World News

 Religious

An Episcopal parish in Maryland announced that it will become the first in the United States to join the Roman Catholic Church under a Vatican process designed to bring disgruntled Anglicans and Episcopalians into its fold. St. Luke’s Episcopal parish in Bladensburg will become part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington. The switch from Episcopal to Roman Catholic comes after the Vatican’s Oct. 2009 announcement that Anglicans who were unsatisfied with their denomination could join the Roman Catholic Church en masse while preserving certain traditions, such as having married priests.

—Huffington Post, 6/6/2011

Hundreds of Egyptians, many of them Coptic Christians, demonstrated in Cairo to protest Muslim-Christian clashes that left 12 dead and a church burned. Demonstrators said they feared that some in Egypt seek to create an Islamic state that would marginalize the Christians, who make up about 10 percent of Egypt’s nearly 80 million population. Egypt’s military rulers are hard-pressed to deal with the sectarian tension which has emerged as one of the major challenges in the post-revolution transition following the February ouster of President Hosni Mubarak.

—Seattle Times, 5/9/2011

Christian leaders in Pakistan strongly condemned the demand to ban the Holy Bible by a radical Islamic party Jamiat-Ulema-e-Islam. The party has launched a campaign asking to ban the circulation of the Bible, described as a “pornographic” and “blasphemous” book.

—Energy Publisher, 6/6/2011

Bangladesh’s government will retain Islam as the country’s official state religion despite pledges by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to restore the state’s secular character, a minister said. Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority nation of 150 million, was declared a secular republic in 1972 but a series of constitutional amendments by two military dictators abandoned the principle and made Islam the state religion in 1988.

—AFP, 6/23/2011

A new survey reflects a potentially massive, important chasm growing within evangelical Protestantism—between those in the Northern (and largely more developed) parts of the world and those in the South (largely less developed, but rapidly changing). The Northern leaders see evangelicalism’s influence dramatically waning, while the South sees it rising. The findings of the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life come from its polling of nearly 3,000 evangelical leaders from around the world in late 2010.

—Washington Post, 6/23/2011

Nepal plans to reform its criminal code and ban proselytizing in order to stop conversions to Christianity and religions other than Hinduism and Buddhism. Anyone who preaches or tries to persuade others to change religion could get up to five years in prison and receive a fine of 50,000 Nepali rupees (US$865).

—Asia News, 6/6/2011

Results of a newly released Gallup poll reveals that more than nine in ten Americans believe in God. Ninety-two percent of Gallup’s 1,018 respondents (hailing from all 50 states) answered “yes” when asked whether or not they believed in God. Despite the many changes that have rippled through American society over the last 6 ½ decades, belief in God as measured in this direct way has remained high and relatively stable. Gallup initially used this question wording in November 1944, when 96% said “yes.”

—Salon, 6/6/2011

Social

118 cases of measles in people aged 3 months to 68 years had been reported in the United States this year through May 20, the highest number reported for this 19-week period in any year since 1996, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Eighty-nine percent were associated with importation from other countries. Between 2001 and 2008, the CDC received a median of 56 reports of measles annually.

—Internal Medicine News, 5/24/2011

The international fight against human trafficking and modern-day slavery is losing ground, the U.S. State Department said in a new report. The total number of countries that are not meeting international standards to stop human trafficking nearly doubled to 23, according to the department’s annual report. The worst offenders were the Republic of Congo, North Korea, Saudi Arabia and Iran.

—Associated Press, 6/27/2011

The United Nations says 9 million people need humanitarian assistance in the drought-hit countries of the Horn of Africa. A spokeswoman for the U.N.’s aid coordination office says the drought is one of the worst to visit East Africa since the early 1950s. Some 3.2 million people each in Kenya and Ethiopia, 2.6 million in Somalia and 117,000 in Djibouti need aid.

—Associated Press, 6/28/2011

100,000—the number of text-related automobile accidents per year in the United States.

—Bucks County Courier Times, 6/9/2011

In its latest Health and Retirement Study, the National Institute on Aging says that 2011 is a banner year in American demographics: it’s when the first Baby Boomers turn 65. Our population is getting older and retirements are set to soar as more Americans than ever before are on the cusp of leaving the workforce.

—Washington Post, 6/27/2011

The brutal and vicious handling of anti-government protesters in Syria has led to thousands of Syrians fleeing to Turkey as refugees. Voice of America reported that activists said about 7,000 Syrians had sought refuge by crossing into Turkey. Syrian opposition activists are also saying that 1,300 civilians have been killed in the government’s repression of the protests. Overall, the three-month old violence has reportedly caused more than 10,000 people to flee Syria, according to United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos.

