US Army makes history promoting Black woman chaplain to colonel
Last update: 10.20am, 9th September (AEST)RNS The US Army has promoted an active-duty African American woman chaplain to the rank of colonel for the first time. Chaplain (Colonel) Monica R Lawson was given the new status in a ceremony streamed live Wednesday on the Facebook page of the US Army Chaplain Center and School. The African Methodist […]
Binoche, other French environmentalists get Pope’s backing
Vatican CityAP Actress Juliette Binoche and fellow French environmentalists received encouragement from Pope Francis at a private Vatican meeting Thursday where he told them people shouldn’t lose hope even when the condition of the planet can appear “catastrophic”. The urgency for such commitment was made plain by the COVID-19 pandemic, Francis said. “We understand to […]
Global reforestation drive grows fast as governments grasp benefits
Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaThomson Reuters Foundation The world’s largest reforestation push, now almost a decade old, has beaten its 2020 target, as countries use their pledges to tackle national priorities including job creation, food security and climate change, researchers said on Wednesday. The Bonn Challenge – launched in 2011 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature […]
Origins: A brief history of chocolate – and some of its surprising health benefits
In an article first published on The Conversation, LIAM CORR, of the University of Huddersfield, looks at the origins of our love for chocolate…
Bangladesh arrests 80 migrants who protested after being duped
Dhaka, BangladeshThomson Reuters Foundation Bangladesh came under fire on Wednesday for arresting about 80 migrants who returned from Vietnam after protesting over false job offers, with human rights groups demanding their release. The migrants protested in front of the Bangladesh Embassy in Vietnam in July after paying up to $US4,000 each for jobs that never […]
On the Screen: ‘Fatima’ a sympathetic retelling of a century old story of faith
DAVID ADAMS watches ‘Fatima’…
Winter sea ice in Bering Sea reached lowest levels in millennia – study
London, UKReuters The Bering Sea ice cover during the winters of 2018 and 2019 hit new lows not seen in thousands of years, scientists reported on Wednesday, adding to concerns about the accelerating impact of climate change in the Arctic. Satellite data provides a clear picture of how sea ice has changed over the last […]
Dutch Cardinal emeritus Adrianus Simonis dies at age 88
The Hague, NetherlandsAP Cardinal emeritus Adrianus Simonis, who led the Dutch Catholic Church during a period of secularization in society and, after his retirement, had to confront abuse in the church, has died at age 88, his former archdiocese of Utrecht announced Wednesday. His successor, Cardinal Willem Eijk, said the church had lost someone “with […]
Water-related conflicts set to rise amid demand growth and climate impacts
Bogota, ColombiaThomson Reuters Foundation From Yemen to India, and parts of Central America to the African Sahel, about a quarter of the world’s people face extreme water shortages that are fueling conflict, social unrest and migration, water experts said on Wednesday. With the world’s population rising and climate change bringing more erratic rainfall, including severe droughts, competition […]
Turning 100: Lebanon, a nation branded by upheaval, crises
BASSEM MROUE, of The Associated Press, looks at the tragic history of Lebanon…