World Watch

Only a tenth of Vatican donations directed to charity.

The Vatican has used the majority of donations to Peter’s Pence collection on plugging its administrative budget

VATICAN CITY—Every year, Catholics around the world donate tens of millions of dollars to the pope. Bishops exhort the faithful to support the weak and suffering through the pope’s main charitable appeal, called Peter’s Pence.
What the church doesn’t advertise is that most of that collection, worth more than €50 million ($55 million) annually, goes toward plugging the hole in the Vatican’s own administrative budget, while as little as 10% is spent on charitable works, according to people familiar with the funds.
The little-publicized breakdown of how the Holy See spends Peter’s Pence, known only among senior Vatican officials, is raising concern among some Catholic Church leaders that the faithful are being misled about the use of their donations, Read more

‘Biblical’ Locust Plague With Mega-Swarms The Size Of Cities Descends On East Africa. 

A rare occurrence of apocalyptic proportions is threatening to devastate the economy and way of life on an entire continent: the worse outbreak of desert locusts in seventy years is ravaging East Africa — specifically Kenya as hundreds of millions have swarmed in from Somolia and Ethiopia, reports the Associated Press.
The by all accounts "huge" infestation is threatening to devastate communities and a region already long struggling with food security. One news source likened it to a Biblical Locust Plague With Swarms the Size of Cities.
One especially large swarm in northeastern Kenya measured 60 kilometers long by 40 kilometers wide. The numbers and immediate destructive force is staggering, Read more
 

Lower protein diet may lessen risk for cardiovascular disease. 

A plant-based diet may be key to lowering risk for heart disease. Penn State researchers determined that diets with reduced sulfur amino acids -- which occur in protein-rich foods, such as meats, dairy, nuts and soy -- were associated with a decreased risk for cardiovascular disease. Read more