Saudi blockade turns Yemeni crisis into a disaster

YEMEN: Saudi Arabia has only partially lifted a blockade that closed most of Yemen’s air, land, and sea ports this week—and has made an already catastrophic humanitarian crisis unimaginably worse. Streets in the capital, Sanaa, are empty due to fuel shortages, and government workers already have gone 14 months without salaries. The country’s famine is now ranked the worst in the world—with 7 million facing real risk of starvation. In the city of Taiz, all services have collapsed, and at least 270 patients with chronic kidney disease may die. An estimated 130 children are dying every day.

ZIMBABWE: A Catholic priest is mediating between military generals who have taken control of the country and President Robert Mugabe, who appeared in public at a graduation ceremony but seems to be under house arrest. Himself a Catholic, Mugabe in recent years distanced himself from the Church in favor of a growing sect known as Vapostori, or apostolics—particularly as church leaders called for the 93-year-old autocrat to step down.

IRAQ: Air campaigns are a costly way to do war, and U.S. airstrikes in Iraq have left a far higher civilian toll than the Pentagon is reporting.

RUSSIA next week will host a meeting with Turkey and Iran on Syria. All three have targeted U.S.-backed forces fighting in Syria, even as U.S. President Donald Trump has agreed to work with Russia to resolve the six-year war.

NETHERLANDS: In Amsterdam this year I visited what you might call the “church that birthed America”—an important place to consider what missionary sending ventures may bring.

UNITED STATES: Joni Eareckson Tada’s half century as a quadriplegic and decades as a disabilities advocate are examples of courage few embrace, and the 67-year-old author and painter is WORLD’s 2017 Daniel of the Year.

NOTES: Globe Trot will not be published next week but will return Nov. 27. Happy Thanksgiving.

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