Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up thine hand: forget not the humble. Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? he hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require it. Thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand: the poor committeth himself unto thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless.
Psalm 10:12-14 (KJV)
The psalmist calls out from a place where the vulnerable are forgotten and those with power act as though no reckoning will come. Today’s news carries echoes of this ancient cry—trains full of ordinary travelers caught in system failures, children and women in harm’s way, journalists silenced, disease spreading where resources are scarce. The psalm does not answer why such suffering persists, but it insists on something harder: that the helpless are seen, that their commitment to the divine is itself a form of resistance, and that the helper of the fatherless remains attentive even when the world appears indifferent. To read these words today is to grieve what we see, and to ask whether we, who have more power than those in the headlines, are willing to remember them.
What prompted this
Today's headlines are marked by violence against the vulnerable—deadly train crashes, attacks on civilian transport, sexual violence, disease outbreaks, and civilians caught between military operations. Beneath the political and economic news lies a deep current of suffering among those least able to protect themselves.
- Audio reveals exchanges between control centre and drivers before deadly Spain train crash BBC World
- Russian drone attack on Ukrainian train station kills at least 14, officials say BBC World
- Flávio Bolsonaro calls himself 'leader of Brazil' after election loss BBC World
- Philippine police obtain warrant to search Thomas Markle's devices BBC World
- US and Japan agree to establish a Japanese facility for joint missile production NPR News
- China elevates a military general to the Politburo and seeks to strengthen party discipline NPR News
- Who benefits when massive AI data centers come to town? NPR News
- Greetings from Baghdad, where Agatha Christie's old home presents its own mystery NPR News
- Egypt fines prominent editor Lina Attalah and shuts independent news outlet Mada Masr The Guardian
- Africa’s ‘unprecedented’ Ebola outbreak could reach UK, says top health official The Guardian