USA - In an effort its spokesman has described as “outreach to rednecks,” the Kentucky Baptist Convention is leading “Second Amendment Celebrations,” where churches around the state give away guns as door prizes to lure in nonbelievers in hopes of converting them to Christ. As many as 1,000 people are expected at the next one, on Thursday at Lone Oak Baptist Church in Paducah, where they will be given a free steak dinner and the chance to win one of 25 handguns, long guns and shotguns. What's next? Churches hosting Gun Shows? I'll just conclude with this: Matthew 26:52 “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.”

UK - "My intention was to carve out a space to be heard without constantly fearing the blasphemy charge, on pain of death." — Maajid Nawaz, Liberal Democratic Party candidate for Britain's Parliament.

"The media's vaunted concern for minority welfare is at direct odds with its indifference to the minority within Islam that is trying to reform its orthodoxy's disgraceful attitude to blasphemy — a minority that is gravely endangered and in need of friends." — Abhishek Phadnis, free speech activist, London School of Economics.

Muslim fundamentalists in London have threatened to behead a fellow British Muslim after he posted an innocuous image of Mohammed and Jesus on his Twitter account.

MIDDLE EAST - Three Gulf monarchies recalled their ambassadors from Doha Wednesday in an unprecedented escalation in tension with fellow Gulf Cooperation Council member Qatar, accused of backing the widely banned Muslim Brotherhood. Regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain said the decision was made in protest against Qatar's alleged interference in their internal affairs. Doha said it regretted the recall of its envoys but would not follow suit. They said they had asked Qatar, a perceived supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is banned in most Gulf states, "not to support any party aiming to threaten the security and stability of any GCC member," citing antagonistic media campaigns.

INDIA - India is considering integrating Israeli water technologies into a national initiative to clean up the polluted Ganges River, which provides water for 40 percent of India’s population in 11 states through which it flows. Indian engineers, scientists and officials from water technology companies visited Israel late last month to explore the possibilities. The cooperative effort to clean India’s holiest river has its source in a water technology cooperation agreement signed by officials of the two countries during the visit of India’s Minister of Urban Planning Kamal Nath to Israel in February.

USA - The temperature may not have dropped as low as the minus-12 degrees predicted Monday morning, but it fell far enough to break records set in 1884. Des Moines recorded a low of minus-7 early Monday, just barely beating the previous record low of minus-6 degrees, set on March 3, 1884. Some other Iowa cities didn’t cut it so close. Waterloo plummeted to minus-19 degrees, down from a 1978 low of minus-6. Ottumwa hit minus-9 degrees. Its previous record low was minus-4, set in 2002.

GERMANY - As the conflict with Russia over Crimea intensifies, Germany is playing a central role in communications with Russian President Vladimir Putin. But the international community has doubts that Chancellor Angela Merkel can pull it off.

IRAN - Iran has mocked US President Barack Obama's warnings that the military option is still on the table to prevent the Islamic regime's nuclear aspirations, calling the threats "the joke of the year." General Saeed Masoud Jazzayeri, Aide to Basij (local Islamist militia) Affairs and General Headquarters Defense Publicity in the Iranian military, laughed at Obama's recent warnings of possible American military intervention in the Middle East.

ISRAEL - This may be the excruciatingly worst time for Prime Minister Netanyahu to be visiting President Obama who clearly and, perhaps painfully, is aware of the ridicule many in the international corridors of power are heaping upon him.

ISRAEL - America under Obama has been right in at least one aspect. There was a reset – Russia has gained tremendous power and America has never been less well-respected worldwide. Against this backdrop, Netanyahu and Obama met on Monday and Netanyahu spoke at AIPAC on Tuesday.

USA - The American toll from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan can be contemplated in many different ways, thanks to the Congressional Research Service (CRS). A new CRS report has provided a human accounting not only of how many service personnel died in the two conflicts, but of the many kinds of serious, life-long injuries with which thousands returned home.

CHINA - China's military is prepared to respond to all threats to the country's sovereignty, a government spokeswoman said Tuesday, ahead of the expected announcement of another big bump in defense spending. Legislative spokeswoman Fu Ying said China supports resolving disputes through negotiations and its 2.3 million-member People's Liberation Army — the world's largest — is for defensive purposes only.

VATICAN - Pope Francis is urging world leaders to promote dialogue as a way of resolving the crisis in Ukraine. Speaking to thousands of people in St Peter's Square during his traditional Sunday midday appearance, he said: "I am making a heartfelt appeal to the international community: support every initiative for dialogue and harmony." Francis urged all segments of Ukrainian society to work together to overcome their misunderstandings and build a future together.

RUSSIA - The head of the powerful Russian Orthodox Church, generally viewed as supportive of President Vladimir Putin, has assured co-religionists in Ukraine that he will “do everything that is possible to persuade those in power that they cannot allow destroying peaceful people” in Ukraine. The pledge from Patriarch Kirill I came in response to a written appeal from a Ukrainian Orthodox Church leader, who asked him to speak out in favor of Ukraine’s territorial integrity. The Ukrainian clergyman sent a separate letter to Putin, appealing to him “to not permit bloodshed” in Ukraine. The religious leaders disputed Moscow’s claims about discrimination along language, religious or national lines, and said its portrayals of the change of government in Ukraine as a “fascist coup” or victory by “extremists” were untrue.

EUROPE - The message from Southern Europe’s political elite was as clear as it was unified: the growth in “populism” — that is, any political movement that opposes the continued expansion of centralised power in Europe — represents a serious threat to the Union’s future. To stymie its influence, concerted efforts must be made to accelerate Europe’s march towards political union. “We pro-Europeans are lacking a dream,” said Letta. “Others have one — to end the euro, to break up the Union… We have lost ours. Before we had one. In 1984, we had the four freedoms; in 1994, the euro; in 2004, Eastward expansion. But what about now? Today we haven’t built any long-term project of this kind. The dream must be political union.” If political union is consummated, power will be further concentrated and shifted upwards and away from the common man, as the core essence of democracy is mercilessly gutted.

UK - The true cost of divorce and family breakdown in Britain goes “far higher” and “far deeper” than the multi-billion pound benefits bill, a welfare minister has warned. Lord Freud said that the current £9 billion cost to the taxpayer of lone parent benefits amounts to just the tip of the iceberg when the full social cost of separation is taken into account. He also called for marriage to be “put back into its rightful place” after a surge in the number of children being brought up by unmarried parents who he said were four times more likely to separate than those who tie the knot. The Coalition should make “no apology” for saying that it has a “clear duty” to strengthen the family, he said. The peer’s comments, in an article for The Telegraph, came as he acknowledged that family breakdown could be costing the country up to £46 billion a year.