WHO urges countries to investigate early COVID-19 cases
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters The World Health Organization said on Tuesday that a report that COVID-19 had emerged in December in France, sooner than previously thought, was “not surprising”, and urged countries to investigate any other early suspicious cases. The disease later identified as COVID-19 was first reported by Chinese authorities to the WHO on 31st December […]
UK overtakes Italy with Europe’s highest official coronavirus death toll
London, UKReuters The United Kingdom has overtaken Italy to report the highest official death toll from the new coronavirus in Europe, figures released on Tuesday showed, increasing pressure on Prime Minister Boris Johnson over his response to the crisis. Weekly figures from Britain’s Office for National Statistics added more than 7,000 deaths in England and […]
How do koalas drink? Not the way you might think
Washington DC, USReuters Scientists have solved a lingering mystery about koala behavior – how these tree-dwelling marsupials native to Australia consume enough water to live. A new study describes koala drinking behavior in the wild for the first time, finding that they lick water running down the smooth surface of tree trunks during rainfall – […]
Books: An examination of Christian sexual ethics
DAVID ADAMS reads Sam Allberry’s book on sexual ethics and the Christian faith…
Drought-hit Argentina faces water worries amid coronavirus pandemic
Buenos AiresThomson Reuters Foundation At Iguazu Falls, a World Heritage site and one of South America’s tourist highlights, crowds normally gather in the drifting spray of 275 spectacular waterfalls, spread in an arc around them on the border between Argentina and Brazil. Last month, however, it’s not just the coronavirus pandemic that has closed the […]
Samaritan’s Purse New York City field hospital to close as virus cases drop in NYC
RNS The field hospital erected by the evangelical humanitarian relief organisation Samaritan’s Purse in New York City’s Central Park will shut down after it releases its last patient – likely on Friday, 8th May. The 68 bed tent hospital in Central Park’s East Meadow, run in partnership with the nearby Mount Sinai Hospital, was expected […]
Global charities team up on coronavirus lifeline for social entrepreneurs
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation A group of 40 global aid agencies and charities launched an alliance on Monday to help social entrepreneurs weather the coronavirus crisis, saying they provided a vital safety net for some of the world’s poorest people. Backed by the World Economic Forum, the alliance is made up of 40 leading global […]
‘L’ plates
My daughter is learning to drive! It’s brought up a whole lot of feelings I didn’t expect! PICTURE: Oscar Nilsson/Unsplash My little girl driving a car- taking her life in her hands!? This is scary stuff – necessary, but scary! Unfortunately young people do die on our roads. I’ve done a couple of funerals. It’s […]
Garment industry: As fashion sales fall globally, big brands leave Asia’s garment workers in limbo
KIERAN GUILBERT, NAIMUL KARIM and ANURADHA NAGARAJ, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, report…
With split delayed, United Methodists face a year in limbo
New York, USAP Had there been no coronavirus pandemic, America’s largest mainline Protestant denomination would be convening this week for a likely vote to break up over differences on same-sex marriage and ordination of LGBTQ pastors. Instead, the United Methodist Church was forced to postpone the potentially momentous conference, leaving its various factions in limbo […]