Scrapping China’s two-child policy boosts hope to end bride trafficking
Thomson Reuters Foundation China’s reported plan to scrap its decades-long family planning policy could help prevent impoverished women from other parts of Asia being trafficked into the country to meet demand for brides, campaigners said on Wednesday. The world’s most populous nation appears to be setting the stage to end its policy of determining the […]
Less than half of refugee children enrolled in school – UN
Thomson Reuters Foundation More than half the world’s school-age refugees are excluded from education as host nations struggle under the weight of growing humanitarian crises, the United Nations said on Wednesday. Four million refugee children around the world do not attend school, an increase of half a million from a year earlier, the UN refugee […]
STRANGESIGHTS: NYC’S A-BUZZING; SMILE FOR THE GOAT; AND, MAYO’S NAME CHANGE…
DAVID ADAMS looks at the odder side of life…
Pope’s Irish Skoda donated to homeless charity
A hatchback car used by Pope Francis during last weekend’s historic visit to Ireland has been donated to charity. The blue Skoda Rapid has been given to Crosscare, a Catholic Church social care agency based in Dublin which helps families living in emergency accommodation to find long term homes, the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin said in […]
Parties on all sides of Yemen have perpetrated human rights violations, say UN appointed investigators
Parties on both side in Yemen’s ongoing civil war have perpetrated human rights violations and possibly war crimes, according to UN appointed human rights investigators. Speaking on Tuesday, Charles Garraway, a member of the International and Regional Group of Eminent Experts in Yemen, said they had found “reasonable grounds” to believe the forces of both Yemen’s […]
ADVOCACY: MICAH AUSTRALIA URGES CHRISTIANS TO RAISE THEIR ‘VOICES FOR JUSTICE’
DAVID ADAMS speaks to Matt Darvas, campaign director for Micah Australia, about the upcoming ‘Voices for Justice’ gathering in Canberra and his own journey to faith through the “door of justice”…
Just 63 per cent US Christians say mercy often influences their words and actions – study
Some 63 per cent of US Christians say mercy is something that often influences their words and actions but 21 per cent say while it’s part of their belief, it doesn’t influence their actions “that much”, according to the findings of a Barna Group study. The study, which was conducted in partnership with Jack Alexander […]
ESSAY: DEPRESSION AMONG CHURCH LEADERS – A PROBLEM FOR US ALL
MAL FLETCHER, writing from London, says it’s time churches take seriously the potential for mental health issues among their leaders…
POSTCARDS: TWO FILMS, TWO FACES OF ASIA – ONLY ONE IS CRAZY RICH
BEH LIH YI and RINA CHANDRAN, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, report on how two new films show two very different sides of Asia…
Liberia set to secure ancestral land rights with long-awaited law
Dakar, SenegalThomson Reuters Foundation Liberia is on the verge of passing a long-awaited land rights law that would help prevent foreign companies uprooting communities to make way for mining and logging, activists said. Liberia’s Senate passed the Land Rights Bill last week after four years of debate. The law recognises customary land rights – the […]