Globe Trot: Iraqis uncover mass graves of ISIS victims in Tikrit

IRAQ: Iraqi forensic teams have begun exhuming mass graves in Tikrit, the city recaptured from Islamic State this month. The graves contain the bodies of hundreds of Iraqi soldiers killed by the militants in last year’s takeover.

The Kurds have held a 640-mile front line against ISIS for nearly a year now. They protect fragile Christian communities rescued from ISIS while sheltering over 1 million displaced Iraqis in a deepening humanitarian crisis with little outside help, as my report from Iraq describes.

Looking more closely at life for Iraq’s Christians, it’s discouraging for a journalist who’s covered Iraq up close over a decade of war to see wave after wave of hardship, each one harder than the last. That’s because I look to the headlines humans are writing and forget the story God is writing.

PAKISTAN: With The New York Times editorializing prominently against freedom of conscience and practice for Christians, and President Barack Obama remaining silent on the same, it’s noteworthy that Pakistan’s president and prime minister made public statements on Easter in support of that country’s Christians, including “their tremendous contributions to the advancement and development of the country.”

KENYA: Kenya fighter jets bombed al-Shabaab positions inside Somalia following the militant group’s attack last week on a Christian university in Kenya that left 148 dead. The attackers singled out Christians, among them a promising soccer and piano player and a long distance runner. Two days later, one terrified student was found still locked in a closet. The intensified confrontation raises security risks for Obama, who plans to visit Kenya in July.

VANUATU: Officials are coming under criticism for slow delivery of foreign aid following Cyclone Pam. A lack of private facilities following the destructive storm also leaves women vulnerable.