COVID-19 economic fallout could push 86 million more children into poverty – report
AP Two major children’s organisations say the number of children in poor and middle-income countries living below the poverty line could increase by 86 million to 672 million by the end of 2020 as a result of the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. UNICEF and the Save the Children humanitarian and rights organization said […]
WHO says the Americas are new COVID-19 epicenter as deaths surge in Latin America
Brasilia, BrazilReuters The Americas have emerged as the new epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, the World Health Organization said in a Tuesday briefing, as a US study forecast deaths surging in Brazil and other Latin American countries through August. “Now is not the time for countries to ease restrictions,” Carissa Etienne, WHO director for the […]
Bethlehem Nativity Church reopens after coronavirus closure
Bethlehem, West BankAP Bethlehem’s storied Church of the Nativity reopened to visitors on Tuesday, after a nearly three-month closure due to the coronavirus pandemic. The church, built over the spot where Christians believe Jesus was born, was closed on 5th March as the first cases of the virus were reported in the West Bank. The […]
More than 600 Christians killed in Islamic extremists attacks in first five months of 2020 – report
More than 600 Christians have been killed in attacks by Fulani herdsmen and Islamic extremist groups in Nigeria in the first four-and-a-half months of this year, according to a report released earlier this month. The report, from the Nigerian-based International Society for Civil Liberties & Rule of Law, found that no fewer than 620 Christians had […]
California issues guidelines for church reopenings
AP Religious services in California will look much different under rules unveiled Monday that limit attendance to 100 people and recommend worshippers wear masks, limit singing and refrain from shaking hands or hugging. The state released guidance under which county health departments can approve the reopening of churches, mosques, synagogues and other houses of worship. […]
Mexico’s former prisoners work to free hundreds of women
Mexico City, MexicoThomson Reuters Foundation Betty Maldonado spent more than six years in a Mexico prison for selling drugs to pay off her husband’s debt – she doesn’t want others to share her fate. So she joined forces with a clutch of women – many of whom she met in jail – to launch a […]
“No time”: Latin America’s slum dwellers lead coronavirus battle
FABIO TEIXEIRA, ANASTASIA MOLONEY and OSCAR LOPEZ, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, report on how people living in slums in Latin America are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic…
As lockdown clears the air, Cairo looks to keep pollution low
Cairo, EgyptThomson Reuters Foundation It is a Thursday evening in downtown Cairo, usually a crowded and noisy time as the weekend gets underway. But today the streets are quiet, and the air is noticeably clean. “It has been a long time since I breathed such fresh air here and saw the sky clean like that,” […]
Essay: Rwandans will want Félicien Kabuga tried at home. Why this won’t happen
In an article first published on The Conversation, JONATHAN BELOFF, a teaching fellow in the Department of Politics and International Studies at SOAS University of London, explains how the decision over where Rwandan Félicien Kabuga will be tried will be made…
Sight-Seeing: Fear won’t win the coronavirus fight
In an article first published by Religion News Service, RICK MCDANIEL, founder and senior pastor of Richmond Community Church in Virginia and the author of ‘You Got Style’, explains why we must fight fear during the COVID-19 pandemic…