Iran parks missiles in Iraq

IRAN: Authorities reportedly have transferred short-range ballistic missiles to Shiite proxies in Iraq capable of hitting Tel Aviv or Riyadh. The move underscores this map showing Iran’s growing influence in the region. As Geopolitical Futures notes, in the war to defeat ISIS, Iran is emerging the victor.

Amnesty International is calling for “urgent action” to support four Iranian Christians sentenced to a combined 45 years in prison for “illegal church activities” that “threaten national security.” Iran’s constitution recognizes Christians as a minority, unlike many other religions. But it offers few legal protections for them and none for Christian converts.

CHINA: Who needs democracy when you have data?

Local restrictions against churchgoers in China are breathtaking, but Chinese University’s Ying Fuk-Tsang told WORLD Magazine’s June Cheng, “We don’t need to fear a large-scale eradication: The power of faith comes from God. That is where your hope lies.”

GERMANY: In towns where Facebook usage rose above the national average, attacks on refugees grew by 50 percent.

INDIA: Lacking government or international aid, Kerala’s local boatmen are the heroes in the region’s worst flooding in a century.

NIGERIA: Take 35 seconds to listen to the plea of 15-year-old Leah Sharibu, the lone Christian among the Nigerian schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram in February and the only one to remain in captivity. Speaking in Hausa and shown by her captors seated on a prayer rug dressed in Islamic hijab, Sharibu said, “I am calling on the government, particularly the president, to pity me and get me out of this serious situation.”

NICARAGUA: Visitors to Raul Zamora’s Divine Mercy Church are shocked by the bullet holes, as no places were sacred in months of government-led violence that shattered safety for churches and others.

ENGLAND: American playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda decided in 2010 to write King George III into his now smash-hit Hamilton (“You’ll Be Back”), and this week in London’s West End he took the stage with the monarch’s sixth great-grandson, who sang a line back to him.

I’M READING: The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen.

HOLIDAY: No Globe Trot on Monday—happy Labor Day weekend.

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