Fights to end polio, contain Ebola made tougher by rising violence, research finds
New York City, USThomson Reuters Foundation Documented attacks on health workers in conflict areas increased dramatically last year, endangering both children waiting for polio vaccines and efforts to contain the latest outbreak of Ebola, research showed on Wednesday. Last year 973 attacks were reported on health workers in nearly two dozen conflict-ridden countries, killing 167 […]
Facebook restricts Live feature, citing New Zealand shooting
ReutersSan Francisco Facebook Inc said on Tuesday it was tightening rules around its livestreaming feature ahead of a meeting of world leaders aimed at curbing online violence in the aftermath of a massacre in New Zealand. A lone gunman killed 51 people at two mosques in the city of Christchurch on 15th March while livestreaming […]
STRANGESIGHTS: A SAINTLY GIANT; LUXURY YACHT REVIEWER NEEDED; AND, A BANKNOTE TYPO…
DAVID ADAMS writes about the odder side of life…
Companies urged to clean up their act on plastic as study shows deadly impact
LondonThomson Reuters Foundation Up to a million people die every year in poor countries from illnesses caused by discarded waste and plastic pollution, researchers said on Tuesday, urging governments and consumer goods companies to clean up their act. Mismanaged waste creates a breeding ground for disease-carrying insects that spread malaria, dengue and typhoid fever, while […]
As risks rise, too little is spent to avert disasters, say UN and Red Cross
Geneva, SwitzerlandThomson Reuters Foundation Governments and businesses are still investing far too little to protect poor communities at rising risk from wild weather and other threats, the heads of the UN disaster prevention agency and the Red Cross said Tuesday. Countries are having to dig deep to bail out crisis-hit communities – as happened after […]
FILM: ‘THE LEAST OF THESE’ – AUSTRALIAN MISSIONARY’S LIFE AND TRAGIC DEATH RECOUNTED IN A POWERFUL STORY OF FORGIVENESS
DAVID ADAMS speaks to actor Shari Rigby and writer Andrew Matthews about their role in bringing the story of Australian missionaries Graham and Gladys Staines to the big screen…
First aid in years lifts hope for cut-off towns in Central African Republic
Dakar, SenegalThomson Reuters Foundation Aid workers have negotiated with fighters to enter a remote part of Central African Republic for the first time in years, raising hope for other areas, the United Nations said on Tuesday. Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres was the first to reach the town of Mingala, in the southern Basse-Kotto prefecture, […]
ESSAY: IN THE US, A FIGHT OVER ‘SO HELP ME GOD’? GOD HELP US
Writing from the US, Catholic commentator THOMAS REESE, in an article first published on Religion News Service, posits a way forward in the fight over whether “so help me God” should be dropped from oaths made before legislative committees…
POSTCARDS: GANGS TO GARDENS – KENYAN YOUTH SHUN CRIME TO CREATE GREEN SPACES
THOMAS BWIRE reports for Thomson Reuters Foundation from Nairobi…
Sowing division, Islamists target Christians in Burkina Faso
RNS A rash of attacks on churches in Burkina Faso is exposing the growing challenge of containing Islamist violence across Africa’s Sahel region. On Sunday, militants attacked a Roman Catholic Church service in Dablo, a town about 200 kilometres north of Burkina Faso’s capital, Ouagadougou, killing a 34-year-old Catholic priest and at least five worshippers. […]