The Bush administration is writing blank checks for weapons systems that are hundreds of billions of dollars over budget and years behind schedule while cutting funds that help real people at home and abroad

Catholic charities in the US called yesterday for more to be done to help the estimated 35 million Americans who are impacted by hunger. At the White House they called for the strengthening of federal nutrition programs.

As England celebrates its patron saint today, senior UK government figure Jack Straw acknowledges that St George needs reclaiming from racists and narrow nationalists - echoing the recent Ekklesia report.

Hilary Benn wants to end the nomenclature of a 'war on terror', but he does not seem to have abandoned the 'clash of civilizations' or proposed any real alternative, writes Michael Marten.

Participants at the assembly of the Latin American Council of Churches, which takes place once every six years, have asked US church representatives if they are aware of what their country is doing in the world and how it impacts on their region - writes Peter Kenny for Ecumenical News International (ENI).

A national grassroots campaign mounted by Jubilee USA, the international humanitarian agency, Church World Service (the ecumenical Christian relief network) and allied organizations is urging Americans to send Valentine's Day wishes to US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, asking him to have a heart and cancel Liberia's 3.5 billion dollar debt.

While ‘culture wars' in the United States absorb much media attention, a campaigning coalition which brings together religious and secular groups is working to ensure that January 2007 marks not only the beginning of a new year but also a fresh push to eliminate the debt crippling impoverished nations.

Online members of FaithfulAmerica.org, an alliance of progressive US Christians and other religious believers, have been writing their own 'Faithful State of the Union' address in anticipation of next Tuesday's annual report to the nation from the president, George W. Bush.

Jane Fonda, Jesse Jackson, US Congressman Ed Markey, and American Federal Communications Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein have joined with a broad alliance of reformers - including religious organisations - to demand equal access and fair ownership of media provision.