—BFP Radio, 6/13/2011

750,000 British public-sector workers—from teachers to driving examiners to customs officials—staged a walk out, part of a growing wave of opposition to the Conservative-led government’s deficit-cutting regime of tax hikes, benefit curbs and spending cuts. The government insists everyone must share the pain as it cuts 80 billion pounds ($130 billion) from public spending to reduce the huge deficit, swollen after Britain spent billions bailing out foundering banks.

—Washington Post, 6/29/2011

New 2010 U.S. census figures just released show men are narrowing the female population advantage, primarily in the 65-plus age group. It’s a change in the social dynamics of a country in which longevity, widowhood and health care for seniors often have been seen as issues more important to women. The numbers highlight a nation that is rapidly aging even as Congress debates cuts in Medicare, an issue with ramifications for the growing ranks of older men.

—Washington Post, 5/27/2011

Europe’s severe outbreak of Escherichia coli bacterial infections worsened further. Total reported cases in Germany reached 1,733 … [and] cases have been reported in at least 11 other European countries. It is the deadliest outbreak of E. coli in modern history.

—Wall Street Journal, 6/2/2011

The Atlantis is America’s final space shuttle. When the program began in 1969 with the moon landing, NASA had already developed a goal to place a space station that would service as a springboard to shipping men to Mars. That never happened due to funding and the alternative launch of Skylab in 1979.

—USA Today, 6/28/2011

China has opened the world’s longest sea bridge, a 26.4 mile-long structure that could easily span the English Channel. Stretching across Jiaozhou bay, the bridge connects the booming Northern port city of Qingdao with an airport built on a nearby island and the industrial suburb of Huangdao.

--The Telegraph, 7/1/2011

Political

Social Security is closing the books on the era of paper checks. Starting in May, anyone applying for Social Security benefits will only have the option to receive them electronically. The 10 million people who still receive Social Security checks by mail—about one in every seven recipients—have two years to make the switch to direct deposit. The government ultimately will save $120 million a year by switching from paper checks to electronic payments.

—CNBC, 4/29/2011

Over months of political turmoil, attacks on electricity plants and oil pipelines have left Yemen’s economy on the edge of collapse. The country is grappling with electricity blackouts, rising food prices and fuel shortages so dire that ordinary Yemenis can spend days in lines for gasoline. Beggars have multiplied. Electricity is available only a few hours a day.

—Washington Post, 7/1/2011

During the past two years since U.S. President Obama took office, data released by the Justice Department show the number of criminal prosecutions for defrauding the Social Security and Medicare programs has dropped by about 20% to its lowest point in a decade.

—USA Today, 6/28/2011

The Global Commission on Drug Policy, a 19-member panel chaired by former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, said the failure of the war on drugs has brought “devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world.” One chart in the report shows that between 1998 and 2008 opiate consumption in the United States climbed by 34.5 percent. Cocaine use rose 27 percent during that time.

—USA Today, 6/2/2011

Iran announced last August that it had increased its fleet and now has a total of 11 submarines, which will be used to patrol the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman. Iran has dispatched warships to distant waters such as the Red Sea and the Mediterranean in the past, but it is the first time it is sending submarines to the area.

—Ynetnews, 6/9/2011

In the face of a potential public relations storm, the U.S. government is defending a decision by airport security officials to force a 95-year-old woman with leukemia to remove her adult diaper for a pat-down.

—Slate, 6/27/2011

A 5,370-mile natural gas pipeline, the world’s longest, linking Turkmenistan with southern China has begun operating, helping boost supplies to the country’s booming industrial zones. The 142.2 billion yuan ($22 billion) pipeline passes through 15 of China’s provinces to reach the Pearl River Delta region, near Hong Kong. Construction of the pipeline wrapped up earlier this month. The gas pipeline will provide up to 30 million cubic meters of natural gas a year, helping reduce reliance on heavily polluting coal.

—Associated Press, 6/30/2011

Government officials have reportedly told French television and radio news hosts not to use the words “Facebook” and “Twitter” on-air, unless those words refer to the specific companies in news stories. Officials say that repeatedly using the words in place of more generic terms gives an unfair competitive advantage to the social media giants.

—AFP, 6/7/2011

Facing deep funding cuts, the Milwaukee public school district announced that it will lay off 519 employees, including 354 teachers. The cuts in Wisconsin arrive as many states and local governments across the country face looming budget gaps and are expected to shed 110,000 jobs in the third quarter of this year.

