By Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent

JOS, NIGERIA (Worthy News) – Details have emerged about a massacre of at least 32 people, including women, children, and a three-month-old baby, in what Christians called “a brutal attack” on the mainly Christian village of Jebu, in Nigeria’s northern Plateau State.

Local sources say the village was surrounded and ambushed Monday, July 14, “without warning” by Fulani militias, a group linked to a primarily Muslim nomadic ethnic group.

The attack began around 3:00 a.m. local time as gunmen opened fire on sleeping residents and set dozens of homes ablaze, witnesses recalled. “We woke up to the sound of gunshots. The entire village was encircled. No one could escape,” said Ezekiel Dung, a local farmer who narrowly fled with his family.

Eyewitnesses reported that children and infants were among those “brutally murdered,” including a baby just three months old.

Local church leader Pastor Musa D. Alamba lost his home, church, and vehicle during the onslaught. “Words cannot describe the tragedy that struck our community,” he said. “We are devastated.”

Eyewitnesses alleged that Nigerian army personnel were present nearby during the attack, but failed to intervene.”

Some villagers claim that the military blocked even the youth who tried to defend the village. The army did not immediately comment on Monday.

However, Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang visited the devastated village and condemned the massacre as a “coordinated attack on innocent civilians.”

He rejected “the long-standing narrative” that this is primarily a conflict between farmers and Fulani herdsmen desperately searching for land for their livestock.

The governor argued that the recent murders made clear that there “appears to be targeted violence,” including against Christians. The governor promised relief efforts, including psychosocial support and emergency housing for survivors.

The Jebu massacre is not an isolated incident, according to Christian investigators.

In recent months, Christian villages across Plateau State have been repeatedly attacked. Advocacy group

International Christian Concern and other human rights activists say over 150 people have been killed in similar violence this year alone.

The tactics remain consistent: nighttime raids, systematic killings, and the burning of homes and churches, well-informed Christians said.,

What began as land-use conflicts evolved into religiously motivated violence. Christian communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt and other areas are frequent targets, while the federal government faces criticism for failing to prosecute perpetrators.

With attacks escalating, Christian leaders called for prayer, international attention, and concrete support. “The church in Nigeria is bleeding,” added a local pastor. “We need more than comfort — we need justice.”

He and other Christians said it was crucial to pray “For comfort and healing for the families affected by the Jebu attack” as well as for “protection of Christian communities across Nigeria.”

They also urged prayers for “repentance and reconciliation, even among the attackers.” It was crucial to pray “For justice and bold political action by Nigerian authorities,” the Christians stressed.

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by Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Staff

(Worthy News) – A team of researchers operating in Antarctica has detected strange and unexplained radio signals emanating from beneath the continent’s vast ice sheets, challenging current scientific understanding.

The discovery, published in Physical Review Letters, occurred during an experiment using the Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna (ANITA) — a sophisticated array of instruments designed to study cosmic particles.

ANITA, launched by balloon 40 kilometers (29 miles) above the Antarctic ice, was intended to detect radio waves produced when high-energy neutrinos from space collide with the ice below. Antarctica was chosen for this mission due to its minimal radio interference, providing a pristine environment to capture signals from cosmic events across the universe.

But instead of picking up expected neutrino interactions, researchers found radio waves coming from deep below the ice at steep angles–signals that defy current models of particle physics. “The radio waves that we detected were at really steep angles, like 30 degrees below the surface of the ice,” explained Stephanie Wissel, associate professor of physics, astronomy, and astrophysics at Penn State. “The waves should have been absorbed by thousands of kilometers of rock. We still don’t actually have an explanation for these anomalies.”

Neutrinos, often described as “ghost particles,” are produced by high-energy cosmic sources and rarely interact with matter. Trillions pass through Earth–and even our bodies–every second without a trace. Detecting them offers rare insights into distant and extreme cosmic events. As Wissel put it: “If we detect them, it means they have traveled all this way without interacting with anything else. We could be detecting a neutrino coming from the edge of the observable universe.”

However, when the ANITA team compared their data with two other neutrino experiments, the results did not align, indicating that the signals were not neutrinos after all. The source remains a mystery. Some scientists speculate the waves could be linked to dark matter or unknown radio propagation effects near ice, but no theory has been confirmed.

“My guess is that some interesting radio propagation effect occurs near ice and also near the horizon that I don’t fully understand,” Wissel said. “But we certainly explored several of those, and we haven’t been able to find any of those yet either.”

The findings have raised new questions about what lies beneath Antarctica’s ice and how radio waves can travel in ways previously thought to be impossible. For now, the signals remain one of the many unsolved mysteries at the edge of our scientific knowledge.

The post Mysterious Radio Waves Detected Beneath Antarctic Ice Baffle Scientists appeared first on Worthy Christian News.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

ABUJA (Worthy News) – Nigeria’s government was under pressure Sunday to end massacres in the country’s central Benue state after at least 100 people, many believed to be Christians, were reportedly killed there over the weekend.

The Nigerian branch of advocacy group Amnesty International spoke late Saturday of a “horrifying killing of over 100 people by gunmen that invaded [the village of] Yelewata from late Friday into the early hours of Saturday” on June 14.

“Many people are still missing, aside [from] dozens injured and left without adequate medical care,” Amnesty International Nigeria added. “Many families were locked up and burnt inside their bedrooms. So many bodies were burnt beyond recognition,” the group said on the social media platform X.

It stressed that the massacre shows “the security measures [that the] government claims to be implementing in the state are not working.”

Amnesty International Nigeria said Saturday that “the Nigerian authorities must immediately end the almost daily bloodshed in Benue state and bring the actual perpetrators to justice.”

Most, perhaps all, victims were believed to be Christians, according to a Worthy News assessment.

At least about 97 percent of Benue’s population identifies as Christian, according to several sources.

MORE KILLINGS

Details of the latest massacre emerged just weeks after last month, at least 42 people were reportedly shot dead by suspected Islamic herdsmen in a series of weekend attacks across the Gwer West district in Benue state.

