(1) Pope warns media over “sin” of spreading fake news, smearing politicians|Reuters
Media that focus on scandals and spread fake news to smear politicians risk becoming like people who have a morbid fascination with excrement, Pope Francis said in an interview published on Wednesday.
Francis told the Belgian Catholic weekly “Tertio” that spreading disinformation was “probably the greatest damage that the media can do” and using communications for this rather than to educate the public amounted to a sin.
Using precise psychological terms, he said scandal-mongering media risked falling prey to coprophilia, or arousal from excrement, and consumers of these media risked coprophagia, or eating excrement.
The Argentine-born pontiff excused himself for using such terms in order to get his point across while answering a question about the correct use of the media.
“I think the media have to be very clear, very transparent, and not fall into - no offence intended - the sickness of coprophilia, that is, always wanting to cover scandals, covering nasty things, even if they are true,” he said.
(2) Trump’s religious dealmaking pays dividends |by Katie Glueck, POLITICO
…And for the New York businessman who prides himself on deal-making aptitude, building relationships — often by making policy promises that go well beyond what previous, more traditionally conservative candidates have pledged — has defined his outreach to the network of previously wary Christian leaders who helped him win the presidency. And now, that transactional cycle seems likely to shape his White House agenda on issues of interest to the religious right.
It’s a strikingly different approach from that of the most recent Republican president, George W. Bush, himself a born-again Christian who wore his faith on his sleeve and communicated about religion far more fluently than Trump does.
But as much as religious conservative leaders respected Bush’s personal evangelical bona fides, they say that Trump — a man who has struggled to articulate his faith principles and is unapologetic about his tabloid-worthy personal life — has made more concrete commitments. They range from his pledge to appoint only Supreme Court justices who oppose abortion rights — a commitment Bush wouldn’t make — to his vow to defund Planned Parenthood.Trump offered those promises as he sought to shore up more support from the evangelical community during the campaign, and it worked: He ultimately won the support of nearly every politically prominent Christian leader and landed 81 percent of the evangelical vote, a higher percentage than Bush netted in 2004. …
(3) Trump son-in-law’s family donated to Israeli settler groups |AP
President-elect Donald Trump’s son-in-law co-directs a family foundation that has donated tens of thousands of dollars to Jewish settlement organizations in the West Bank, according to tax records.
Trump has said Jared Kushner, who serves as a close adviser, could help negotiate a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. The donations by Kushner’s parents’ foundation could complicate his ability to be an impartial broker.
The Israeli daily Haaretz on Monday first reported the donations by the family foundation, which Kushner and his siblings direct with their parents.
…But to Palestinians, the donations have added to fears that the Trump administration will not be sympathetic to their cause.
“If anyone was foolish enough to believe that a Trump administration might succeed in negotiating a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, this is further evidence of their delusions,” said Diana Buttu, a Palestinian political analyst and former adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
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