US judge upholds Nevada’s cap on size of church gatherings
Reno, Nevada, USAP A US federal judge has ruled against the leaders of two Nevada churches who argued that the state’s coronavirus-related restrictions on religious gatherings are an unconstitutional violation of their First Amendment rights. US District Judge Richard Boulware II on Tuesday denied requests from a church in rural Lyon County and another in […]
“He is going to change the world”: Funeral held for George Floyd in Houston
Houston, USAP George Floyd was fondly remembered Tuesday as “Big Floyd” – a father and brother, athlete and neighborhood mentor, and now a catalyst for change – at a funeral for the black man whose death has sparked a global reckoning over police brutality and racial prejudice. More than 500 mourners wearing masks against the […]
Son of woman killed in security operation seeks attention for Jamaica’s poorest suburbs
Kingston, JamaicaThomson Reuters Foundation The death of a mentally ill woman in Jamaica shot in her home during a military/police operation has reignited a debate about the treatment of residents in the nation’s poorest inner-city communities as protests emerge globally over racial inequality. Susan Bogle, 44, was resting at her home in August Town, an […]
Toppling of UK statue fuels debate on monuments to slave traders
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation Anti-racism protesters who tore down a statue honouring a slave trader in a British port city have fuelled a hot global debate over how to deal with monuments to historic figures who profited from enslaving African people. The toppling of the statue of Edward Colston, who made a fortune in the […]
In the US, Falwell apologises for tweet that included racist photo
Richmond, Virginia, USAP Liberty University President Jerry Falwell, Jr, apologised Monday for a tweet that included a racist photo that appeared on Governor Ralph Northam’s medical school yearbook page decades ago. “After listening to African American LU leaders and alumni over the past week and hearing their concerns, I understand that by tweeting an image […]
Judge sentences 80-year-old Catholic activist for breaking into nuclear submarine base
RNS A US District Court judge has sentenced an 80-year-old Catholic peace activist to time already served for trespassing onto the Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base in St Marys, Georgia, more than two years ago as part of a symbolic nuclear disarmament action. Elizabeth McAlister, a former nun with the Religious of the Sacred Heart […]
Thousands mourn George Floyd in Texas amid calls for reform
Houston, USAP The last chance for the public to say goodbye to George Floyd drew thousands of mourners Monday to a church in Houston where he grew up, as his death two weeks ago continues to stoke protests in America and beyond over racial injustice, and spurred France to abruptly halt the use of police […]
As warming risks rise, Boston pastor sees need to spur ‘climate justice’
SHANNON LARSON, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on Rev Mariama White-Hammond’s mission to prevent the impacts of climate change devastating black and minority communities…
Russian Orthodox priest tends to Moscow’s COVID-19 patients
Moscow, RussiaAP Rev Vasily Gelevan bends over a COVID-19 patient at her apartment to administer Holy Communion and say words of comfort while clad in a hazmat suit. The bedside ministry is one of many such visits the 45-year old Russian Orthodox priest makes daily as he shuttles across Moscow in a minivan to tend […]
Essay: Why American evangelicals are so tempted by the easy assurance of conspiracy theories
US writer and activist DL Mayfield looks at the danger of conspiracy theories…