Benue is in Nigeria’s Middle Belt, a region where most of the Muslim North meets the predominantly Christian South.

Several media outlets said Saturday that region faces “competition over land use” with “conflicts” between herders seeking grazing land for their cattle, and farmers, “who need arable land for cultivation.”

Reuters news agency reported that these tensions are often worsened “by overlapping ethnic and religious divisions.”

However, Bishop Wilfred Anagbe of the Diocese of Makurdi in Benue state, told the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs on July 18, 2023, that the conflict is fueled by hatred towards the Christian faith.

He said he had to close 14 parishes since 2014 due to Islamic militants “masquerading” as herdsmen.

Farmers, who are mainly Christian, are also pushed out by followers of Islam seeking to establish a territory ruled by “Sharia” (Islamic) law, according to researchers.

‘ALARMING ESCALATION’

Amnesty International said it “has been documenting “the alarming escalation of attacks across Benue state, where gunmen have been on a killing spree with utter impunity.”

The group warned that the “attacks have been causing massive displacement and may affect food security as [the] majority of the victims are farmers”, many of them Christians.

Bishop Anagbe told U.S. legislators already in 2023 about the “killings, destruction of churches, schools, clinics, local markets and farms” and claimed this meets the United Nations criteria for genocide. “Since 2014, my fellow bishops in Benue and I have lost parishioners almost daily.”

He stated it was disheartening that neither the national government nor international stakeholders have shown any convincing signs of commitment to bring “this Islamist aggression” to an end.

Anagbe wondered why “Some persons in the West, especially, often question why we think the killings in Nigeria are faith-motivated or prompted by a jihad against Christians in the country.”

The answer, he added, is simple: “In 1989, a gathering of Muslims in Nigeria adopted what is today known as the ‘Abuja Islamic Declaration’. It is a declaration that has been adopted by the Islamic Council of Nigeria.”

The declaration outlines “a vision for the role of Islam in Nigerian society, and it calls for the establishment of an Islamic State in Nigeria.”

ISLAMIC PROMISE

The bishop acknowledged that at least “some Muslims” are killed.

However, he stressed that “The blatant killing and displacement of Christian communities in Nigeria is done in fulfillment of the long-time promise by fundamentalist Islamic groups in Nigeria bent on ‘dipping the Koran into the Atlantic Ocean’. [It is] a euphemism for conquering the Christian states of the Middle Belt and southern regions of Nigeria.”

Last month, Amnesty International said that, in the two years since Nigerian President Bola Tinubu assumed office, more than 10,000 people have been killed in attacks by gunmen, mostly in Benue. At least 6,896 people were killed in Benue over that period, followed by 2,630 murders in Plateau state and killings in other regions, according to Amnesty data.

The figures do not include the latest reported killings. At least 450,000 people in Benue have been documented as internally displaced.

In total, there were 3.7 million internally displaced people in Nigeria by the end of 2024, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), an international non-governmental organization.

Many, if not most, of those killed and displaced are Christians, according to several well-informed aid groups. Advocacy group Open Doors ranks Nigeria 7th on its annual World Watch List of 50 countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian.

With thousands killed annually, activists view Nigeria as the world’s most violent nation toward Christians, although not all figures are known from autocratically ruled countries such as North Korea.

The post 100 Massacred In Nigeria’s Benue State, Amnesty Says (Worthy News In-Depth) appeared first on Worthy Christian News.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

TEHRAN/JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – U.S. Evangelist Franklin Graham urged Christians on Saturday to “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem” after Iran fired a barrage of missiles towards Israel that killed several and injured scores of Israelis.

Tehran said its strikes were in response to Israel attacking its nuclear and military facilities and killing several key leaders and nuclear scientists.

However, Graham suggested that Iran wants to destroy the Jewish nation. “Iran has said that they want to wipe Israel off the face of the map. They would also like to destroy America. Iran is a sponsor of terror.”

Graham, the CEO of Christian charity Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, named after his legendary preaching father, visited Israel last week.

“The October 7 attack on Israel was perpetrated by Hamas, which is controlled by Iran,” he said, recalling the massacre in Israel of some 1,200 people and the abduction of 251 other Israelis on October 7, 2023.

“Israel has been attacked in the north by Hezbollah, which is controlled by Iran. And Iran has been using the Houthis to fire missiles almost every day toward Israel, and they are controlled by Iran. I was in Israel last week, and we had to take shelter several times as Houthi missiles were fired into the country,” Graham said. “Imagine if we had to live like that here in the United States.”

He said that “Israel has been forced into defending itself and needs our prayers.”

JERUSALEM PEACE

He added, “All of us who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and trust Him should ‘Pray for the peace of Jerusalem’ as described in the Bible verse Psalm 122:6.
“Pray that this can be resolved quickly.”

The latest Israel-Iran strikes come after Graham personally “dedicated the 20th ambulance to Magen David Adom”(MDA), Israel’s national emergency service.

The vehicle was described as an “armored ambulance—a bulletproof hospital on wheels.”

In a statement from Jerusalem, he explained that Samaritan’s Purse would give MDA 42 ambulances in total.

MDA has played a crucial role in finding injured survivors since Iran’s massive missile attacks began, Worthy News established.

Graham said he also met “several families whose loved ones were killed or taken hostage by Hamas,” designated as a terrorist organization by Israel and most of its allies.

While most of the 251 hostages held in Gaza have since returned, dead or alive, some 53 hostages are still in captivity, of whom Israel believes 30 are dead.

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by Emmitt Barry, with reporting from Washington D.C. Bureau Staff

(Worthy News) – Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel has reignited theological and political debate after warning that modern technology–particularly artificial intelligence and global data systems–could provide the infrastructure for what the Bible calls the Antichrist.

