Globe Trot: Global number of displaced people growing because of ISIS

IRAQ: The number of displaced people worldwide swelled last year to 38 million—up 4.7 million over 2013—mostly due to Islamic State’s march in Iraq. Global organizations are failing displaced people and refugees, whose numbers are pushing refugee camps to breaking points.

ISLAMIC STATE: Two popular videos put the love of God on the Islamic State terrorist group (ISIS). London band Ooberfuse in its music video focuses on the plight of Iraq’s displaced Christians.

Tomorrow in New York, I’m slated to be part of an esteemed panel at the Hudson Institute’s conference “The Islamic State’s Religious Cleansing and the Urgency of a Strategic Response,” featuring Cardinal Timothy Dolan and others. If you’re in town, you should come.

SAUDI ARABIA: Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired mortars on the city of Najran, a cross-border attack that could foretell widening clashes inside Yemen. Secretary of State John Kerry is in Saudi Arabia today for talks aimed at easing the conflict.

U.S. DEFENSE: President Barack Obama announced Tuesday he intends to appoint Marine Corps commandant Gen. Joseph Dunford Jr. to chair the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Dunford is likely to continue the cautious approach to using U.S. force around the world we’ve seen under Gen. Martin Dempsey. The military’s posture has been marked by a steep drawdown in U.S. deployments, expected to continue through Obama’s tenure.

NEPAL: Rescue operations are trying to reach villagers in remote quake-affected regions, while emphasis already is shifting to recovery. The death toll in the April 25 quake is at least 7,300 people.

CUBA: The Vatican says Cuban President Raul Castro will visit Pope Francis this Sunday at the Vatican.