Somalia races to save livelihoods as new locust generation spawns
Nairobi, KenyaThomson Reuters Foundation Somalia is deploying surveillance teams and specialised vehicles to prevent desert locust swarms ravaging crops and pastures, and destroying the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people, United Nations and government officials said on Monday. The worst outbreak in a generation has seen hungry swarms – some the size of cities […]
As protesters decry US coronavirus lockdown, officials plead for caution
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USReuters The US debate over when to lift restrictions to curb the coronavirus outbreak intensified on Monday, with protesters describing mandatory lockdowns as “tyranny” and health workers and officials portraying them as a matter of life and death. Stay-at-home measures, which experts say are essential to slow the spread of the virus, have […]
Olympics: Organisers must be flexible if coronavirus vaccine not ready in time, experts say
Tokyo, JapanReuters The Tokyo Olympics next July will be a “uniquely risky” event, demanding flexibility from organisers amid the uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic, particularly if a vaccine has not been rolled out by then, medical experts say. Japan and the International Olympic Committee made the unprecedented decision last month to delay the Games for […]
Soundbite – The TCM Update: Christian music in the Seventies, part I
Listen to this week’s TCM Update…
World Council of Churches and US National Council of Churches call on Trump to reverse WHO funding decision
The World Council of Churches has joined with the National Council of Churches (USA) in urging US President Donald Trump to reverse his decision to suspend funding of the World Health Organization. In a statement released on Thursday, Rev Prof Dr Ioan Sauca, acting general secretary of the World Council of Churches, expressed “deep dismay” that […]
Sex-based virus lockdowns expose gender divide in Latin America
Bogota, ColombiaThomson Reuters Foundation A coronavirus lockdown policy that lets men and women leave the house on alternate days has exposed a gender divide in Bogota within days of being introduced, while Peru has dropped a similar scheme after finding it made women’s days busier. The Colombian capital last week joined two countries in Latin […]
Confronting challenging times: How Australian Christian agencies are reinventing their work through the COVID-19 upheaval
CHRISTOPHER GILBERT reports on how Australian Christian agencies are adapting during the coronavirus pandemic…
Nepal’s top court orders rescue of migrant workers stranded abroad
Kathamandu, NepalThomson Reuters Foundation Nepal’s top court has ordered the government to bring back vulnerable migrant workers stranded abroad in the coronavirus crisis after the country barred its own citizens from returning. Up to 2.6 million Nepali migrants are estimated to be in the Gulf, Malaysia and Korea and labour rights activists say many have […]
Essay: Catholic Church urges Venezuela to unite against coronavirus
In an article first published on The Conversation, sociologists DAVID SMILDE and HUGO PÉREZ HERÁIZ say after years of economic and political crisis, Venezuela is ill-prepared to cope with a pandemic…
This Life: How to be a ‘curator of joy’
ELISABETH CARTER on what it looks like to bring joy to ourselves and others in these challenging times…