Many parts of the world are overflowing with displaced persons. Uganda’s Bidi Bidi refugee camp is one of the world’s largest, with 285,000 residents, mostly from South Sudan (PRI, September 22, 2017). Uganda’s government expects that most of these refugees will become either long-term or permanent residents.

It has been talked about for years: a multi-speed Europe where nations opt in and out of initiatives as they wish, with those in the center moving forward quickly and powerfully to full integration and those on the periphery lagging behind. In the wake of Brexit, the EU has moved quickly with its new military alliance known as PESCO (Permanent Structured Cooperation). “PESCO is significant not just because it marks a push by the EU into the military sphere but also because it represents ‘multispeed Europe’ in action.

The technology boom of the past several decades has changed the world by using social media to connect people around the globe. However, social media connections have also been used to promote political uprisings, topple governments and spread “fake news” around the world. But why would the brilliant creators of social media develop tools with destructive effects on individuals and society?

In Australia, shortly after a same-sex marriage bill was introduced in the parliament, a member of the House of Representatives proposed marriage to his same-sex partner of nine years—on the floor of parliament! The event was followed by approving applause from all who were present (ABC.net.au, December 4, 2017).

On Wednesday, December 6, 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the United States would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and would be moving its embassy to that city. For most of Israel’s recent history, nations have located their embassies in Tel Aviv, which, as Israel’s second largest city after Jerusalem, is the nation’s financial and technological hub. Israel has insisted that Jerusalem is its capital, but many nations choose to use Tel Aviv as a safer place to base their embassies.