In a resurfaced October 2024 interview with Stanford’s Hoover Institution, Thiel suggested that Revelation’s Antichrist may not be a singular figure but a powerful system offering peace through totalitarian control. “The slogan of the Antichrist is ‘peace and safety,'” Thiel said, referencing 1 Thessalonians 5:3. “You have to imagine that it resonates very differently in a world where the alternative is Armageddon and the destruction of all things.”

In "Part II: Apocalypse Now?," @UncKnowledge host @P_M_Robinson and @PeterThiel reflect on ancient prophecies, particularly the concept of the #Antichrist as outlined in biblical and literary sources. Drawing from thinkers such as Cardinal Newman and fiction by Vladimir Solovyov… pic.twitter.com/fiuroCw3e2

— Hoover Institution (@HooverInst) December 6, 2024

According to Thiel, the Antichrist system will not appear overtly evil. Still, it will likely present itself as hyper-Christian or morally superior, only to ultimately oppose true faith through centralized power. “In some ways, the Antichrist copies Christ… and then maybe only ultimately, deeply anti-Christian,” he said.

Thiel, who helped co-found PayPal and later the controversial data analytics firm Palantir, connected biblical prophecy to modern geopolitical shifts and the weaponization of fear. Citing early 20th-century portrayals of the Antichrist by writers like Soloviev and Benson, Thiel noted the “plot hole” in how such a figure gains control. His answer: existential threats and advanced technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and nuclear weapons.

Palantir and the Machinery of Control

Thiel’s comments take on added weight considering Palantir’s central role in AI-driven surveillance. The company has grown into a government-embedded titan. From helping track terrorists in Iraq to developing predictive policing tools for U.S. cities, Palantir’s reach spans military, medical, and municipal sectors.

Its AI systems — Gotham and Foundry — are now used to detect threats, automate logistics, and analyze personal data on a massive scale. Civil rights groups say such tools disproportionately target minorities, strip privacy protections, and create a permanent “dragnet society.”

AI, the State, and a Prophetic Crisis

Critics argue that Thiel’s ventures contribute to laying the groundwork for the very global apparatus he warns about. Palantir’s Tiberius platform managed vaccine data during Operation Warp Speed, tracking populations and enabling real-time distribution analysis for COVID-19 injections. The company has since expanded into education, immigration, and welfare systems, triggering concerns about the creation of a pan-agency surveillance infrastructure.

The controversy intensified with President Donald Trump’s March executive order, mandating data sharing across federal agencies — an initiative for which Thiel was tapped to help implement. Some view the order as laying the foundation for a national surveillance state run through Palantir’s Foundry platform.

House Republicans embedded a controversial provision in the sweeping “One Big Beautiful Bill” that would block state and local governments from regulating artificial intelligence for a full decade. Supporters, including Speaker Mike Johnson, argue the measure is necessary to prevent a confusing “patchwork of 50 laws,” but critics say it dangerously undermines state sovereignty.

Representative Thomas Massie sounded the alarm on X, writing, “The Big Beautiful Bill contains a provision banning state & local governments from regulating AI. It’s worse than you think.”

The Big Beautiful Bill contains a provision banning state & local governments from regulating AI.

It’s worse than you think.

It would make it easier for corporations to get zoning variances, so massive AI data centers could be built in close proximity to residential areas. pic.twitter.com/w7pLJLq4nZ

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) June 5, 2025

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who voted for the bill, later admitted she hadn’t read the clause and said she would have opposed it if she had. “This is a poison pill,” Greene told Fox News. “We are no different than China if we tie our states’ hands for 10 years.” She also warned the lack of regulation could lead to massive job loss and economic disruption as AI technology accelerates.

The Third Way

When Thiel was asked about the quote, “The more probable the apocalypse becomes, the less we talk about it. Therefore, we have to awaken our sleeping consciences,” he didn’t take it lightly. “And I thought, this is not a game for Peter,” the interviewer noted. “You are taking this seriously.” Thiel responded, “What I hope to retrieve is a sense of the stakes, of the urgency of the question. The stakes are really, really high.”

He expressed concern that so few people today are even thinking about the Antichrist. “It seems very dangerous that we’re at a place where so few people are concerned about the Antichrist,” he said. “Yeah, it’s all the reasons we… all the reasons we’ve gone through.”

Thiel critiqued the binary framing often presented to the public—Antichrist or Armageddon. “That framing… we can envision a third way, right?” he said. “One world or none—that’s pretty hard to envision a third way. And so that’s where I think biblical language, it sounds crazier, but it’s actually more hopeful. ‘One world or none’—those are the two options.”

He continued, “We have a human self-government or human self-destruction. It’s a choice of two incredible evils.” But Thiel emphasized that it doesn’t have to be that way.

“I don’t think these things are predestined. I’m not a Calvinist,” he clarified. “I always believe there’s a space for human agency—for us to shape history. And the first step has to be not to bury our heads in the sand—or whatever the equivalent is.”

The post Peter Thiel Warns of “Antichrist System” Rising Through Global Tech and AI Surveillance appeared first on Worthy Christian News.

by Worthy News Jerusalem Bureau Staff

(Worthy News) – In a stunning archaeological breakthrough, Israeli researchers have unearthed a 1,700-year-old Roman marble sarcophagus in the ancient port city of Caesarea, depicting a rare and detailed mythological scene: a drinking contest between Dionysus, the Roman god of wine, and the legendary hero Hercules.

This marks the first time such a motif has been discovered on a burial coffin in Israel, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), and provides a vivid glimpse into Roman beliefs about death and the divine.

The sarcophagus was discovered during excavations led by the IAA in partnership with the Caesarea Development Corporation. Initially concealed beneath dunes outside the known city walls, the sarcophagus was gradually revealed, with archaeologists uncovering finely carved figures of gods, animals, and trees. The climactic moment came when a fully intact side of the marble coffin was unearthed, portraying Hercules sprawled on a lion skin, wine cup in hand, visibly overcome in the contest.

“It was like a scene out of a movie,” said archaeologists Nohar Shahar and Shani Amit. “Every fragment we uncovered added a new layer of beauty and meaning.”