—CNN, 6/30/2011

Financial

More than 28 percent of U.S. homeowners owed more than their properties were worth in the first quarter as values fell the most since 2008. Home prices have fallen almost 30 percent from their June 2006 peak, wiping out more than $10 trillion in equity, including $667.5 billion in the first quarter.

—Bloomberg, 5/8/2011

The new Center of Excellence for International Corporate Volunteerism was developed with IBM and CDC Development Solutions (CDS), a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that manages companies international volunteer initiatives. CDS estimates that 21 major U.S. companies plan to send nearly 2,000 employee volunteers abroad this year, up from six firms that sent just 280 workers to four countries in 2006. Since then corporate volunteers have worked in 58 countries, CDS estimates.

—MSNBC, 6/8/2011

The $100 bill is one of America’s most popular exports. Last year Treasury printed more $100 bills than dollar bills for the first time. There are now more than seven billion in circulation—and the Federal Reserve’s best guess is that two-thirds are held by foreigners. In March, largely because of the boom in $100 notes, the value of all American notes in circulation topped $1 trillion for the first time.

—New York Times, 7/6/2011

A new report from the Congressional Budget Office, a non-partisan agency that calculates the cost and economic impact of legislation and government policy, says that the U.S. national debt is on pace to equal the annual size of the economy within a decade, levels that could provoke a European-style debt crisis.

—Associated Press, 6/23/2011

For Bank of America, getting over the financial crisis has left it with a staggering bill. The largest U.S. lender said this week it had set aside more than $20bn in the second quarter to settle investors’ claims that loans packaged in mortgage-backed securities had failed to meet promised underwriting standards, as well as a number of other charges and writedowns stemming from its home-loan business ... created by BofA’s disastrous 2009 acquisition of Countrywide Financial.

—Financial Times, 7/1/2011

The International Monetary Fund chose French finance minister Christine Lagarde to be its next managing director, maintaining Europe’s long-standing hold on the agency’s top job and appointing the first woman to take over the global financial powerhouse. She assured members that she would not be an easy touch for European nations that need help. She replaces Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

—Washington Post, 6/28/2011

Israel

Egypt will permanently reopen its border crossing with the Gaza Strip, underscoring how dramatically the uprisings that are roiling the Arab world could reshape the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Rafah crossing is the only official entry point outside Israel into the Gaza Strip, an area slightly more than twice the size of Washington D.C. and home to about 1.5 million Palestinians.

—Washington Post, 5/27/2011

The number of tourists in Israel has risen from 1.2 million in 2001 to 3.45 million in 2010.

—Israel 21c, 5/8/2011

On Israel’s 63rd anniversary its population stands at 7,746,000 people, a 2% increase compared with 2010. In comparison, on the night of its establishment, the State of Israel consisted of only 806,000 residents. Nearly 5,837,000 of the population are Jewish (75.3%). Over 70% of the Jewish population are native-born Israelis, and more than half of them are at least second generation Israelis. In contrast, only 35% of the population was native-born in 1948.

—Ynetnews, 5/8/2011

A new study on the religious-Zionist community in Israel has found growing ideological diversity as the community grows. In Israel’s first years, the religious-Zionist community was relatively uniform. Over the past 50 years, however, there have been major changes. Today the ‘Torani’ Zionists have grown stronger. It is more stringent in religious observance. The third major group is the Modern Orthodox sect, which rejects the vision of the return to the entire land of Israel as a crucial step in Israel’s redemption.

—Israel National News, 5/20/2011

Blocking ports, hit-and-run attacks on Egyptian forces and storming military headquarters with little opposition are just a series of events that have driven the Sinai into unprecedented chaos as Cairo’s authority wanes before disgruntled Bedouin residents. “The situation here is very tense,” an American aid worker living in the northern Sinai city of Al-Arish said. “The Bedouin in northern Sinai took the Egyptian revolution as an opportunity to take revenge on the Egyptian security forces, which they believe have persecuted them for years.”

—Media Line, 6/1/2011

Australia has an estimated 110,000 Jews, called Members of the Tribe. Many of those are part of another tribe: an Aboriginal clan called the Wiradjuri. The first Jew came to Australia on the First Fleet in 1788, and since then Jews have been marrying Aborigines because white women wouldn’t marry them, according to Jewish sources. The first Aboriginal Australian to receive a doctorate in medicine from the University of Sydney, Jackson Pulver, a Jew, is now the director of the Muru Marri Indigenous Health Unit at the University of New South Wales in Sydney.

—JTA, 6/20/2011