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Year: 2025

Pro-life leader praises bill requiring Ten Commandments in Texas schools: ‘A step in the right direction’

Pro-life leader praises bill requiring Ten Commandments in Texas schools: ‘A step in the right direction’

In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, 40 Days for Life President and CEO Shawn Carney praised Texas lawmakers for passing legislation that would require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom in the state. The bill, approved by both chambers of the state Legislature and now awaiting Gov. Greg Abbott’s signature mandates that each classroom feature a poster or framed copy of the Ten Commandments that is at least 16 inches wide and 20 inches tall, and legible from anywhere in the room. If signed, the law would take effect in the 2025–26 school year. SUPREME COURT WEIGHS RELIGIOUS LIBERTY DISPUTE OVER PUBLIC FUNDING FOR CATHOLIC CHARTER SCHOOL “This is great,” Carney said. “The Ten Commandments are good. It’s basically the moral code for most people who have ever lived. No matter what their belief system, most people don’t believe we should steal, kill, or commit adultery. “It’s a beautiful thing,” he added. “I’m proud to be a Texan where they’re supporting this, and it’s something that we need in the classrooms.” Carney, who leads what he describes as the world’s largest pro-life organization, operating in 64 countries, linked the legislation to a broader cultural shift. On its website, the group explains it is “an internationally coordinated 40-day campaign that aims to end abortion locally through prayer and fasting, community outreach, and a peaceful all-day vigil in front of abortion businesses.” “These are good things – allowing a baby to live is good,” Carney said. “The Ten Commandments are good.” TEACHERS UNION BOSS RANDI WEINGARTEN SHARES HER ‘CONCERN’ WITH SCOTUS CASE ON LGBTQ BOOKS Addressing constitutional concerns, Carney pushed back on the argument that the legislation violates the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause. “We have Moses in the U.S. Capitol. Nobody’s ever raised a stink about that,” he said. “Having the Ten Commandments, something that has been celebrated throughout generations of Americans who have gone before us, having those in the school is just not a big deal.” Carney also emphasized that the historical intent behind the separation of church and state was to protect religious freedom, not to eliminate religious references from public institutions. “Jefferson wanted separation of church and state to protect the Church,” he said, citing recent federal actions he views as infringing on religious liberty. “We saw the Biden administration try to force Catholic doctors to perform abortions or prescribe contraception. We need to protect the Church.” He framed the bill as part of a broader backlash against what he described as a secular, “woke mentality” that he believes has eroded moral clarity. “Our schools are violent. They are places that need the Ten Commandments,” Carney said. “Even if you don’t believe in God, you should be able to learn about God. “There’s been this push that believing in God is archaic,” he continued. “This bill is another step in the right direction.” Although the Supreme Court struck down a similar law in Stone v. Graham (1980), Carney believes Texas’s effort will survive legal challenges. “I do think it’ll survive the legal battles,” he said. “Revisiting this with a new Supreme Court is very wise and something that needs to be done.” Carney also sees the law as a potential model for other states. “Texas has set the bar high,” he said. “This does set a precedent. Most atheists believe in the Ten Commandments. They are the basis of Western civilization.” Looking to the future, Carney hopes the bill encourages greater moral formation nationwide. “The ideal result is that more states do this over the next five or 10 years,” he said. “We need guidance. We don’t do very well on our own. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “The Ten Commandments point us to good. To discipline. To truth. To love. And to mercy,” he added. “They help us know what’s right from wrong. We all grow in virtue by learning and following the Ten Commandments, no matter our religious background.” Texas would join Louisiana and Arkansas, which have already passed similar laws.  Supporters of the legislation say the commandments represent a foundational code of conduct, while critics warn it could face constitutional scrutiny in federal court, FOX 4 reported.