The sarcophagus was later restored by a skilled team of conservators, including Solomon Gavriel, Ilya Armanovsky, Gadmo Vajpo, and architect Ido Rosental. Once cleaned and assembled, the coffin revealed Dionysus at the center of a lively procession, accompanied by Maenads (his female followers), satyrs, Hermes, Pan, and wild beasts such as lions and tigers — all of which accompanied the deceased into the afterlife with dancing and celebration.

A God of Wine, Madness, and Mystery

Dionysus (known to the Greeks as Bacchus) was not only the god of wine and pleasure, but also of ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and rebirth. Widely worshiped throughout the Greco-Roman world, Dionysus was a symbol of both joyous liberation and chaotic excess. In Roman funerary art, his imagery often served to express freedom from earthly constraints and the soul’s passage into another realm.

“While Dionysian processions are commonly found in mosaics from the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE, such as those in Zippori and Antioch, this specific scene of a wine-drinking contest with Hercules has never been found carved on a sarcophagus in this region,” explained Shahar. “The symbolism is clear: death is not the end — it is a transition, even a celebration.”

Echoes in Modern Culture: Dionysus at the 2024 Olympic Games

The imagery of Dionysus continues to provoke cultural conversation even in modern times. During the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, a controversial reinterpretation of Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper was presented, in which Dionysus replaced Jesus at the center of the table. Flanked by classical gods and symbols of pleasure, the performance drew sharp criticism from Christian communities around the world, who viewed the spectacle as blasphemous. Organizers defended it as a celebration of ancient mythology and artistic freedom, highlighting Dionysus’s role as a figure of inclusion and transformation.

The juxtaposition of Dionysus with themes of death, rebirth, and modern reinterpretation echoes the very symbolism captured on the Caesarea sarcophagus. The ancient Romans saw such mythological imagery not as fantasy, but as theology — a deeply held belief in the soul’s journey through wine, revelry, and divine encounter.

Rediscovering Caesarea’s Forgotten Edges

The sarcophagus was found in an area outside the traditionally excavated city limits of Caesarea, prompting archaeologists to rethink the city’s true extent. “The space leading into the city appears to have been much wider and richer in archaeological material than we previously understood,” said Shahar. Caesarea, founded by Herod the Great between 22 and 10 BCE, was once a bustling Roman harbor and administrative center. It later became a major Byzantine city before declining under early Islamic rule.

Eli Escusido, Director of the IAA, emphasized the discovery’s cultural and spiritual depth. “This remarkable find invites us into the Roman worldview, where myth, art, and belief shaped even the most solemn aspects of life — including death.”

Public Unveiling

The restored sarcophagus will be presented publicly on June 12, 2025, at the Eretz Israel Museum in Tel Aviv during “The Feast” academic conference. Co-hosted by the IAA, Tel Aviv University, and Bar-Ilan University, the event will explore themes of food, festivity, and funerary rituals in ancient cultures, making this discovery a fitting centerpiece.

“This is more than an artifact,” Escusido said. “It’s a conversation across centuries — between the living, the dead, and the gods they hoped to meet.”

The post 1,700-Year-Old Roman Sarcophagus Unearthed in Caesarea Reveals Mythical Drinking Contest Between Dionysus and Hercules appeared first on Worthy Christian News.

by Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Staff

Pirate’s Cove, CA (Worthy News) – In a historic display of unity and spiritual awakening, more than 26,000 people were baptized across the United States on Pentecost Sunday, marking what organizers say is the largest synchronized baptism event in American history.

The movement, known as Baptize America, brought together over 650 churches from all 50 states in a coordinated effort to declare their faith in Jesus through water baptism publicly. The initiative represents a significant expansion of Baptize California, which began in 2022 with 4,000 baptisms and grew to over 6,000 last year.

“The prayer of Jesus in John was that we would become one,” said Pastor Mark Francey, one of the event’s organizers. “And I think that’s what we’re seeing right now — a unity around what we all agree on, which is water baptism.”

The national campaign traces its roots to a vision birthed during the COVID-19 pandemic, when church gatherings were restricted and many believers felt isolated. Francey and a group of West Coast pastors began dreaming of a statewide baptism movement that would help reignite spiritual hunger. That vision became Baptize California — a decentralized model that empowered local churches to host baptisms simultaneously across the state.

Inspired by the momentum and growing demand from leaders in other regions, the movement expanded into Baptize America in 2024. Its mission: to see mass water baptisms in every state, uniting believers around the simple act of obedience that transcends denominational lines.

The heart of this year’s event took place at Pirate’s Cove, a beach etched into American church history. Once the site of mass baptisms during the 1970s Jesus Movement led by Pastor Chuck Smith — an era portrayed in the film Jesus Revolution — the beach again became a sacred stage for revival.

For many participants, the moment was deeply personal.

“It felt like God was there — just amazing,” said Kaili Newby, who was among the thousands baptized.

Gabriel, another participant, described how his decision surprised his mother and marked a dramatic turn in his life.

“If it wasn’t for her prayers, and if it wasn’t for God’s grace, I would either be dead or in jail because of the activities I was involved with in the Middle East,” he said.

Jorge Gonzalez, baptized alongside his brother, called the experience transformative: “God was pulling all my heartstrings. I had to come out here and finally accept Jesus as my Savior. And today was the perfect opportunity.”

Volunteers like Alissa Circle said they were moved by witnessing so many lives changed in a single day. “I really think the coolest part about being out there is just experiencing people experiencing Jesus,” she said.

Francey sees this not as a conclusion, but a beginning. “It’s just getting started,” he said. “Our belief is that what happens at this beach will go to the ends of the earth.”

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by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief

(Worthy News) – In a major breakthrough for wearable technology and neurointerface development, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have created an almost invisible brain sensor small enough to fit between human hair follicles and just beneath the skin. While hailed as a marvel of biomedical engineering, the technology has also sparked alarm among Bible prophecy watchers who see it as yet another sign that the infrastructure for the “mark of the beast” is rapidly falling into place.

