London’s St Paul’s launched online COVID-19 national book of remembrance
London’s iconic St Paul’s Cathedral has created on online national book of remembrance to commemorate those in the UK who have died from COVID-19. People of all faiths, beliefs and none, are invited to contribute to the ‘Remember Me’ website, which goes live on 22nd May. The cathedral said family, friends and carers of those […]
UN again urges global cease-fire to fight virus
AP The United Nations secretary-general is again urging factions in conflict to heed his call for a global cease-fire to help tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. In a report to the UN Security Council released Thursday, Antonio Guterres pointed to the more than 20,000 civilians killed or injured in 2019 attacks in 10 countries – and […]
Jump in forced marriages feared after UK lockdown
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation British charities working to end forced marriage have seen a spike in calls for help from girls terrified their parents will marry them off as soon as lockdown lifts. “We expect forced marriages will escalate after the lockdown,” said Natasha Rattu, chief executive of Karma Nirvana which campaigns against forced marriage. […]
In the US state of Minnesota, Catholic, Lutheran churches to defy governor and hold services
Minneapolis, USAP Roman Catholic and Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod congregations across Minnesota plan to resume worship services in defiance of the state’s ban on gatherings of more than 10 people, their leaders said Thursday, the strongest direct challenge to Governor Tim Walz’s restrictions to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The leaders said at a […]
Faith and food: Making his kitchen his pulpit, Indian priest highlights the pandemic’s hungry
PRIYADARSHINI SEN reports from India for Religion News Service on how one Catholic priest is combining food and faith amid fears over food security in India…
Chores and childcare: who bears the brunt in lockdown? Women
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation Working mothers in Europe and the United States are taking on most of the extra housework and childcare created by lockdown – and many are struggling to cope, a survey showed on Thursday. Women with children now spend an average 65 hours a week on the unpaid chores – nearly a […]
Essay: US seeks to change the rules for mining the Moon
In an article first published on The Conversation, SCOTT SHACKELFORD, of Indiana University, looks at what the rules are about owning property in space as the US looks to mine the Moon…
Postcards: Staying home means starving to death for millions displaced in Yemen
AMAL MAMOON reports for Thomson Reuters Foundation from the al-Kadaha camp for displaced people in Taiz, Yemen…
In the US, faith groups react to claims famed anti-abortion activist was paid to switch sides
RNS News that a seminal figure in the decades-long abortion debate was allegedly paid to advocate against the practice is triggering mixed reactions from religious leaders. Norma McCorvey, also known as the anonymous plaintiff “Jane Roe” in the landmark 1973 US Supreme Court case Roe v Wade, has long been a champion of the anti-abortion […]