Vatican closes latest probe into girl’s 1983 disappearance
Rome, ItalyAP The Vatican has formally closed its latest investigation into the 1983 disappearance of an employee’s 15-year-old daughter after digging up a Holy See cemetery in search of her remains. The mystery of Emanuela Orlandi’s disappearance has horrified and intrigued Italians for decades. The cold case resurfaced last year after an anonymous tip to […]
UN chief laments lack of global leadership in coronavirus fight
United NationsReuters United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday lamented a lack of leadership by world powers and a divided international community in the fight against the coronavirus as he raised concern about inadequate support for poor countries. Guterres’ remarks come after US President Donald Trump reignited his war of words with China during an […]
Drugs, oil…women? Mexican cartels turn to human trafficking
Mexico City, MexicoThomson Reuters Foundation Organised crime is mutating in Mexico as gangs who steal oil and sell drugs try a lucrative new line of work trafficking people, according to a top official fighting money laundering. Santiago Nieto, head of Mexico’s financial intelligence unit (UIF), said his team had discovered that some of the country’s […]
StrangeSights: A ‘scary’ tribute; a new Australia canine record; and, US reporter caught with no pants…
DAVID ADAMS looks at the odder side of life…
Southern Baptist publishing arm, LifeWay, announces cuts due to COVID-19
RNS LifeWay Christian Resources, the publishing entity of the Southern Baptist Convention, has announced it will cut roughly 10 per cent of its operating budget through staff reductions, a hiring freeze and salary cuts. The move comes after five consecutive weeks of steep revenue decline in the wake of the coronavirus and the expectation that […]
As COVID-19 leaves millions on brink of starvation, African church leader says hunger is beatable
As the UN warns that the coronavirus pandemic is pushing millions to the brink if starvation in a “widespread famine of Biblical proportions”, a senior Christian leader in Africa has emphasised that it is possible to beat hunger, a yoke that enslaves many in the continent. Rev Nicta Lubaale, the general secretary of the Organization […]
City demolitions expose Ethiopian families to coronavirus
Nairobi, Kenya/Addis Ababa, EthiopiaThomson Reuters Foundation Scores of Ethiopian families are at risk of contracting the new coronavirus after authorities demolished their makeshift houses and left them homeless, human rights groups said this week. Authorities in the capital began destroying the informal settlements near Bole International Airport in February. An aerial view of Addis Ababa, […]
Oklahoma bombing: 25 years ago, a prayer service gave hope to a shaken America
This month marked the 25th anniversary of the bombing of the Alfred P Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in which 168 people died. BOBBY ROSS, Jr, reports for AP, on the difference a prayer service made in the aftermath…
Most people want billionaires to pitch in to aid poverty and inequality
New York City, USThomson Reuters Foundation Eight out of 10 people think billionaires should help end poverty, inequality and a host of global ills, a poll showed on Wednesday, as funding shortages and the new coronavirus stymied hopes of meeting the United Nations’ development goals for 2030. The ambitious plans, known as the Sustainable Development […]
Essay: Why the restored Notre Dame cathedral must remain a church
Catholic Archbishop of Paris MICHEL AUPETIT explains why Notre Dame’s purpose should be as it ever was – a place of worship and a house of prayer…