form of divine retribution for perceived immorality.
“We have killed over 40 million unborn babies in America,” Robertson said on his September 12, 2005, broadcast of “700 Club,” about two weeks after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans.
“I was reading, yesterday, a book that was very interesting about what God has to say in the Old Testament about those who shed innocent blood. And he [the author] used the term that those who do this, ‘the land will vomit you out.’ … But have we found we are unable somehow to defend ourselves against some of the attacks that are coming against us, either by terrorists or now by natural disasters? Could they be connected in some way?”
In more recent years, he became a supporter of former President Donald Trump, and in 2017 he linked the Las Vegas mass shooting to “disrespect” for Trump.
International
Man jailed for keeping dead mother in freezer to claim £78,000 in benefits
Passing sentence, Judge Lloyd-Clarke said Phillips repeatedly deceived medical professionals to hide the fact that his mother had died.
•Christopher Phillips
A 60-year-old man has been sentenced to two years and four months in prison after keeping his late mother’s body in a chest freezer for nearly three years while fraudulently collecting more than £78,000 in her pension and benefits.
Christopher Phillips was jailed by Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court after admitting to preventing the lawful and decent burial of his 89-year-old mother, Silvia Phillips, and pleading guilty to two counts of fraud.
The court heard that Phillips concealed his mother’s death after she died on March 8, 2023, by storing her body in a chest freezer in the living room of their home in Porthcawl, Wales.
Prosecutors said he failed to notify the Department for Work and Pensions and Bridgend County Borough Council of her death, allowing her pension and benefits to continue being paid into bank accounts he could access.
Passing sentence, Judge Lloyd-Clarke said Phillips repeatedly deceived medical professionals to hide the fact that his mother had died.
“You continued to collect her prescriptions and misled medical professionals about her whereabouts, lying when enquiries were made about your mother, repeatedly telling medical staff that she did not wish to attend appointments or undergo tests,” the judge said.
(Source: Tribune)
International
Russia Issues International Wanted on Telegram Founder Durov
Russian-born Durov — a serial tech founder who has lived outside Russia for years and holds French and United Arab Emirates passports — has frequently clashed with the Russian authorities as Moscow has tightened its grip on the internet.
•Telegram founder Pavel Durov
Russia announced on Wednesday that it was seeking the arrest of Telegram founder Pavel Durov over accusations of “complicity in terrorism”, alleging he had let the platform be used for recruitment by Ukraine’s security services.
Russian-born Durov — a serial tech founder who has lived outside Russia for years and holds French and United Arab Emirates passports — has frequently clashed with the Russian authorities as Moscow has tightened its grip on the internet.
His Telegram messenger is one of the country’s main communications platforms and officials have repeatedly tried to block access or thwart its success in a bid to pressure Durov to hand over user data or push Russians to use an unencrypted state-backed alternative.
The FSB security service said it had launched international search proceedings for Durov, who is also Telegram’s CEO.
“An international wanted notice has been issued… for the head of the Telegram administration, P. Durov,” it said in a statement.
International
Just In: People trapped in Japanese mall hit by earthquake, with others missing after factory chimney collapse
Reports in Japan say 20 to 30 shopping centre staff may be missing – but the figure has not been confirmed.
Image credit : BBC
Many people are trapped inside a Japanese shopping centre after an earthquake, the fire service says.
One witness reported the second floor of the mall in Kumamoto collapsing – BBC Verify has looked at some of the images from the site.
Reports in Japan say 20 to 30 shopping centre staff may be missing – but the figure has not been confirmed
Elsewhere in the Kumamoto prefecture, people are reported missing at a paper factory after a chimney collapsed
A magnitude 7.1 earthquake hit inland on Kyushu island at 16:27 local time (07:27 GMT), causing power cuts, damaged roads, a collapsed castle wall, and a destroyed footbridge.
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