Macron takes on Washington

FRANCE: French President Emmanuel Macron in his speech Wednesday to a joint session of Congress called “isolationism, withdrawal, and nationalism” only “a temporary remedy to our fears.” He said, “You can play with fears and angers for a time, but they do not construct anything.” Concluding an unusually high-profile visit to Washington, D.C., where he proposed a “new deal” to rein in Iranian nuclear ambitions, Macron took on President Donald Trump’s plan to pull out of Syria, U.S. trade policy, and U.S. withdrawal from the international climate change treaty, telling lawmakers on Capitol Hill, “There is no Planet B.”

GERMANY: As Chancellor Angela Merkel makes a visit to Washington on Thursday, the president of the Central Council of Jews has warned Jews not to wear kippot, the Jewish skullcaps also called kippah or yarmulka, in major German cities due to the threat of attack. Two Jewish men in Berlin were assaulted last week.

TURKEY: Veteran journalist Barbara Baker has provided via World Watch Monitor a rundown of last week’s proceedings against jailed American pastor Andrew Brunson, which took place completely in Turkish. The court did not provide translation, even for U.S. officials, though I was told embassy staff translated for U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback. Among the entirely questionable charges leveled against Brunson, according to World Watch Monitor’s report, is collusion by Mormon missionaries with the opposition network of Fetullah Gulen:

“A large section of the indictment testimony quoted a secret witness code-named ‘Dua,’ who claimed that U.S. citizens working as Mormon missionaries in Turkey were involved in regular interfaith dialogue with the FETO movement; he also accused the Mormons of supporting the PKK, by trying to win over Turkey’s ethnic Kurdish citizens to Mormon beliefs. The unnamed witness mistakenly asserted that all Christians believe that Kurds are the “elect 13th lost tribe of Israel” who will survive the battle of Armageddon, which he claimed was expected to be fought in Turkey and led by Christians.”

And the claim of an organization in America called CAMA connecting all churches to the CIA, FBI, and National Security Agency (NSA):

“One anonymous witness claimed in the indictment: ‘In America there is an organization to which all churches are connected. It is called CAMA, and they have control of all the church workers that go to other countries. Persons from a Mormon or evangelical church that go to other countries, regardless of whether they apply to and are sent by their own church, are not allowed to serve in another country outside the USA without the permission of CAMA.’ He continued: ‘In the USA, institutions such as the CIA, FBI and NSA are members of CAMA.’”

BRITAIN: Alfie Evans, the seriously ill 23-month-old denied life-support treatment against his parents’ wishes, is “struggling” after doctors stopped medical treatment. At the request of Pope Francis, a military air ambulance has been on standby while courts sifted the parents’ appeal to seek alternate treatment in Italy—but late Wednesday the appeals court judge denied the request, saying, “This is awful for everyone concerned. We are in the middle of [a] palliative care plan.”

MEXICO: Two Catholic priests have been murdered in the past week.

NIGERIA: Gunmen in Benue state killed 15 people in a Tuesday attack on a Catholic church.

GLOBAL: This map of top exports from every country would make a great trivia game.

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