The United States charged three suspected members of the white supremacist group The Base with federal gun and immigration crimes, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland announced Thursday. The FBI arrested U.S. citizens Brian Mark Lemley and William Garfield Bilbrough IV and Canadian citizen Patrik Mathews, who entered the United States illegally.

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump marked National Religious Freedom Day on Thursday by announcing new federal protections for students’ religious expression.

Puerto Rico is still trembling after a 6.4 magnitude earthquake hit the island last week, pounding the southwestern coast. Since the final days of 2019, more than 40 quakes have shaken the island, severely damaging its infrastructure, knocking out power, and driving over 2,000 people to shelters.

WASHINGTON—Every day last year, an average of eight Christians were killed for their faith, and about 23 Christian women suffered rape or sexual harassment, according to the persecution watchdog Open Doors, which released its annual World Watch List on Wednesday. The 2020 report reveals that 260 million Christians live in countries with high levels of persecution, a 6 percent increase from 2019.

WASHINGTON—Ukraine is opening a criminal investigation into whether a U.S. politician conducted illegal surveillance of former U.S. Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch. The U.S. House Intelligence Committee on Tuesday released the information it received from Lev Parnas, an associate of President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani.

With the Iowa caucuses less than three weeks away, six Democratic presidential contenders squared off Tuesday night for the first debate of 2020. CNN hosted former Vice President Joe Biden, Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, billionaire Tom Steyer, and former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Democrats in the state will caucus Feb. 3 to divide up their delegates among the candidates at this summer’s Democratic National Convention.

WASHINGTON—Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced on Tuesday that the House will vote on a resolution on Wednesday to name the House impeachment managers and transmit the articles of impeachment to the Senate.