News Briefs

David Gonzalez, an editor at The New York Times and a member of the board of directors of America, has been named to the Hall of Fame of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. • A crackdown on militants in Sinai by Egyptian military is hurting Gaza’s already fragile economy because nearly 80 percent of the tunnels used for smuggling have been closed. • Inviting Catholics to be “out of step with popular culture,” the bishops of England and Wales said in a document distributed to parishes on July 27 and 28 that the legalization of gay marriage cannot change Christian teaching on sexual morality and that the church cannot accept marriages of same-sex couples. • According to “Twiplomacy” rankings released on July 24, Pope Francis is the most influential world leader on Twitter, with the highest number of retweets, and the second most-followed world leader after President Obama. • Former Representative Lindy Boggs, 97, a Louisianian who fought for civil rights during nearly 18 years in Congress and served as ambassador to the Vatican during the Clinton administration, died on July 27 at her home in Chevy Chase, Md., according to her daughter, ABC News journalist Cokie Roberts. • Robert P. George, a Catholic legal scholar and ethicist, has been elected to head the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.