The revolutionary device promises to transform the future of brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), enabling continuous and reliable neural signal capture during daily life — without the need for bulky helmets or invasive implants.

The microneedle-based sensor, developed under the leadership of Professor Hong Yeo, integrates advanced conductive polymer materials and flexible wiring into a package smaller than one millimeter. Unlike traditional BCIs that rely on scalp electrodes with conductive gel or surgical brain implants, the Georgia Tech design offers a painless, wireless, and discreet alternative — all while delivering high-fidelity data transmission.

“We discovered that by miniaturizing the sensor to fit between follicles and slightly penetrate the skin, we could dramatically improve signal quality and reduce ambient noise,” explained Yeo, who also serves as a faculty member in Georgia Tech’s Institute for People and Technology.

During recent trials, six participants wore the sensor throughout the day while using it to operate an augmented reality (AR) interface. The device accurately detected visual focus and brain activity for up to 12 hours, enabling users to initiate hands-free video calls and interact with digital content while walking, running, or standing. The study achieved a neural signal classification accuracy of 96.4% — a major advancement for mobile BCI applications.

While many hail the breakthrough as a step forward in human-technology integration, some prophecy watchers are raising serious concerns. They point to Revelation 13, which warns that in the last days no one will be able to buy or sell unless they have the “mark of the beast” — a form of identification tied to allegiance and economic access. The development of subdermal and wearable technologies, especially those that interface directly with the brain or body, is seen by some as a potential stepping stone toward the fulfillment of this prophecy. As these devices become more integrated with daily life and commerce, critics warn that such systems could eventually be used to control the population.

“The moment we start embedding tech under the skin to interface with commerce, communication, and control systems, the prophetic parallels become hard to ignore,” said one prominent Bible prophecy researcher. “This isn’t about the tech itself being evil, but about how such tools could eventually be used to mandate conformity and eliminate personal freedom — precisely what Revelation warns about.”

While this device is not the mark of the beast, the reality is that the technology to develop such systems is already here — a sobering reminder that the prophetic warnings in the Bible are no longer distant speculation, but unfolding possibilities. For those who study end-times prophecy, the rise of implantable and wearable tech should serve as a wake-up call to the rapid acceleration of events foretold in Scripture. What once seemed symbolic or futuristic is now taking physical shape in our generation.

Professor Yeo acknowledged the broader implications of the work but emphasized that the technology is currently focused on medical and rehabilitative applications. “I believe in innovation that helps people,” Yeo said. “We’re building a tool that can restore function and improve lives.”

The Georgia Tech team plans to continue refining the device, eyeing future use in prosthetics, neurological rehabilitation, and next-generation computing. Still, the development is fueling debate over the ethical and spiritual dimensions of merging machines with the human body.

The full study and technical details were published in TechXplore on April 12, 2025.

The post The Mark of the Beast? The Tech Is Already Here appeared first on Worthy Christian News.

by Worthy News Europe Bureau Staff

(Worthy News) – In a case that has reignited debate over freedom of speech and religion in the United Kingdom, a British court fined Turkish-born filmmaker Hamit Coskun for burning a copy of the Quran outside the Turkish Consulate in London earlier this year–an act prosecutors labeled a “religiously aggravated public order offense.”

Coskun, a 50-year-old Kurdish-Armenian documentarian who was once imprisoned by Syria’s Assad regime while filming a documentary, was ordered to pay a £240 fine and a £96 surcharge. The court found that his actions–burning the Quran while shouting phrases such as “Islam is religion of terrorism”–were motivated by hostility toward Muslims and caused likely harassment or distress to those who witnessed it.

Critics, including civil liberties groups and commentators, say the ruling effectively reinstates a blasphemy law in the UK–one that appears selectively enforced. “England now has a blasphemy law,” wrote Spectator columnist David Shipley, arguing that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and District Judge John McGarva conflated criticism of a religion with an attack on its followers, thereby treating Islam as a protected legal entity.

Coskun’s defense cited his complex background and political history, including persecution in the Middle East. But the court emphasized the offensive nature of his language and actions. The incident was followed by an assault on Coskun by a bystander, Moussa Kadri, who has since pleaded guilty.

The prosecution originally charged Coskun under the Crime and Disorder Act with the intention of causing distress to “the religious institution of Islam,” a phrase legal experts said dangerously personifies a belief system in a way incompatible with British law. “Under English law this is nonsensical,” said Shipley, noting that only persons–not ideologies–can be legally harassed.

The verdict mirrors a previous case involving a mentally unstable man who desecrated a Quran during a memorial for victims of the 2017 Manchester terror attack. In that instance, the judge also condemned the act as unacceptable, stating: “This is a tolerant country, but we just do not tolerate this behavior.”

Free speech advocates warn that the UK’s existing public order framework–particularly provisions of the 1986 Public Order Act and the 1998 Crime and Disorder Act–have become vehicles for quasi-blasphemy enforcement. “While the facts of the case are complex,” Humanists UK said in a statement, “we believe the judgment means that the bar to successful prosecutions in cases like this is drawn too low.”

Originally designed to protect public safety, these laws have evolved to criminalize behavior deemed likely to provoke disorder–particularly when it comes to Islam. The 1998 Act’s expansion to cover “religiously aggravated” offenses in 2001 further opened the door, critics argue, to selective prosecution based on the potential volatility of a group’s response rather than the legality of the act itself.

Observers say the issue isn’t just about Islam, but about the UK’s lack of a codified free speech guarantee. With no constitutional protection equivalent to the U.S. First Amendment, British courts operate in a legal gray zone–one critics say is increasingly being shaped by fears of public backlash and selective outrage.

As one Humanists UK spokesperson put it: “We unequivocally condemn religious hatred, but selectively prosecuting offensive speech in this manner is a dangerous precedent. It’s not a blasphemy law–it’s potentially something worse.”

The post Free Speech or Blasphemy? UK Man Fined for Quran Burning as Critics Warn of Legal Overreach appeared first on Worthy Christian News.

By Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief

BERLIN/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Eighty years after the end of the Holocaust, Germany is once again confronted with a “historic spike” in antisemitic incidents, according to government watchdog figures.

Last year, 8,627 antisemitic cases–the highest annual figure ever documented–marked an 80 percent increase over the 2023 total, said Germany’s Federal Association of Departments for Research and Information on Antisemitism (RIAS).

RIAS, which tracked such incidents nationally since 2018 and in Berlin since 2015, said the 2024 tally amounts to roughly 24 incidents per day, or one every hour.

Of the 2024 incidents, eight were classified as involving “extreme violence,” including two Islamist terrorist attacks.

One occurred in August in Solingen, where a supporter of the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS, killed three people and injured eight others in “revenge” for Palestinians and referencing the Israel-Hamas war.

In September, on the anniversary of the 1972 Munich Olympics attack, a suspected Islamist targeted the Israeli Consulate and the Munich Documentation Centre for the History of Nazism. Two people sustained minor injuries, and police fatally shot the attacker.

It came as a shock for relatives and others remembering the 1972 Munich Olympics attack in which militants infiltrated the Olympics Village, killed two members of the Israeli Olympic team, and took nine other Israeli team members hostage. The militants later killed the other nine remaining hostages during a failed rescue attempt.

Fast forward, RIAS noted 186 antisemitic assaults in 2024 that did not involve “extreme violence,” compared to 127 in 2023 and 58 in 2022.

Yet investigators said that across Western Europe and beyond, antisemitic incidents surged following the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were kidnapped.

IIn response, Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza later that month saying it wants to destroy Hamas and secure the release of the hostages.

The report highlighted a surge in rhetoric that downplays the Holocaust, also known as the Shoah in which some 6 million Jews died as well as others the German Nazis and their allies didn’t like.

RIAS warned that pro-Palestine activists have equated Nazi desthcamp Auschwitz in Poland, where some 1 million Jews were murdered, with Gaza.

They also adopt Hamas symbols, and glorify terrorism as resistance. In this distorted narrative, RIAS noted, “the Jews” are frequently portrayed as “the new Nazis.” The organization also reported a rise in far-right agitation against Jews.

Gady Gronich, the Munich-based CEO of the Conference of European Rabbis, told Jewish Mews Syndicate (JNS) Wednesday that the report “is not surprising but wholly expected based on the reality we see on the street.”

Jews in Berlin, where 28 percent of all the 2024 incidents were documented, generally avoid wearing kippahs unless they’re concealed under a hat or cap. Star of David pendants are often tucked under clothing, and “many parents” express concerns about sending their children to Jewish schools, Gronich told JNS.

“The situation in Germany was uncomfortable before October 7, but it was still possible to lead an open Jewish life with minimal friction,” Gronich added. “Unfortunately, that is no longer the case for a large number of Jews in Germany.”

In 2020, a demographic study estimated that Germany was home to approximately 118,000 people who identified as Jews.

“Antisemitism has spread beyond immigrant communities and the far-right, reaching other radicalized Germans, particularly young people from the far-left, through social media,” Gronich said.

He said however that authorities provide to his Conference of European Rabbis but added there was a lack of “Jewish and pro-Israel voices in Germany.

The country has seen an influx of millions of migrants including from Muslim countries where Israel is frowned upon.

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By Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief

KYIV/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Ukraine was under an ongoing Russian ballistic missile and drone attack early Friday, shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened retaliation for Ukrainian attacks on air bases deep inside Russia.

Multiple explosions were heard in Kyiv, the capital, with ongoing strikes wounding at least three people, officials and witnesses said.

Falling debris sparked fires across several districts as air defense systems attempted to intercept incoming targets, said Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv City. Timestamped video footage seen by Worthy News confirmed that assessment.

Three people were wounded, local officials said. They urged residents to seek shelter, including in an underground metro railway station.

Worthy News observed that many, including men, women, and children, were anxiously awaiting the end of the massive strike on their city of 3 million people.

Not everyone found a hiding place in time, including in Kyiv’s Solomyanskyi district, a transport hub for train and air traffic, where a fire broke out on the 11th floor of a 16-story residential building.

EVACUATIONS UNDERWAY

Emergency services evacuated three people from the apartment, and rescue operations were ongoing. Officials said another fire broke out in a metal warehouse.

Elsewhere in the northern Chernihiv region, an Iran-made Shahed drone exploded near an apartment building, shattering windows and doors, according to regional military administration chief Dmytro Bryzhynskyi.

He added that explosions from ballistic missiles were also recorded on the outskirts of the city.

It came hours after U.S. President Donald J. Trump said Ukraine and Russia may need to keep fighting for a while.

He compared the two warring neighboring nations to squabbling children in an armed conflict he once promised to end in a day.

Since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, more than a million people are believed to have been killed or injured on both sides.

The post Ukraine Under Massive Russian Attack appeared first on Worthy Christian News.

By Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief

KYIV/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Residents were reeling Wednesday from the collapse of two bridges in Russian regions bordering Ukraine that killed seven people after authorities said they were “caused by explosions” in “acts of terrorism.”

In Russia’s Bryansk region bordering Ukraine, a blast caused a road bridge to collapse onto a railway line late Saturday, derailing a passenger train heading to Moscow and killing seven people, authorities said.

A separate rail bridge in the neighboring Kursk region was blown up hours later in the early hours of Sunday, derailing a freight train and reportedly injuring the driver.

Authorities did not say who was behind the explosions, but investigators said a criminal inquiry was underway.

However, Ukraine has been blamed for several attacks on Russia, including attacks on numerous military air bases across the country over the weekend that destroyed billions of dollars in military planes and facilities.

The Kremlin said that Russian President Vladimir Putin was briefed on the incidents throughout the night on the latest attacks against bridges. He has pledged to retaliate for these and other suspected Ukrainian attacks.

