Coronavirus puts millions more at risk of child marriage and FGM – UN
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation The coronavirus pandemic is reversing progress on ending child marriage and female genital mutilation, jeopardising the futures of millions of girls, a senior UN official said on Tuesday. “The pandemic both makes our job harder and more urgent as so many more girls are now at risk,” said Natalia Kanem, head […]
Pope urges US Catholic media to work to overcome racism
Rome, ItalyAP Pope Francis is urging Catholic media in the US to work to overcome the “diseases of racism and injustice” in his latest comments about George Floyd’s death in the US and the anti-racism protests that followed. In a message to a virtual conference of Catholic journalists of North America on Tuesday, Francis said […]
Australia’s second largest city orders 36 suburbs locked down to stop virus spike
Sydney, AustraliaReuters Authorities on Tuesday ordered the lockdown of 36 suburbs in Australia’s second biggest city Melbourne in an attempt to stop a spike in coronavius cases, a dramatic departure from the relaxation of restrictions elsewhere in the country. From midnight on Wednesday the first suburb-specific stay-home order will be imposed on some 320,000 people, […]
China passes Hong Kong security law amid global opposition
Hong Kong/Beijing, ChinaReuters China’s parliament passed national security legislation for Hong Kong on Tuesday, setting the stage for the most radical changes to the former British colony’s way of life since it returned to Chinese rule almost exactly 23 years ago. State media is expected to publish details of the law – which comes in […]
Global church bodies express concern over Israel’s proposed West Bank annexation
Four global church bodies have expressed concern over the proposed annexation of occupied Palestinian territories in the West Bank by the Israeli Government, saying such a move would be “in direct violation of international law”. In a joint ecumenical statement released on Monday, the World Council of Churches, World Communion of Reformed Churches, ACT Alliance and Lutheran […]
Nobel winners call for coronavirus vaccines to be available for all
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation Nobel peace laureate Desmond Tutu and actor George Clooney are among more than 100 people who have signed an appeal for COVID-19 vaccines to be declared a global common good and made widely available. The appeal is led by the founder of the microcredit movement Muhammad Yunus, also a Nobel peace […]
Polish group seeks Pope’s action against sex abuse, cover-up
Rome, ItalyAP The Vatican says Pope Francis has been informed about an appeal launched by a group of Catholics in Poland urging intervention into cases where bishops have continued to cover up for priests who sexually molest children. The group ‘EnoughHarm’ took out a full-page advertisement on Monday in Rome daily La Repubblica, addressed to […]
The big chill: How Africa is moving to battle ‘zombie’ appliances
PEYTON FLEMING, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on efforts to curb the flow of discarded electronic appliances into Africa…
Labour groups slam Brazil’s guidelines for worker safety in pandemic
Rio de Janeiro, BrazilThomson Reuters Foundation Safety guidelines for working during the pandemic in Brazil, a global epicentre of the coronavirus, came under heavy criticism on Monday by labour groups who said the rules amounted to criminal disregard for workers’ and public health. The guidelines, one set for workers in meatpacking plants and another for […]
Essay: We can’t cancel ‘white Jesus’, but we can keep telling our church’s story
PAUL ROBINSON, executive minister of Love Mercy Do Justice of the Evangelical Covenant Church – the church that originally commissioned Warner Sallman’s famous blonde, blue-eyed image of Christ, responds to calls to cancel ‘white Jesus’…