POSTCARDS: IN SYDNEY, A PANEL CONSIDERS ACTIVISM AMONG EVANGELICALS TODAY
Last month, Australia’s Anglican Deaconess Ministries kicked off its annual School of Theology, Culture and Public Engagement 2020 with a panel discussion on ‘Evangelical Faith, Past, Present and Future’. CHRISTOPHER GILBERT was there…
“Wishful thinking”: Chief justice no saviour for liberals at Trump trial
Washington DC, USReuters Conservative US Chief Justice John Roberts always looked unlikely to become the hero for liberals at President Donald Trump’s Senate impeachment trial that some of them had hoped for. He turned out to be a mere bit player in the drama. Some Democratic senators, liberal activists and commentators had wanted Roberts to […]
Twitter to label deepfakes and other deceptive media
San Francisco, USReuters Twitter said on Tuesday it would start applying a label to tweets containing synthetic or deceptively edited forms of media, as social media platforms brace for a potential onslaught of misinformation ahead of the 2020 presidential election. The company also said it would remove any deliberately misleading manipulated media likely to cause […]
“Black summer” – Australian PM leads tribute to bushfire victims
Sydney, AustraliaReuters Australia suspended parliament on Tuesday to honour the victims of a national bushfire crisis that has killed 33 people, as more than 100 fires remained ablaze across the country’s east coast. Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who has received public criticism for his handling of the crisis, led a tribute as legislators returned to […]
BOOKS: AN IMMIGRANT’S TALE
DAVID ADAMS reads Ali Master’s memoir…
China virus death toll posts grim record rise, passes 400
Beijing, ChinaReuters China said it would welcome assistance from the United States to fight a coronavirus outbreak, a day after it accused Washington of scaremongering, and as the death toll rose on Tuesday by a new daily record to more than 420. The toll in China rose to 425 as of the end of Monday, […]
Indigenous people left landless as traditional farming wanes in north-east India
Shillong, IndiaThomson Reuters Foundation Tribal people in north-eastern India are increasingly becoming landless and poor as their traditional farming practices are abandoned in favour of commercial plantations, Indigenous experts warned last week. “Jhum” is the practice by tribal groups in the north-eastern states of rotating land use for temporary farming, resulting in parts of forest […]
US megachurch pastor John Ortberg allowed volunteer who was attracted to minors to work with children
RNS John Ortberg, a popular evangelical author and megachurch pastor, betrayed a “bond of trust” by allowing a church volunteer who admitted being attracted to minors to still work with children, according to a statement from the elders at the Bay Area church he leads. “In July of 2018, a person serving in the Menlo […]
GIVING BLOOD
I started giving blood again a few years ago after a number of years hiatus. PICTURE: Hush Naidoo/Unsplash I must admit – I don’t like giving blood. It’s not a very pleasant task. I’m not having a go at the staff! The staff do a wonderful job of putting you at ease and supporting you […]
AFRICA: STORM-HIT ZIMBABWEANS ENDURE ANOTHER RAINY SEASON IN RISKY HOMES
FARAI SHAWN MATIASHE, writing for Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on ongoing hardships facing Zimbabweans in the wake of Cyclone Idai last March…