Central African Republic sees sharp decline in violence
Dakar, SenegalThomson Reuters Foundation Central African Republic may be getting safer, according to new figures from the United Nations that show a sharp drop in the number of attacks and human rights abuses since last year. The head of human rights for the UN mission in the country said a peace deal between the government […]
Australia to help ASEAN firms tackle slavery in supply chains
Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaThomson Reuters Foundation A multi-million dollar anti-trafficking strategy between Australia and South-East Asian nations will look at new ways to help businesses root out slavery in their supply chains, a senior foreign ministry official said on Thursday. Last week, Australia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations launched a 10-year counter-trafficking initiative backed […]
A SUSTAINABLE LIFE: WHY YOUR REUSABLE COFFEE CUP MAY BE NO BETTER THAN A DISPOSABLE
Writing for The Conversation in the UK context, CAROLINE WOOD, PhD researcher in plant biology and food security at the University of Sheffield, looks at how eco-friendly reusable coffee cups really are…
Police in Algeria seal church building
Interrupting a worship service, police on Tuesday sealed a church building in north-central Algeria, less than three months after locking shut another site in the same area. “I am deeply saddened by so much injustice – it breaks my heart,” pastor Messaoud Takilt told Morning Star News. “This is not surprising since other Christian places […]
New Zealanders trust Buddhists most, evangelical Christians least, survey finds
New Zealanders trust Buddhists the most and evangelical Christians the least according to the findings of a new survey conducted a month after the Christchurch shootings in March. The online survey of 1,000 New Zealanders, carried out for researchers at the Institute for Governance and Policy Studies at Victoria University of Wellington, asked them how much […]
US Catholic peace activists who broke into a nuclear base ask judge to drop the charges
RNS Seven Catholic peace activists who broke into a nuclear submarine base in Kings Bay, Georgia, last year stood before a federal judge Wednesday to argue that the charges against them should be dismissed. The activists, known as the Kings Bay Plowshares 7, are charged with three felonies and a misdemeanor and face up to […]
THE INTERVIEW: SHIRLEY HOOGSTRA TALKS ABOUT THE “DISTINCTIVE HOPE” OF CHRISTIAN HIGHER EDUCATION
Visiting Australia, Shirley Hoogstra, president of the US-based Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, spoke with CHRISTOPHER GILBERT about the role Christian higher education institutions play in teaching young people how to live out their faith and why she is so committed to bringing such universities and colleges together…
Tiny loans lead to bigger debts, land losses in Cambodia, says report
Bangkok, ThailandThomson Reuters Foundation The rapid rise of tiny loans aimed at helping poor Cambodians has led to more debt, with many borrowers forced to sell land, migrate or put their children to work, human rights groups said on Wednesday. The South-East Asian nation has about 2.4 million borrowers with $US5.4 billion in outstanding microloans, […]
ESSAY: FIVE REASONS WHY TRUMP’S VENEZUELA EMBARGO WON’T END MADURO REGIME
In an article first published on The Conversation, MARCO APONTE-MORENO, associate professor of global business and board member of the Institute for Latino and Latin American Studies, St Mary’s College of California, on why the latest the US economic embargo won’t work…
LIFESTORY: BONO AND GUGGI – A FRIENDSHIP BASED ON ART, PUNK ROCK AND JESUS
CATHLEEN FALSANI, writing for Religion News Service, speaks with artist Guggi about growing up in North Dublin, his faith and art – and his famous friendship with Bono…