Elections are so much easier if your opponent can’t run.

This is apparently an insight so obvious and universal that it’s now played a big role in both U.S. and French presidential politics.

The French justice system chose courage over surrender. The law was clear, and so was the court in its sentencing: no special treatment for Marine Le Pen, no deference to the powerful, no using a candidacy for office as an excuse to break the law with impunity.

A record-breaking 120 million people have been forced to flee their homes by war, violence and persecution – the 12th year in a row the number has increased, the UN refugee agency said.

The global displaced population is now equivalent to that of Japan, the agency said.

New conflicts in Sudan and Gaza contributed to the rise, which the UN refugee agency chief Filippo Grandi called a “terrible indictment on the state of the world”.

A British court could give a final decision on Monday on whether WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should be extradited to the United States over the mass leak of secret U.S. documents, the culmination of 13 years of legal battles and detentions.

Two judges at the High Court in London are set to rule on whether the court is satisfied by U.S. assurances that Assange, 52, would not face the death penalty and could rely on the First Amendment right to free speech if he faced a U.S. trial for spying.

North Korea remains the worst nation in the world for Christian persecution, with the situation in Nigeria continuing to devolve, according to a new report on global religious discrimination.

Overall, Open Doors’ World Watch List 2024 found 4,998 Christians were killed over their faith, a figure the organization said is likely much higher due to underreporting. Meanwhile, 365 million Christians face intense persecution and discrimination for their views.

Almost 5,000 Christians were killed for their faith last year. Almost 4,000 were abducted.

Nearly 15,000 churches were attacked or closed.

And more than 295,000 Christians were forcibly displaced from their homes because of their faith.

Sub-Saharan Africa—the epicenter of global Christianity—remains the epicenter of violence against followers of Jesus, according to the 2024 World Watch List (WWL). The latest annual accounting from Open Doors ranks the top 50 countries where it is most dangerous and difficult to be a Christian.

Gonzalo Lira, a 55-year-old Chilean American who was imprisoned in Ukraine after allegedly spreading Russian propaganda then violating his bail conditions, has died in a Ukrainian jail.

YouTuber Gonzalo Lira reportedly died in a Ukrainian prison after being arrested by officials there last year. “We can confirm the death of a U.S. citizen in Ukraine. We offer our sincerest condolences to the family on their loss,” a spokesperson for the Department of State told the Daily Caller.

The U.S. State Department reportedly confirmed the death of Chilean-American blogger Gonzalo Lira, who had been imprisoned in Ukraine for criticizing the country's government.

"We can confirm the death of a U.S. citizen in Ukraine. We offer our sincerest condolences to the family on their loss," a State Department official told Russian news agency TASS. 

"We stand ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance. Out of respect to the family during this difficult time, we have no further comment," the official added.

More than half of the global population lives in a country in which state or non-state actors actively persecute people for their religious beliefs, according to the 2023 Religious Freedom in the World report.

The report was released on the first day of Religious Freedom Week, in which the U.S. Catholic bishops have invited Catholics to pray for greater religious liberty both in the U.S. and around the world from June 22–29.