It’s Thursday, May 15th, A.D. 2025. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 125 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com. I’m Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com)

By Jonathan Clark

1,518 executions worldwide in 2024

A report from Amnesty International found there were 1,518 executions around the world last year. That’s up 32 percent from 2023.

Nations with the most documented executions include Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq. 

These numbers do not include executions in China, North Korea, and Vietnam. China is considered to be the world’s leading executioner, with potentially thousands of executions last year.

All of these countries are ranked on the Open Doors’ World Watch List of nations where it is most difficult to be a Christian. 

British city council no longer bans street preachers

A local government district in England has backed down from banning street preachers.

Back in March, Rushmoor Borough Council sought to criminalize street preaching, praying for people, singing, or handing out Bibles.

Local churches, supported by the Christian Legal Centre, opposed the plan. Thankfully, the council backed down. 

Jamie Broadey, a local evangelist, said, “Since we found out about the injunction and asked for prayer, we have been contacted by Christians from across the UK. The issue is uniting preachers and Christians and we are prepared to challenge this as far as need be to prevent the Gospel being criminalized.”

Acts 5:29 says, “But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: ‘We ought to obey God rather than men.’”

$1.2 trillion economic package with Qatar

United States President Donald Trump is visiting countries in the Middle East this week.

Yesterday, he signed an agreement with Qatar that would generate an economic exchange worth at least $1.2 trillion. This includes an historic sale of Boeing aircraft and GE Aerospace engines to Qatar Airways worth $96 billion. 

Trump budget insists on work requirements for Medicaid

This week, Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives unveiled the “big, beautiful bill,” as the president calls it, to advance Trump’s agenda. 

The bill includes tax breaks, spending cuts, and border security. 

Notably, the measure would cut $900 billion from Medicaid spending. It would also require many people to prove they are working, volunteering, or pursuing education to be eligible for Medicaid.

Listen to comments by House Speaker Mike Johnson.

JOHNSON: “We are protecting Medicaid for the people who need and deserve it. This program is an essential lifeline for our most vulnerable Americans: pregnant women, single mothers, low income seniors, the disabled. That’s who Medicaid is intended to be for, and that’s who we’re protecting while we’re eliminating fraud, waste and abuse to improve Medicaid.

“These are reforms to restore and preserve the system so that it doesn’t collapse on itself. That means ensuring illegal aliens don’t get coverage meant for Americans in need. It means implementing work requirements to ensure that adults who can work, but refuse to, cannot keep cheating the system. We’re going to continue to call this out.”

Trump’s bill defunds Planned Parenthood

The “big, beautiful bill” from Republicans also paves the way for defunding Planned Parenthood.

The legislation would bar federal funds from going to prohibited entities that perform abortions in many cases.

The measure would also cut taxpayer funding for transgender surgeries for minors. 

U.S. drug overdose deaths down

Drug overdose deaths in the United States declined last year.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 80,000 people died from overdoses in 2024. That’s down 27 percent from 2023. It’s the largest drop in overdose deaths on record.

However, overdose deaths are still higher now than they were before the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Inflation down and egg prices down

Annual inflation was lower than expected last month.

The consumer price index rose 0.2 percent in April. That put the 12-month inflation rate at 2.3 percent. Inflation is now the lowest it’s been since 2021.

Notably, egg prices fell by over 12 percent. However, they’re still up about 50 percent compared to a year ago.

Worldwide Bible engagement update

And finally, the American Bible Society released the second chapter of its State of the Bible USA 2025 report. 

The chapter looks at Bible engagement around the world. 

People are most actively engaged and committed to the Bible in areas that are majority Christian like Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa. 

Interestingly, people are the most receptive to new ideas and other religions in Muslim-majority areas like North Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia. 

The greatest indifference to the Bible is found in the secular west and certain majority-Christian areas like the U.S., Western Europe, Russia, and Eastern Europe. 

Of countries in the secular West, the U.S. had the highest rates of Bible usage and church attendance. 

Isaiah 45:22 says, “Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the Earth! For I am God, and there is no other.”

Close

And that’s The Worldview on this Thursday, May 15th, in the year of our Lord 2025. Subscribe for free by Spotify, Amazon Music or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com. Or get the Generations app through Google Play or The App Store. I’m Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.