Cambodia PM urges calm after border clash with Thailand leaves soldier dead

Cambodia PM urges calm after border clash with Thailand leaves soldier dead

Cambodian and Thai officials claim soldiers from other side opening fire first in latest deadly border clash between the neighbours. Cambodia’s leader has called for calm in the country a day after a soldier was killed in a brief clash with troops from neighbouring Thailand, in a disputed zone along the Thai-Cambodia border. In a written statement on Thursday, Prime Minister Hun Manet said people should not “panic over unverified material being circulated”, and reassured the country that he did not want a conflict between Cambodian and Thai forces. “For this reason, I hope that the upcoming meeting between the Cambodian and Thai army commanders will produce positive results to preserve stability and good military communication between the two countries, as we have done in the past,” said Hun Manet, who is currently on a visit to Tokyo. “Even though I am in Japan … the command system and hierarchy for major military operations such as troop movements remain under my full responsibility as prime minister,” he added. Cambodia’s Ministry of National Defence said on Wednesday that one of its soldiers was killed in a brief firefight with Thai troops, in a disputed border region between the country’s Preah Vihear province and Thailand’s Ubon Ratchathani province. Advertisement The ministry accused Thai soldiers of opening fire first on a Cambodian military post that had long existed in the contested border zone. Cambodian soldiers ride on a self-propelled multiple rocket launcher in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on May 28, 2025, as tension ramps up with Thailand [Kith Serey/EPA] However, Thailand’s Minister of Defence Phumtham Wechayachai said Cambodian forces in the area had opened fire first, adding they had previously dug a trench in the area in an effort to assert Cambodia’s claim over the disputed territory, local media reported. “I have been informed that the return fire was necessary to defend ourselves and protect Thailand’s sovereignty. I have instructed caution. Although the ceasefire holds, both sides continue to face each other,” the minister said, according to Thailand’s The Nation newspaper. The Nation also reported that Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra spoke with her counterpart, Hun Manet, and both were working to lower the temperature on the dispute. “We don’t want this to escalate,” the Thai prime minister was quoted as saying. Cambodia and Thailand have a long history of disputes along their mutual border, including armed clashes that broke out in 2008 near Cambodia’s Preah Vihear Temple, which was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site that year. Fighting also broke out along the border in 2011. The Associated Press news agency reports that in February, Cambodian troops and their family members entered an ancient temple along the border and sang the Cambodian national anthem, leading to a brief argument with Thai troops. Advertisement The incident was recorded on video and went viral on social media. Adblock test (Why?)

Acclaimed Kenyan writer and dissident, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, dies at 87

Acclaimed Kenyan writer and dissident, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, dies at 87

Ngugi’s work critiqued both British colonialism in Kenya and postcolonial Kenyan society. Renowned Kenyan writer Ngugi wa Thiong’o has died at age 87, his family members have announced. “It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of our dad, Ngugi wa Thiong’o,” his daughter Wanjiku Wa Ngugi wrote on Facebook on Wednesday. “He lived a full life, fought a good fight,” she said. At the time of his death, Ngugi was reportedly receiving kidney dialysis treatments, but his immediate cause of death is still unknown. Born in Kenya in 1938, Ngugi will be remembered as one of Africa’s most important postcolonial writers. Formative events in Ngugi’s early life included the brutal Mau Mau war that swept British-ruled Kenya in the 1950s. Ngugi’s work was equally critical of the British colonial era and the postcolonial society that followed Kenya’s independence in 1963. Other topics in his work covered the intersection between language, culture, history, and identity. Ngugi made a mark for himself in the 1970s when he decided to switch from writing in English to the Kikuyu and Swahili languages – a controversial decision at the time. Advertisement “We all thought he was mad… and brave at the same time,” Kenyan writer David Maillu told the AFP news agency. “We asked ourselves who would buy the books.” One of his most famous works, “Decolonising the Mind”, was published in 1986 while living abroad. The book argues that it is “impossible to liberate oneself while using the language of oppressors”, AFP reports. This 2010 image released by UC Irvine shows Kenyan author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o [File: Daniel A. Anderson/UC Irvine via AP] Besides holding the position of acclaimed writer, Ngugi was a prisoner of conscience. In 1977, he was jailed in Kenya for staging a play deemed critical of contemporary society. He once described the country’s new elite class as “the death of hopes, the death of dreams and the death of beauty”. In 1982, Ngugi went into self-imposed exile in the UK following a ban on theatre groups and performances in his home country. He later moved to the US, where he worked as a professor of comparative literature at the University of California, Irvine. He also continued writing a range of works, including essays, memoirs and novels about Kenya. Following news of Ngugi’s death, praise for his life and work quickly appeared online. “My condolences to the family and friends of Professor Ngugi wa Thiong’o, a renowned literary giant and scholar, a son of the soil and great patriot whose footprints are indelible,” Kenya’s opposition leader Martha Karua wrote on X. “Thank you Mwalimu [teacher] for your freedom writing,” wrote Amnesty International’s Kenya branch on X. “Having already earned his place in Kenyan history, he transitions from mortality to immortality.” Advertisement Margaretta wa Gacheru, a sociologist and former student of Ngugi, said the author was a national icon. “To me, he’s like a Kenyan Tolstoy, in the sense of being a storyteller, in the sense of his love of the language and panoramic view of society, his description of the landscape of social relations, of class and class struggles,” she said. Adblock test (Why?)