Vatican police have reportedly raided a Vatican-owned apartment and arrested an aide to one of Pope Francis’ key advisers. Police in late June found widespread drug-use and men engaged in homosexual activity during the bust at the home owned by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, according to Il Fatto Quotidiano, an…
More than 152 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance globally — and at least 64 million have been forced to flee their homes. While humanitarian organizations race to provide lifesaving efforts, the funding levels are faltering. In fact, humanitarian appeals are on average barely 30% funded. Because of that, it’s more important than…
One in 40. This is the dreadful death rate facing refugees attempting the perilous crossing from Libya to Italy in overloaded rubber dinghies. It has trebled since late 2015, when European search and rescue efforts in the central Mediterranean were much more concerted and coordinated. It’s the shameful product of Europe’s pitiful response to the…
In 2015, at the height of the refugee crisis, Sweden took in more migrants per capita than any other European country. Then on April 7 this year, a terrorist attack, in which an Uzbek man, who was a rejected asylum seeker drove a stolen beer truck into a crowd of shoppers. He ended up killing…
9 July marks the sixth anniversary of South Sudan’s independence, but the promise of the world’s youngest country is marred by hunger and conflict, as millions of people still face starvation. After more than three years of conflict and insecurity, communities are now stretched to breaking point. The economy has collapsed, malnutrition has soared and…
(CNN) A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck Thursday off Guatemala’s Pacific coast, the US Geological Survey reported, causing some minor damage. The quake was recorded at about 24 miles (38 kilometers) from the city of Puerto San Jose, according to the USGS. One of the areas that suffered damage was Antigua Guatemala, the onetime colonial capital…
(CNN) A 6.5-magnitude earthquake has struck the central Philippines, according to the US Geological Survey. A 42-year-old man was killed, according to Rowena Codilla, the mayor of Kananga, one of the cities affected by the earthquake. The quake’s epicenter was located near the city of Tacloban, which was hit hard during Typhoon Haiyan in 2013….
Tehran: After Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s re-election, talk in Iran has turned to the future of an even larger political figure: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Although the topic is taboo in Iran, the question of who will succeed Ayatollah Khamenei, who is 77 and ailing, loomed over the May 19 election. Dr Rouhani, a…
(Benjamin Weinthal is a fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies) Startling new evidence from German intelligence reports shows the Tehran regime is working to illegally obtain technology and know-how to advance its nuclear weapons and missile programs, despite the 2015 agreement to curb its nuclear program. A report from the state of Hamburg…
The Saudi-led bloc of Arab states which also includes Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, has announced that negotiations with Qatar have broken down because of Doha’s failure to meet their demands. As a result, the four states have withdrawn their list of demands and have announced their intention to punish Qatar. The four…