A brief opening to shore up progress toward stability in Syria unfortunately coincides with Trump administration decisions to sharply curtail humanitarian and development assistance and to terminate the U.S. Agency for International Development.
International
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Three dead, pastor injured after Israeli attack on Gaza Catholic church Pope Francis called every night
In a July 17 telegram, Pope Leo XIV said he was “deeply saddened to learn of the loss of life and injury caused by the military attack on the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza.”
Posted inPolitics & Society, The Weekly Dispatch
A Palestinian Christian community is the latest target of settler violence in the West Bank
On July 7, settlers carried out a daytime arson attack on the Church of St. George and a Byzantine Christian cemetery. The fifth-century church is “one of the oldest and most venerated places of worship for Christians in Palestine.”
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
A small town in Honduras stands up to a mining ‘giant’—with Catholic support
“We are alive only through the grace of God. At one point, I got messages saying someone had offered 1 million lempiras [$38,000] to have me killed.”
Posted inPolitics & Society, The Weekly Dispatch
Trump closing U.S.A.I.D. could cost an estimated 14 million lives by 2030
The end of U.S.A.I.D. will result in the loss of a “staggering” 14 million lives by 2030, including the deaths of 4.5 million children under age 5.
Posted inPolitics & Society, Short Take
Israel, Iran and the deadly results of abandoning international laws
In judging the morality of an act of war, an easy ask is always: “Was the belligerent party left with no other recourse?” That does not appear to be true in this case.
Posted inPolitics & Society, The Weekly Dispatch
Military madness—and spending—is sweeping the nations
It is fair to say that the global tab for addressing the world’s acute humanitarian or ecological needs pales in comparison to the eye-watering amounts governments unabashedly dole out for bombs and bullets.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
The deadly impact of the end of U.S.A.I.D. and Pepfar in southern Africa
Improvements in health care in Eswatini have relied for years on Pepper and the generosity of the American people. During the height of the H.I.V./AIDS pandemic, Eswatini’s population plummeted, and life expectancy dropped from 61 in 1988 to 44 by 2003.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
The ‘Trump effect’ on Canada’s immigration restrictions
“Carney is responding to the [immigration] backlash but also to the Trump effect, which is placing more pressure on Canada to tighten its border.”
Posted inPolitics & Society, The Weekly Dispatch
Bishops condemn El Salvador’s ‘international prison’ where Trump is sending migrants
”Do not collaborate in the fight against migrants by the great colonizing countries.”