Last year was one of three warmest on record, researchers find
London, UKReuters Last year was one of the three warmest on record, with glaciers melting, sea levels rising and a spate of wildfires, heatwaves and droughts, research published in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society showed. The BAMS annual State of the Climate Report, by 528 climate scientists from 61 countries, said only 2015 […]
Updated: Brazilian state agrees to produce Russian COVID-19 vaccine
Correction: Germany’s infectious disease body, the Robert Koch Institute, on Wednesday retracted a report posted earlier on its website that said a first vaccine against the coronavirus could be available as early as autumn. The report also said it would be dangerous to trust that a vaccination from autumn 2020 can control the pandemic. An […]
Landmark UK court ruling finds police use of facial recognition unlawful
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation A British court said on Tuesday that a police force’s use of facial recognition to hunt for suspects was unlawful, in a ruling that privacy campaigners hailed as a “major victory” in their fight against the surveillance technology. In a case that judges described last year as the first of its […]
Wind knocks down wall of fire-gutted historic Chicago church
AP Strong winds caused additional damage to a historic Chicago church but may have also swept in a badly needed “blessing” for a sanctuary where Mahalia Jackson and other famed Gospel singers often sang and the man considered the father of Gospel music led the choir. Winds that reached nearly 100mph knocked down the south […]
StrangeSights: Communion with chopsticks; chief mouser announces retirement; and, a Blockbuster experience…
DAVID ADAMS looks at the odder side of life…
Bougainville’s youth pursue break from bloody past at presidential vote
Sydney, AustraliaReuters Young people in the South Pacific islands of Bougainville are seizing the opportunity to help reshape the future of the autonomous region of Papua New Guinea as they head to the polls this month to elect a new leader. The general election is the first since Bougainville voted overwhelmingly for independence from Papua […]
Jobless youth risk lifelong “scarring” from pandemic – ILO
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters Young people who have lost jobs or schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic risk carrying “scarring effects” throughout their working lives unless governments provide immediate support, the International Labour Organization said on Tuesday. An ILO poll of 12,000 youths in 112 countries showed in May that more than one in six people under 24 […]
Indian child workers’ deaths spur anti-trafficking push
Chennai, IndiaThomson Reuters Foundation India’s Rajasthan state is mounting a major campaign to stop children being trafficked across its borders after three child victims who were rescued from factories died from malnutrition. Extra checkpoints are being set up to stop traffickers and authorities have told police to conduct monthly drives against child labour, according to […]
Catholic education: Amid pandemic, the future of many US schools is in doubt
DAVID CRARY, writing for Associated Press, reports on how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting Catholic schools in the US…
Five faith facts about Biden’s VP choice Kamala Harris – a Black Baptist with Hindu family
RNS Few, if any, vice presidential candidates have had as much exposure to the world’s religions as Kamala Harris, the 55-year-old senator from California whom Joe Biden just picked as his running mate. Harris’ ethnic, racial and cultural biography represents a slice of the US population that is becoming ascendant but that has never been […]