Need in the News, Vol. I, Issue 7

An overview of “stories of need” with links to news articles, editorials, press releases and blog posts from around the nation and the world:

UNITED STATES: On July 20, a lone gunman attacked a packed theatre of moviegoers at a midnight showing of Dark Knight Rises in Aurora, Colo., killing 12 people and wounding 58. The alleged shooter, James Holmes, has been charged with 142 counts, including 24 of first-degree murder.
CHINA: The “heaviest rain in 60 years” killed 10 people and stranded 80,000 people at the main airport in Beijing.
UNITED STATES: Eleven suspected illegal immigrants died in a truck crash near the Mexican border on July 22.
SYRIA: It’s unclear exactly how many people have been killed in recent clashes between rebels and government forces, but fighting continues. Observers estimate 19,000 people have died as a result of the Syrian regime’s crackdown.
INDIA: Monsoon rains caused floods that left 95 people dead and millions homeless in the remote state of Assam…Yesterday, a passenger train fire in India killed more than 32 people.
YEMEN: At least 22 people died after a suicide bombing at a Yemeni police academy.
NIGERIA: Around 100 people were killed by a massive petrol fire in southern Nigeria after trying to scoop fuel from an overturned gasoline tanker.

COLORADO: Several of the men killed during the Aurora theatre shootings died trying to shield their girlfriends…A doctoral student from the University of Colorado at Boulder is using an ancient filtering system to treat water in developing countries…A mother recently met her son’s killer as part of a restorative justice program.
SOUTH AFRICA: Thulani Madondo works to improve lives in the Kliptown slum in the township of Soweto.
OREGON: A church in Portland plans to host a homeless family in its parking lot as part of a city program to respond to homelessness.
MEXICO: Tens of thousands of people marched in protest against the recent, suspect election of Enrique Peña Nieto to the Mexican presidency.
GREAT BRITAIN: What would you do if a stranger handed you an envelope with £1,000 and exhorted you to spend it on “something good”?
NEW YORK: An inspiring story of a rape survivor who now “ministers” to victims…Also, a neighbor caught and saved a 7-year-old girl from a three-story fall.
BOTSWANA: In the face of one of the world’s highest rates of HIV infections, this African nation has developed one of the most comprehensive and effective treatment programs in the world.
ARIZONA: Students at Arizona State University have “upcycled” shipping containers into health clinics.
AFRICA: The Economist calls the decrease in child mortality in Africa “the best story in development.”

SYRIA: Over the last several days, tens of thousands of civilians have fled the ongoing violence in the Syrian city of Aleppo.
SOMALIA: The effects of famine and instability persist in the now-peaceful but devastated countryside of Somalia.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO: The U.N. suspended food delivery operations last month in the North Kivu region of the DRC. According to Yahoo! News children have been fleeing the DRC to avoid being forcibly recruited by armed militias.
YEMEN: The nature of casualties from U.S. drone attacks in Yemen recently came under scrutiny.
MALI: Recent armed conflict in this North African nation has caused 300,000 people to flee to neighboring countries.
SAHEL: The humanitarian crisis in the Sahel region of Africa has worsened in the wake of a cholera outbreak.

KENYA: Many slices of life through the eyes of a taxi driver in Nairobi.
THE CAUTIONARY TALE OF PENN STATE FOOTBALL: An eye-opening column on the scandal that has rocked one of the most well-known, and until recently, respected athletic programs in the country.
REVERSAL?: A prominent evangelical Christian organization recently came out against “conversion therapy” for gay people.
DRUG DEALERS SAY “DON’T DO CRACK”: How bad must a neighborhood get for drug dealers to stop selling?
REMEMBERING MUNICH: This year’s Olympic Games mark the 40th anniversary of the Munich hostage crisis that led to the deaths of 11 Israeli athletes and coaches.
AID & RECONSTRUCTION: Could unfinished reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan be counterproductive? Why is it so difficult to cut the major strings attached to foreign aid?
MUST SEE:

CRAIGSLIST JOE: A man recently traveled across America on an adventure during which he lived only on what he could get from Craigslist.
BASEBALL IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA: American filmmaker David Darg’s documentary attributes the cholera epidemic in Haiti to Nepalese troops from Haiti’s U.N. peacekeeping mission.

Is hope a four letter word? — A commentary by Trip Jennings on hope in the real world.
Bonhoeffer on rich and poor — A commentary on the social conscience of Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
Behind our border debates — A commentary by Heath Haussamen on the real faces of people behind the immigration debate.
Making Ends Meat — A profile about the recent financial challenges faced by the North Denver Cares Food Pantry and other non-profits.
A Good News Project — A commentary on the interaction between “good news” and the story of need.
Tradition & the Fourth — A commentary on the role of tradition in our formation of collective and personal identity.

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