Trump picks conservative Amy Coney Barrett for Supreme Court
Washington DC, AP AP US President Donald Trump nominated Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court on Saturday, capping a dramatic reshaping of the federal judiciary that will resonate for a generation and that he hopes will provide a needed boost to his re-election effort. Republican senators are already lining up for a swift […]
US pastor who has defied COVID-19 orders will face new hearing in November
Los Angeles, USRNS The same state social-distancing measures that have ensnarled Rev John MacArthur in legal proceedings for his refusal to close his church have now delayed a reckoning for the Sun Valley, California, pastor, as a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge on Thursday scheduled a hearing until mid-November. County officials, in a statement, […]
Sculpture of John Paul II with rock, red water makes waves
Warsaw, PolandAP A new statue that depicts the late Pope St John Paul II throwing a rock into red water has provoked debate in his native Poland and revived memories of a 1999 Italian sculpture that showed him crushed under a rock, to which the new work was intended as a counter-statement. The statue by […]
“Groundbreaking” Lesotho study reveals high cost of domestic violence
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation Countries could save billions of dollars a year by tackling the “disgusting pandemic” of domestic violence, the Commonwealth Secretary-General said as economists estimated the scourge cost the tiny African kingdom of Lesotho 5.5 per cent of GDP. Patricia Scotland said domestic violence burdened health, police and judicial services, led to absenteeism […]
Seeing the past: Far from home, refugees build digital heritage with virtual reality
RINA CHANDRAN, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on how technology is helping refugees reconnect with their past…
Vatican cardinal pushes back after Pope fires him in scandal
Rome, ItalyAP A powerful Vatican cardinal who was sacked by Pope Francis in an astonishing twist to the Vatican’s latest financial scandal pushed back Friday against allegations he embezzled Holy See money and denied he did anything wrong. Cardinal Angelo Becciu presided over an extraordinary news conference a day after Francis fired him and yanked […]
Global COVID-19 death toll could hit two million before vaccine in wide use – WHO
Geneva/Zurich, SwitzerlandReuters The global death toll from COVID-19 could double to two million before a successful vaccine is widely used and could be even higher without concerted action to curb the pandemic, an official at the World Health Organization said on Friday. “Unless we do it all, [two million deaths]…is not only imaginable, but sadly […]
Franklin Graham borrows a tactic from the left with his Saturday prayer march
RNS Like his late father, Billy Graham, Franklin Graham is not a marcher. The Graham family formula has always focused on stadium-sized evangelistic revivals. But ahead of the presidential election, the evangelical preacher is borrowing a tactic used by civil rights leaders and Black Lives Matter protesters. He is organising a mass prayer march on […]
Nationalism “must not prevail”, Pope Francis says, addressing the United Nations
Vatican CityRNS In a video message to the United Nations, Pope Francis said the COVID-19 pandemic has put the international community at a crossroads and that it’s up to UN leaders to decide whether to choose the path of multi-lateralism and dialogue or nationalism and individualism. “We are faced, then, with a choice between two […]