Globe Trot: 90 percent of orphans have living parents

ORPHANS: Of 150 million orphans we hear about worldwide, 90 percent have a living parent, according to UNICEF—a detail that popped up at me reading the Global Orphan Project’s annual report. If that’s true, shouldn’t we come up with another word for children orphaned by their still-living parents?

EUROPEAN UNION: Yesterday the European Parliament passed a resolution declaring Islamic State violence against Christians, Yazidis, and other religious minorities genocide and punishable under the 1948 convention on genocide. The action of the 28-member body (read it here) puts pressure on Washington, where Congress and the Obama administration have been slow to act. Little-noted language in last December’s omnibus spending bill forces the White House to report to Congress on a genocide declaration by March 16.

CZECH REPUBLIC: Humanitarian workers in Iraq tell me they anticipate another airlift this weekend of displaced Christians in Iraq to safe haven in Czech Republic, after the first of a scheduled 153 Iraqi Christians arrived in Prague last Sunday.

CHINA: WORLD’s latest cover story takes you inside the amazing world of Chinese Christian media—where one Christian broadcaster sends out a video a day and 10 Christian magazines are widely read among the house church community.

ZIKA: The UN’s human rights commissioner is calling for lifting all laws restricting access to abortion and birth control in countries where the Zika virus is present—which is a lot.

CORRECTION: The Pentagon budget includes $7 billion to fight the Islamic State, $3.4 billion to send American armor and troops to Europe, and new plans to challenge Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea.