News

Pakistan is experiencing wide-spread flooding, along with a host of other challenges (Reuters, September 22, 2022). Hundreds of thousands of people are now displaced and living in open plains, as floodwaters cover large swaths of land. Experts predict it could take two to six months for floodwaters to fully recede. As a result of the stagnant water, mosquitos are breeding rapidly and malaria is spreading.

The Caribbean island nation of Haiti is in chaos as fuel prices soar and the government threatens to cease fuel subsidies (New York Times, September 21, 2022). All this in a nation where poverty is rampant and governmental stability has been fleeting for many decades. One opposition leader has called on crowds to close down local banks. A well-known gang leader also called on crowds to depose the sitting prime minister and “overturn” the system.

Last week, five red heifers arrived by airplane in Israel (Israel365news, September 16, 2022). The one-year-old female calves were bred and raised on a ranch in Texas, solely for the purpose of producing red heifers that could be used in purification rituals in Jerusalem. To meet Jewish rabbinical standards, the cows must have no more than two non-red hairs, must not have been used for any work, and must have no blemishes—including no brands or ears punctured by tagging.

With Russian gas constraints increasing, Germany is turning to America for its liquified natural gas (LNG) (German Foreign Policy, September 8, 2022). By 2030, European LNG imports from the U.S. are forecast to exceed all the natural gas ever imported from Russia. With the Ukraine war at their doorstep, Germany continues to rely on the U.S. and NATO for military support. The closing of the Russian market has made Germany economically dependent on the U.S. market, as well.