Lawmakers warn Hegseth may have committed war crimes following second-strike report; Politico, November 30, 2025

 JACOB WENDLER, Politico; Lawmakers warn Hegseth may have committed war crimes following second-strike report

"Lawmakers from both parties raised alarms Sunday that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth may have committed a war crime following a report that he ordered a follow-on attack to kill survivors of a boat strike in September.

The Washington Post reported last week that Hegseth authorized a highly unusual strike to kill all survivors of one of the Trump administration’s attacks in recent months on boats allegedly carrying drugs in international waters. POLITICO has not independently verified the Post’s reporting."

Chicago’s faith leaders on front lines of resistance against ICE crackdown; The Guardian, November 28, 2025

 Siri Chilukuri, The Guardian ; Chicago’s faith leaders on front lines of resistance against ICE crackdown

"For weeks, Chicago has been at the center of the Trump administration’s brutal immigration crackdown. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Department of Homeland Security officials have arrested 800 people as of 1 October, while also using violent tactics such as body-slamming and deploying teargas in residential areas.

Amid the raids and arrests, which have created a pervasive sense of fear, faith leaders have stepped up, putting themselves on the front lines of resistance.

“Faith leaders bring a very powerful prophetic and moral compass into the space,” said the Rev Ciera Bates-Chamberlain, executive director of Live Free Illinois, a group that mobilizes Black churches around social justice issues in Chicago. “While many others may be able to argue the economic impact, or argue the law, faith leaders are typically the ones who are arguing and standing on the side of humanity and for people.”

Supreme Court to Hear Copyright Battle Over Online Music Piracy; The New York Times, December 1, 2025

 Ann E. Marimow , The New York Times; Supreme Court to Hear Copyright Battle Over Online Music Piracy

"The Supreme Court will hear arguments on Monday in a closely watched copyright clash testing whether internet providers can be held liable for the piracy of thousands of songs online.

Leading music labels and publishers who represent artists ranging from Bob Dylan to Beyoncé sued Cox Communications in 2018, saying it had failed to terminate the internet connections of subscribers who had been repeatedly flagged for illegally downloading and distributing copyrighted music.

At issue is whether providers like Cox can be held legally responsible and be required to pay steep damages — a billion dollars or more — if it knows that customers are pirating the music but does not take sufficient steps to terminate their internet access."

‘I’ve Been Doing This Work for 25 Years and I’ve Never Seen Such Fear’; The New York Times, November 30, 2025

 David French, The New York Times; ‘I’ve Been Doing This Work for 25 Years and I’ve Never Seen Such Fear’

[Kip Currier: Amidst appalling stories of brutality by masked ICE agents against migrants, detainees, immigrants, and even allied clergy members, examples of people helping and loving their neighbors, as described in David French's 11/30/25 New York Times piece, are heartening and inspiring.

Yesterday's 11/30/25 liturgical reading Romans 13:11-14 sees the apostle Paul's letter exhorting followers of Christ to "lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light". It's a particularly timely and pertinent reminder in conjunction with French's statement about present-day darkness and light:

The story of America is far from perfect, but if there is one constant in our history it’s that American darkness is always answered by American light.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/opinion/chicago-ice-new-life-centers.html 

What can each of us do to promote American light -- to put on the armor of light -- over the works of darkness?

To show compassion and generosity over hate and cruelty?

To see ourselves and those we love in the eyes of a stranger or migrant?]

 

[Excerpt]

"In the book of Leviticus, God says to his people, “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”

Providing care for immigrants is one of scripture’s clearest commands. It is one of the great tragedies of our time that millions of Christians are cheering and applauding the administration’s brutal crackdown on immigrants.

But not all Christians. There are believers, Catholic and Protestant alike, who are rallying to treat migrants with dignity, compassion and respect. New Life gets government funding for parts of its work, but DeMateo told me that when it began to support immigrant families during Operation Midway Blitz, it did so entirely on its own...

The story of America is far from perfect, but if there is one constant in our history it’s that American darkness is always answered by American light.

The masked agents of ICE make headlines with their aggression. But it’s important to answer those headlines with a different story, of volunteers who fulfill God’s command to love their neighbor — with their time, their money and their friendship."

Aid cuts have shaken HIV/Aids care to its core – and will mean millions more infections ahead; The Guardian, December 1, 2025

 Kat Lay , The Guardian; Aid cuts have shaken HIV/Aids care to its core – and will mean millions more infections ahead

"Stories of the devastating impact of US, British and wider European aid cuts on the fight against HIV – particularly in sub-Saharan Africa – continue to mount as 2025 comes to an end, and are set out in a series of reports released in the past week.

The Trump administration abruptly cut all overseas aid spending in January, with only piecemeal restorations to funding since then. Other countries, including the UK, have announced their own cuts. It has been estimated that external health assistance over 2025 will be between 30% and 40% lower than it was in 2023."