Brazil’s Bolsonaro, long a sceptic, tests positive for coronavirus
Sao Paulo/Brasilia, BrazilReuters Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Tuesday he tested positive for the novel coronavirus after months of playing down the severity of the virus and defying medical experts, even as the pandemic killed more than 65,000 people in his country. The right-wing populist told a group of television reporters that he had […]
WHO acknowledges ‘evidence emerging’ of airborne spread of COVID-19
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters The World Health Organization on Tuesday acknowledged “evidence emerging” of the airborne spread of the novel coronavirus, after a group of scientists urged the global body to update its guidance on how the respiratory disease passes between people. “We have been talking about the possibility of airborne transmission and aerosol transmission as one […]
Updated: Virus loans helped entities tied to Trump evangelical allies
Updated: 11am, 8th July, 2020 AESTNew York City, USAP Churches connected to President Donald Trump and other organisations linked to current or former Trump evangelical advisers received at least $US17.3 million in loans from a federal rescue package designed to aid small businesses during the coronavirus pandemic. Those receiving loans include City of Destiny, the […]
Kenya orders probe into rise in violence against women and girls during pandemic
Nairobi, KenyaThomson Reuters Foundation Kenya’s President on Monday ordered an investigation into rising reports of violence against women and girls – including rape, domestic violence, female genital mutilation and child marriage – as a result of coronavirus restrictions. Lockdowns to curb the spread of the new coronavirus have fuelled an upsurge in gender-based violence across […]
Australia’s second largest city heads back into coronavirus lockdown
Updated: 10pm AESTSydney/Melbourne, AustraliaReuters Lockdown measures were reimposed in Australia’s second biggest city on Tuesday, confining Melbourne residents to their homes unless undertaking essential business for six weeks, as officials scramble to to contain a coronavirus outbreak. The decision, which affects around 4.9 million people, was announced just hours before the busy border between Victoria, […]
Turkey orders deportation of pastor’s wife and mother-of-three in string of expulsions
World Watch Monitor A Christian woman and mother-of-three has been told she has to leave Turkey, one of the latest incidents in a series of expulsions of Christian expatriates from the country. Joy Anna Crow Subasigüller, originally from Florida, USA, and her Turkish husband Lütfü were married seven years ago. They settled and started a […]
Global food banks struggle to aid pandemic’s ‘new poor’ as donations slow
Rome, ItalyThomson Reuters Foundation Until COVID-19 forced her home city of Bangkok into lockdown in late March, Bangaon Kamsaeng had never stopped working; as a waitress, cleaning people’s houses, even as a freelance garbage collector. “I wasn’t picky,” the 40-year-old single mother, who goes by her nickname Aom, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation with a […]
Tony Campolo, beloved pastor and social activist, recovering from stroke
RNS Popular pastor and speaker Tony Campolo, 85, is recovering from a stroke he had on June 20, his family shared publicly in a statement on Monday. The stroke partially paralysed the left side of Campolo’s face and body. He is currently in recovery at the Beaumont Health Center, which is part of the retirement community near […]
Life with coronavirus: Back to work? Not without a check-in app, immunity passport
RINA CHANDRAN, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on how nations are using technology to enable people to keep safe even as they head back to work…
Coronavirus lockdowns seen increasing HIV risk to women and girls
Johannesburg, South AfricaThomson Reuters Foundation Coronavirus lockdowns have hindered the fight against HIV infection in women and girls globally by limiting their access to education and protection from sexual violence, the United Nations warned on Monday. Governments’ focus on tackling the pandemic has also shifted attention and resources away from protecting vulnerable populations from HIV, according […]