Author: Shalem John
Kpila Elijah, 22, has heard gunshots at least five times since moving to Markudi—the capital of Benue State, Nigeria—two years ago. Benue State has seen three other attacks in the past month—on May 25, June 1, and June 12. So, news of the June 13 attack on Yelwata, a Christian farming community two hours north of Markudi, did not surprise Elijah. “These attacks have been happening in Benue State,” he said. “We have become used to it.” But last Friday’s onslaught resulted in the highest death count from attacks in Benue so far. Armed Fulani herders descended on the Yelwata…
Three Russian soldiers forcibly entered Vladyslav Rudenko’s home in October 2022. He was only 16. They had guns. “Pack up your clothes and personal items,” they said. He wasn’t allowed to leave a note to his mother. No calls to relatives. No clues about his destination. Moscow occupied Rudenko’s city of Kherson, Ukraine, a week after the full-scale invasion in February 2022. Soldiers detained hundreds and tortured dozens of people in the city. Then Russian authorities began targeting the kids. The officers ordered Rudenko onto one of 17 buses filled with Ukrainian children. They started driving. When the bus reached…
The father of the abortion pill has died, but questions over the safety of his creation live on. Étienne-Émile Baulieu, the scientist who developed RU-486, which also known as mifepristone, died at home in Paris at 98 on May 30, 2025. The same month, a conservative, faith-based think tank in Washington, DC, released a study claiming the drug is more than 22 times more dangerous than previously reported. Mifepristone, which is taken along with misoprostol, was used to terminate more than 600,000 pregnancies in the 12 months after the Supreme Court ruled that states could regulate or ban clinics…