New numbers show obesity in the United States are high, especially among women
The number of Americans who areoverweight or obese continues to reach shocking highs, with some estimates that more than two-thirds of American adults are now overweight or obese. Now, a new study reveals that while obesity rates in men have plateaued, rates have continued to rise among women. MORE
More than two years have elapsed since the last direct talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators.
When the Israelis refused to release Palestinian prisoners from a previously agreed to list, the talks, in the words of US Secretary of State John Kerry, went up in the air. The continuation of the stalemate, coupled with the latest right-wing addition to an Israeli government already controlled by settlers, is pushing some Palestinians and Jordanians to rethink the confederation concept. MORE
Police have announced that they will not allow terrorists’ funerals to take place in eastern Jerusalem. Instead, the terrorists will be buried in other Muslim cemeteries, as chosen by the police.
Ynet reports that the decision came after a number of recent cases of incitement at terrorists’ funerals. In particular, about 200 attendees at the Ala’a Abu Jamal’s funeral expressed praise for his attack and incited against Israel, in violation of the family’s prior pledges. When videos of the event arose, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud) ordered the return of terrorists’ bodies to be suspended until new arrangements could be arranged. MORE
MEXICO CITY — When Wikileaks founder Julian Assange told an open government conference Thursday that “Google was now Hillary’s secret weapon,” he provided ample fertilizer for a year’s worth of conspiracy theories in this overheated election season.
Assange was referring to The Groundwork, a stealthy startup funded by Google Chairman Eric Schmidt that’s providing consulting services to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s campaign. According to Quartz, The Groundwork is building digital infrastructure like the Obama campaign did in 2012, laying “the groundwork’ for personalized, data-driven electioneering in 2016. MORE
Philippines president-elect Rodrigo Duterte effectively said he supports vigilantism in a nationally-televised speech.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Tuesday said that Israel and Turkey are one or two meetings away from normalizing ties, Reuters reports.
Speaking during an interview with the Turkish television station TRT Haber, Cavusoglu said that Israel lifting the blockade on Gaza and allowing for increased aid to be delivered to Palestinians is still a topic of great importance.
Israel however, remains reluctant to ease the blockade on the coastal enclave. MORE
In his latest revelations, Pope Francis said:
“Through humility, soul searching, and prayerful contemplation we have gained a new understanding of certain dogmas. The church no longer believes in a literal hell where people suffer. This doctrine is incompatible with the infinite love of God. God is not a judge but a friend and a lover of humanity. God seeks not to condemn but only to embrace. Like the fable of Adam and Eve, we see hell as a literary device. Hell is merely a metaphor for the isolated soul, which like all souls ultimately will be united in love with God.” MORE
Some are calling it the latest symbolic battle between Canada and the United States – but it didn’t take place on the ice. MORE
Russia may be preparing to back a renewed assault by Syrian government forces to retake Aleppo, and perhaps even Raqqa, from Jabhat al-Nusra and allied groups in the coming weeks.
Mohammad Ballout wrote, in Al-Monitor’s partner publication As-Safir, “The Russians will put their Sukhoi fighter jets to the test and bet on direct ground offensives to weaken rather than defeat Syrian armed factions. It should be noted that isolating Jabhat al-Nusra from other armed factions, which is a difficult and complicated objective, would strike a painful blow to those factions since Jabhat al-Nusra’s military and ideological might form the backbone around which those factions unite.” MORE
Sometimes, good things come in small packages, although there is not much good that can come this subject. This article is brief and very much to the point. There is very little offered in contextual background with almost no dots to connect. I view the following as the most important article, and certainly the most disturbing article, I have ever written. MORE
It was the final session of Vatican Council II, and some bishops began to say that the council, before closing, should make Pope John XXIII a saint by acclamation.13 ‘Don’t do that,’ several of the Protestant observers at the council said. ‘The Good Pope John is a saint for all of us, Catholics and Protestants alike. If you box him into your canonical structures, he will no longer be our saint. And we don’t want to lose him.’14 They didn’t—John XXIII is listed on June 3rd in the Lutheran Book of Worship15 under Lesser Festivals and Commemorations along with the heretics Martin Luther, John Calvin and John Huss.
His Death Continue reading
A team of expe
rts has begun a historic renovation at the spot where Christians believe Jesus was buried, overcoming longstanding religious rivalries to carry out the first repairs at the site in over 200 years.
The project, which began Monday, will focus on repairing, reinforcing and preserving the Edicule — the ancient chamber housing Jesus’ tomb in Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It is the first such work at the tomb since 1810, when the shrine was restored and given its current shape following a fire. MORE
A huge low pressure system that brought flooding and strong winds to New South Wales over the weekend has combined with a king tide to bring widespread coastal destruction, forcing people to flee homes.
As towns from Lismore in the state’s north to Wollongong and south-west Sydney dealt with flooding, on Sydney’s northern beaches, a number of houses and a unit block were evacuated when the wild weather battered the coast.
People were removed from about seven houses and the unit block at Collaroy as large waves up to eight metres high continued to erode the coast, crossing 50 metres over the coastal road, police said. MORE
This past weekend, over 200,000 people gathered in Tel Aviv for the city’s annual Gay Pride Parade. The eighteenth year of festivities took off on Friday, June 3, after a moment of silence honoring the memory of those who have been victims of anti-LGBT violence.
“We’re slowly walking toward a more equal, more respectful society that allows all human beings to express themselves as they see fit,” said Ron Huldai, mayor of Tel Aviv. The parade’s theme this year was “Women for a change,” focusing on women’s empowerment. MORE
Parishioners visiting a church in Italy were told they must “pray in silence” so as not to disturb African migrants being housed there.
Some of the faithful hoping to practice their Christianity at the church of St. Anthony in Ventimiglia were surprised when they were told by Caritas volunteers they couldn’t recite the rosary and would instead have to pray in silence out of respect to migrants who are living there. MORE