Dario Salvi

The world’s largest 400 cities, home to 1.5 billion people, face high or extreme environmental risks. Among the top one hundred, four out of five are in India and China. Plagued by pollution, flooding and heat waves, Jakarta tops the list.

The testimony of a parish priest from Iraqi Kurdistan where infections are on the rise. The virus carries "a stigma" that people prefer to hide. The "Christian charity" which manifests itself in need through initiatives of solidarity. Prayer is a weapon against the isolation and fear caused by the disease.

In a note, the patriarchate expressed discouragement and concern over the violence in East Jerusalem, the al-Aqsa mosque and Palestinian properties in Sheikh Jarrah. Blocking access to sacred places during Ramadan is an "unacceptable" deprivation of "basic human rights". By Israel "discriminatory" use of the rule of law.

250 rockets fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel. The army responds with airstrikes on strategic Hamas targets. The inertia of the international community. From the first protests over the ban on prayer during Ramadan to the Sheikh Jarrah controversy, many issues remain unresolved.

Violence also this morning with the annual Jerusalem Day Flag March, which marks the Israeli conquest of the city. The judges overturned the sentence scheduled for today in legal battle over the ownership of some houses in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood. Netanyahu threatens an iron fist. Pope and international community appeal for calm.

For the second night in a row, violence erupts in the city’s suburb of Sheikh Jarrah. A dispute over properties between Jewish settlers and Palestinians is at the root of the issue. On Monday, Israel’s Supreme Court will hold a hearing over the issue. For the UN, the situation is “very worrying”.

The Hashemite kingdom is experiencing a serious environmental emergency and for the experts "the worst is yet to come". Rising temperatures and scarcity of rainfall will negatively affect “crops and water resources”. The three dams have a current capacity equal to one third of the normal volume.

Pope sends a message to Card Gracias expressing “solidarity and spiritual closeness”. He writes that he is praying for the healing and consolation of those affected by the pandemic, and is grateful to the Catholic community for its work of “charity and fraternal solidarity”. Italy sends oxygen plant for 100 beds to a hospital in Noida.

At their monthly meeting in Bkerké, the prelates sounded the alarm about the country’s future. There is a real threat of an economic and financial collapse, which must be met with the formation of a government'. Smuggling has “serious consequences”. The apostolic nuncio is set to meet with the Pope today.

Netanyahu's mandate has failed. Coalition with the religious Yamina nationalist party is under consideration. With his seven seats, Naftali Bennet could prove decisive. Clashes south of Nablus. A young Palestinian shot dead, as tensions rise.

An additional 400 children will receive the sacrament in the coming weeks, said Father Attalla, a sign of a living community. Pope Francis’s visit is still in people’s eyes and heart. “Even today children sing what they sang for the pope and laugh.”

Ekrem Imamoglu is President Erdogan's main rival. The mayor allegedly disrespectful by walking near the deceased sultan's mausoleum with his hands behind his back. He is also under investigation for alleged contacts with members of the Kurdish HDP party.