Over 180 people exposed to virus at California church
San Francisco, USAP More than 180 people in a rural northern California county were asked to self-quarantine after they were exposed to the coronavirus during a Mother’s Day church service attended by an infected person, health officials said. The infected person received their positive COVID-19 diagnosis the day after they attended service at a church […]
US savages WHO as it promises pandemic review, but China pledges $US2 billion
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters The World Health Organization said on Monday an independent review of the global coronavirus response would begin as soon as possible and it received backing and a hefty pledge of funds from China, in the spotlight as the origin of the pandemic. But the WHO’s chief critic, the US administration of President Donald […]
Australia welcomes growing support for COVID-19 inquiry at WHO meeting
SydneyReuters A draft resolution pushed by the European Union and Australia calling for an independent review into the origins and spread of the coronavirus has support from 116 nations at the World Health Assembly, almost enough for it to pass, a document showed. The resolution on COVID-19 will be put forward on Tuesday if it […]
UK gangs could recruit more child drug mules as lockdown lifts
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation Criminal gangs that use young people to sell drugs across Britain could recruit more out-of-school children as the country’s coronavirus lockdown eases, the National Crime Agency said, also warning of a spike in online child sex abuse. As lockdowns lift globally and several countries consider reopening borders, criminals will likely ramp […]
Mexican rights commission calls for halt to ‘Mayan Train’ tourism project
Mexico City, MexicoThomson Reuters Foundation Mexico’s national human rights commission on Thursday demanded the government halt construction of the Mayan Train railroad, saying non-essential work on the ambitious tourism project risked coronavirus exposure by vulnerable Indigenous groups. The government department overseeing the project said in response that it was taking necessary safety measures in building […]
Retired pope suggests St John Paul II be called “the Great”
Rome, ItalyAP Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI has honoured St John Paul II on the centenary of his birth and floated the idea that he should be called “the Great,” as only two other popes have been. John Paul’s longtime secretary, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, held a press conference in Krakow, Poland, on Friday to present a […]
Adapting church: Clergy, scientists grapple with thoughts of worship without congregational singing
ADELLE M BANKS, writing for Religion News Service, reports on how US churches are grappling with the idea of resuming congregational singing…
Hope rising for Iranian Christian asylum seekers after EU ruling
Budapest, HungaryBosNewsLife Hope is rising for an Iranian Christian father and his young son held in detention on the Hungarian-Serbian border for 527 days after the European Union’s top court last week condemned Hungary’s treatment of asylum seekers. The European Court of Justice ruled on 14th May that Budapest was obliged to reconsider their applications. […]
Essay: Voter suppression is a theological issue
Writing from the US in an article first published on Religion News Service, JIM WALLIS, founder of Sojourners, and BARBARA WILLIAMS-SKINNER, co-convener of the National African American Clergy Network, write about why voter suppression is a “spiritual offence” to God…
This Life: Doing good makes a difference
US columnist CAROL ROUND, in an article first published by ASSIST News Service, on why helping others counts…