US criticised over top anti-trafficking ranking despite failings
Thomson Reuters Foundation The United States has undermined its credibility in the global drive to end human trafficking by giving itself top marks in its annual report on the crime despite dwindling prosecutions and protection for foreign victims, advocates said on Monday. Since 2000, the US State Department’s Trafficking in Persons report has sorted countries into […]
“No excuse” for countries that fail in contact tracing, WHO’s Tedros says
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters Tracing contacts of people with coronavirus infections is the most important step in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, and countries that are failing to do so have no excuse, the World Health Organization chief said on Monday. “Although many countries have made some progress, globally the pandemic is actually speeding up,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus […]
Planets around nearby star are intriguing candidates for extraterrestrial life
Washington DC, USReuters Up to three planets – potentially rocky like Earth – have been spotted around a star located relatively near our solar system – a planetary system offering astronomers intriguing possibilities in the search for signs of extraterrestrial life. The planets orbit Gliese 887, a so-called red dwarf star half the sun’s mass […]
Tencent’s ‘smart city’ seen as model for post-coronavirus China
Bangkok, ThailandThomson Reuters Foundation Chinese tech giant Tencent is creating a “smart city” that utilises technology to put people and the environment first, a model that could be applied to other urban developments after the coronavirus, the project’s architect said on Wednesday. Net City will be a two million square metre neighbourhood in the south-eastern […]
UK government advised to harness pandemic to speed zero-carbon aims
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation From creating jobs in home insulation to hiking dirty fuel taxes and expanding electric-vehicle charging, Britain’s government should harness the COVID-19 pandemic to accelerate cuts in planet-heating emissions, an advisory panel said on Thursday. With public support for low-carbon shifts growing and the state spending billions to boost its flagging economy, […]
UN marks 75th anniversary with scaled down event
AP The United Nations is marking its 75th anniversary with a scaled-down event because of the COVID-19 pandemic, one of many challenges a deeply divided world must tackle along with poverty, inequality, discrimination and unending wars. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told Friday’s virtual commemoration of the signing of the UN Charter that “global pressures are […]
Vacation Bible Schools: As the US faces a summer of pandemic, programs go online and outside
EMILY MCFARLAN MILLER, of Religion News Service, reports on how US holiday Bible school programs have had to adapt their activities during the coronavirus outbreak…
Cash isn’t king: vulnerable short-changed by virus
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation Getting groceries in the coronavirus crisis has been tricky for many people, but for Eric Jones – an 89-year-old Briton who lives alone and relies on cash – it has proved particularly perplexing. Before lockdown, a volunteer drove Jones to a supermarket near his home in southern England to pick up […]
Essay: Northern Ireland’s police transformation may hold lessons for the US
In an article first published on The Conversation, US scholars LAURA A WEINSTEIN and DONALD BEAUDETTE say the transformation of police in Northern Ireland offers valuable lessons for America…
This Life: Will you say ‘Yes’ to the Lord?
US columnist CAROL ROUND, in an article first published on ASSIST News Service, writes about what it means to take a leap of faith (and overcome the fear of doing so)…