Videos posted on social media from the Bryansk region showed rescuers clambering over the mangled chassis of a train belonging to national operator Russian Railways. At the same time, screams could be heard in another video.

SEVEN DEAD

“There are seven dead as a result of the collapse of a bridge onto railway tracks,” Alexander Bogomaz, the Bryansk region’s governor, wrote on the social media platform Telegram.

Additionally, at least 71 people were injured, 44 of whom were in hospital, he told reporters.

In the incident in the Kursk region, a rail bridge collapsed onto a road, derailing a freight train.

“Last night… in the Zheleznogorsk district, a bridge collapsed while a freight locomotive was passing. Part of the train fell onto the road below the bridge,” Kursk region governor Alexander Khinshtein said on Telegram.

“One of the locomotive drivers suffered leg injuries, and the entire crew was taken to hospital,” he said.

A spokeswoman for Russia’s Investigative Committee said the incidents had been “classified as acts of terrorism” without elaborating.

But senior ruling party lawmaker Andrey Klishas blamed Ukraine, describing it as a “terrorist enclave.”

STRATEGIC TARGETS

Ukraine, which Russia has blamed for previous incidents, did not immediately comment.

Kyiv says Russia uses railroads to transport troops and weaponry to its forces fighting in Ukraine, which it invaded in February 2022.

As fighting continues, relatives waiting for loved ones arrive from the Bryansk region at a station in central Moscow. “Russian Railways said that those who had survived would be coming here,” said 30-year-old entrepreneur Sergey Trinkinets.

“My dad finally got in touch. He said he had some bruises and wasn’t feeling very well, so I came to meet him,” he told reporters.

In one video posted on social media, purportedly taken at the scene of the incident in the Bryansk region, someone could be heard screaming as eyewitnesses rushed to find help.

“How did the bridge collapse? There are children there!” a woman shouted in the video.

Moscow’s three-year assault on Ukraine is believed to have killed and injured more than a million people. Russia currently occupies around a fifth of its neighbor, far less than Moscow expected in more than three years of fighting.

The post Numerous Killed As Bridges Collapse In Russia appeared first on Worthy Christian News.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

ABUJA (Worthy News) – Dozens of Christians have been killed in Nigeria in recent days, several sources said after Worthy News already reported the killing of more than 100 Christians by Islamists since May 24 in the troubled African nation.

Fulani herdsmen killed at least nine Christians this week in Nigeria’s northern Plateau state, following “the slaughter” of 27 others days before, Christians said.

The attacks took place in Bokkos County in the predominantly Christian communities of Hokk, Pangkap, Fokoldep, Kopmur, Margif, Horop, Mbor, Mushere, and Kwahas, news outlets Christian Daily International and Morning Star News quoted residents as saying.

Resident Emmanuel Auta reportedly said nine Christians were killed in the Mushere area of Bokkos County on Sunday and Monday, June 1-2. “Bokkos has never been this insecure, with Christians being butchered like what we are currently witnessing,” Auta said in published remarks.

“Two Christians were killed on Sunday, June 1, and an additional seven Christians were killed on Monday, June 2, all in the Mushere area of Bokkos Local Government Area.”

Another resident, Lilian Madaki, said the herdsmen had been attacking Bokkos County villages days before. “For six days, Fulanis have continued to attack our communities, which are predominantly Christian villages,” Madaki added in a reported text message.

“Among some of the Christian victims that I know is a 14-year-old Christian teenager who was shot and wounded and is currently being treated at a hospital.”

MORE ATTACKS

Resident Dorcas Ishaya added that herdsmen on May 27 attacked Mbor, Margif, and Mijing, “all Christian villages, and set fire to houses and killed many Christians. The attacks occurred at about 11 p.m.”

Late Monday night, June 2, the herdsmen “invaded the predominantly Christian villages of Hokk, Pangkap, and Fokoldep and were still shooting when area resident Yakubu Kefas sent an alert to Christian Daily International-Morning Star News on Tuesday, June 3.”

Christians are “currently under intense and sustained gunfire from Fulani terrorist elements in Hokk, Pangkap, and Fokoldep Christian communities in Bokkos Local Government Area,” Kefas explained.

The attacks began at about 11 p.m. local time the night before, he said. “The attackers, who we believe are Fulani terrorists, are carrying out indiscriminate shootings, killings, and large-scale arson, resulting in widespread terror, Christian casualties, and destruction of property,” Kefas recalled.

Residents also reported the May 27 kidnapping and killing of the Reverend Mimang Lekyil, the 70-year-old pastor of the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN) congregation in the Kwahas area of Mushere.

Masara Kim, a Christian journalist from the area, said 11 other area Christians were killed on May 25. “The full name of the slain cleric is Reverend Mimang Lekyil; he was a pastor in charge of COCIN Kwahas, Kawel in Mushere,” Kim told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “It was a case of kidnap. The pastor’s wife broke her leg during the incident; 11 other Christians were also killed in Bokkos on Sunday, May 25.”

Herdsmen killed eight Christians in Kopmur village and another seven in Mbor community, said area resident Nanlop Joy. “These are all Christian villages,” Joy added.

POLICE DEPLOYED

Police have been deployed to the communities alongside military personnel, officials said. “Those responsible for this would be made to face justice as the Plateau State Police Command would not leave any stone unturned in the bid to ensure that the perpetrators face the law,” pledged command spokesman Emmanuel Adesina.

Numbering in the millions across Nigeria and the Sahel, predominantly Muslim Fulani comprise hundreds of clans of many different lineages who do not hold extremist views, experts say.

However, some Fulani do adhere to radical Islamist ideology, Britain’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom or Belief (APPG) noted in a 2020 report.

“They adopt a comparable strategy to Boko Haram and ISWAP and demonstrate a clear intent to target Christians and potent symbols of Christian identity,” the APPG report states.

Christian leaders in Nigeria have said they believe herdsmen attacks on Christian communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt area are inspired by their desire to forcefully take over Christians’ lands and impose Islam as desertification has made it difficult for them to sustain their herds.

