Hey folks, what are you doing today? It’s the start of a whole new week.

International Politics

Overall

- The British ambassador to Israel said the recent symbolic vote for Palestine represented a shift in public opinion

- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan refused to send U.S. aid to Kurdish rebels against the Islamic State since they consider them were terrorists as well.

Middle East

- According to a report from the United Nations, the Iraqi government executed at least 60 people this year and some of the cases are questionable

Asia and Oceania

- Journalist Michelle Chen speaks with Mung Siu Tat of the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions on the latest in Hong Kong and the role capitalism is playing in the region

- Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying accused “external forces” at play in the demonstrations in the ground; Ha, that’s a good one.

Africa

- In el-Arish, Egypt, seven soldiers were killed in the Sinai pennisula by a roadside bomb and six were wounded.

Pope Francis

For those of you who’ve been mildly surprised with the almost modern reign of Pope Frank, the week started out pretty well.

In a dramatic shift in tone, a Vatican document said on Monday that homosexuals had “gifts and qualities to offer” and asked if Catholicism could accept gays and recognize positive aspects of same-sex couples.

The document, prepared after a week of discussions at an assembly of 200 bishops on the family, said the Church should challenge itself to find “a fraternal space” for homosexuals without compromising Catholic doctrine on family and matrimony.

But finishing what you start, is not exactly a strong point on Vatican Hill.

Catholic bishops scrapped their landmark welcome to gays Saturday, showing deep divisions at the end of a two-week meeting sought by Pope Francis to chart a more merciful approach to ministering to Catholic families.

The bishops failed to approve even a watered-down section on ministering to homosexuals that stripped away the welcoming tone of acceptance contained in a draft document earlier in the week.

So much for the (en)lightening up, Francis.

Of course, in reality it matters not.

Overwhelming 85% Of Young American Catholics Support Gays And Lesbian, Pew Report

If you cannot lead, and refuse to follow, get out of the way.

Neil Diamond – Something Blue

This Tuesday, Neil’s latest album Melody Road will be released…

There’s soppy, there’s schmaltz, and then there’s the latest from Neil Diamond. He remarried in 2012, and much of Melody Road radiates honeymoon period: trumpets tootle cheerfully, guitar melodies beam, cherry blossom falls from flutes, and Diamond delivers platitudes such as “Marriage is not an easy thing/ But look at all the joy it brings” with balmy bonhomie. Sunny Disposition and In Better Days have all the substance of soapy, made-for-TV movie romances; Something Blue and Nothing But a Heartache are bleaker, but only to sharpen the contrast with what it is to find that one special person who “took me to a place I never knew”. Sweep away the saccharine and Diamond’s craft as a songwriter still gleams: First Time addresses both teenagers striking out on their own (it would have been perfect for the Monkees), and septuagenarians inclined to nostalgia; while the story of Seongah and Jimmy doubles as a hymn to Diamond’s native Brooklyn, set to a Burt Bacharach swoop. But Melody Road should come with a trigger warning for anyone whose relationship is nearing the rocks…

What’s on your mind tonite…?