Nigeria remained among the most dangerous places on earth for Christians, according to the advocacy group Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List (WWL) of the 50 countries where it says it is most difficult to be a Christian.

Of the 4,476 Christians killed for their faith worldwide during the reporting period, 3,100, 69 percent were in Nigeria, according to the WWL.

WWL METHODOLOGY

“The measure of anti-Christian violence in the country is already at the maximum possible under World Watch List methodology,” the report stated, adding that Nigeria ranks 7th on the annual WWL.

In the country’s North-Central zone, where Christians are more common than they are in the North-East and North-West, Islamic extremist Fulani militia attacks farming communities, killing many hundreds, Christians above all, according to investigators.

Islamic groups designated as terrorist organizations by authorities, such as Boko Haram and the splinter group Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP), among others, are also active in the country’s northern states.

Nigeria’s government has come under pressure to increase security as Christians reportedly face raids, sexual violence, and roadblock killings, while kidnappings for ransom have also risen in recent years.

The violence has spread to southern states, and a new jihadist terror group, Lakurawa, has emerged in the northwest, “armed with advanced weaponry and a radical Islamist agenda,” according to WWL investigators.

Lakurawa is linked to the Al-Qaida-affiliated Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin, or JNIM, originating in Mali.

This week’s reported killings came after more than 100 Christians, including children, pastors, farmers, and “even people attending a funeral,” were killed in three Nigerian states, Worthy News reported earlier, citing Open Doors.

Around 5,000 Christians were reportedly displaced in those attacks by Islamist militants. They are among an estimated 16.2 million believers in sub-Saharan Africa forced to leave their homes, often due to anti-Christian attacks.

The post Dozens Of Christians Killed In Nigeria After Previous Massacre appeared first on Worthy Christian News.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

ABUJA (Worthy News) – More than 100 Christians, including children, pastors, farmers, and “even people attending a funeral,” have been killed and around 5,000 displaced in attacks by Islamist militants in Nigeria, a Christian advocacy group confirmed Tuesday.

Open Doors said that many of the attacks over the past week are believed to be “revenge” against a local bishop who testified to the U.S. Congress about the ongoing violence in the region.

“On Saturday, May 24, there was a series of shootings by Fulani militants in the villages of Tse-Ubiam and Tyolaha in Benue State, killing ten people. The following day, 20 were killed in shootings in Aondona and Ahume and in a further attack on Yelewata village,” the group explained.

“On Monday, gunmen returned to two of the villages, taking aim and shooting survivors on sight. By Tuesday, the local government chairman confirmed over 40 had been killed.”

The attacks happened in Gwer West, part of the Makurdi Diocese – the very diocese led by Bishop Wilfred Anagbe, who testified to U.S. Congress, Christians said. “This is horror. This is terror,” said priest Oliver Ortese. “You cannot imagine the reality we live in here.”

The bishop’s comments about the mass killing of Christians “drew threats from both some Islamic groups and the government’, according to priest Moses Aondover Iorapuu of Makurdi Diocese. “It took support from the US government for Bishop Anagbe to return to Nigeria without detention, but we suspected there would be an aftermath,” he added in published remarks.

There were further attacks reported some 400 kilometers (250 miles) away in Taraba State. Also, on Saturday, May 24, an armed motorcycle convoy stormed homes, killing 42 people, including 24 members of a local Methodist church, Christians confirmed.

SURVIVORS SHOCKED

“We didn’t know where to run to,” said survivor Soja Emmanuel. “They came around 2 a.m., shooting sporadically. People jumped out of their homes into the bush. Some didn’t make it.”

“We counted 42 corpses before noon on Saturday,” a soldier told national newspapers. “This is beyond anything we’ve seen before.” The exact death toll in Taraba remains uncertain.

Elsewhere in Bokkos County in Plateau State, details are still emerging of a series of attacks by Fulani militants that begun on Sunday 25 May, with nine people reported dead so far. “It’s understood that a mass burial of those killed in Kopmur village came under fire when gunmen returned to attack mourners at the graveside. Dozens of Christians are said to be trapped in forests and mountain hideouts, unable to escape as the militants continue to roam through the villages,” Open Doors said.

Terror alerts were still in force across Plateau State on Tuesday, Christians said, adding that it was not clear whether security forces quelled the violence.

The scale of bloodshed and the multiple failures of security are fuelling mounting criticism of state governors, who appear powerless to protect communities.

With clashes ongoing, more than 5,000 people have reportedly fled or are still hiding in the forests. “Fear reigns. The attacks have left deep wounds of grief — but also a call to prayer,” Open Doors stressed.

“Many don’t feel safe anymore, only because they identify as Christian. When the very diocese whose bishop courageously testified suddenly finds itself burying scores of its people – including from his village – serious questions are raised,” added an Open Doors legal expert for sub-Saharan Africa who identifies himself as John Samuel which is not his real name. “Many don’t feel safe anymore, only because they identify as Christian.”

PERSECUTION INCREASING

Christian persecution in Nigeria has reached such levels that observers struggle to document each atrocity before the next begins fully, he stressed.

“Accountability remains scarce for these grave violations of the fundamental rights to life, liberty, and freedom. The Nigerian government is failing to protect Christians who are killed in indiscriminate attacks. We call on the Nigerian government to do everything in its power to protect vulnerable Christian communities,” Samuel said.

The expert said, “We call on believers worldwide to lift up in urgent prayer those struck down in this unimaginable suffering” and “for militants to encounter Jesus and turn from their wicked ways.”

Nigeria ranks 7th on the annual World Watch List of 50 nations where Open Doors says Christians face the most persecution for their faith.

Last year, more than 3,000 Christians were killed and more than 2,000 kidnapped by mainly Islamic groups in Nigeria alone, according to Open Doors and other sources.

They are not alone. Christians living in a displacement camp in Benue State, seen in the footage by Worthy News, are among an estimated 16.2 million believers in sub-Saharan Africa who have been forced to flee their homes because of local violence and broader armed conflict.

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