Lutherans ask Trump administration to admit more refugees as deadline looms
RNS Days before the deadline for the US Government to set its annual limit on the number of refugees that can be admitted to the United States, the Trump administration has not yet proposed that number, according to Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, the largest faith-based organisation in the US dedicated to serving immigrants. If […]
Poorer countries to get 120 million $US5 coronavirus tests, WHO says
Geneva, Switzerland/London, UKReuters Some 120 million rapid diagnostic tests for coronavirus will be made available to low- and middle-income countries at a maximum of $US5 each, the World Health Organization said on Monday. The wider availability of quick, reliable and inexpensive testing will help 133 countries to track infections and contain the spread, closing the […]
Most executives seek work-life balance after experiencing pandemic blues – survey
Bengaluru, IndiaReuters Nearly eight out of 10 corporate executives have experienced poor mental health during the coronavirus crisis, prompting a number of them to re-evaluate and improve work-life balance, a survey showed on Monday. Many top company officials in France and Egypt were most likely to have recalibrated their lives after experiencing the pandemic blues, […]
Updated: Church says Cardinal Pell returning to Vatican in crisis
Updated: 5.45pm (AEST)Canberra, AustraliaAP Cardinal George Pell, Pope Francis’ former finance minister, will soon return to the Vatican during an extraordinary economic scandal for the first time since he was cleared of child abuse allegations in Australia five months ago, a church agency said Monday. Pell will fly back to Rome on Tuesday, CathNews, an […]
New Zealanders may be able to travel to some Australian states before Christmas, Ardern says
Wellington, New ZealandReuters Travel between New Zealand and some states of Australia is possible before the end of the year, New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday. Plans for a travel ‘bubble’ between Australia and New Zealand has been in discussions for months as both nations slowed the spread of the coronavirus, but […]
Tree-planting rush overlooks climate benefits from natural forest recovery
Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaThomson Reuters Foundation Leaving cleared tropical forests to regrow naturally has the potential to absorb a quarter of global carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels each year, researchers said last week. A study led by the World Resources Institute, a US-based thinktank, looked at and mapped the potential carbon-storing benefits of letting cut […]
Locked up during COVID-19: Costly phone calls strain families
AVI ASHER-SCHAPIRO, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on how the high costs of communications out of US prisons is taking a toll on inmates during the coronavirus pandemic…
Thai students don local fabric to help villages beat COVID slump
Bangkok, ThailandThomson Reuters Foundation From student uniforms to graduation gowns, Thailand is encouraging universities to use local fabric to make clothing and boost incomes in villages hit hard by the coronavirus. The nationwide move follows the success of Nakhon Si Thammarat Rajabhat University, a public university in southern Thailand that this year began using locally […]
Essay: Amy Coney Barrett’s religion is important but irrelevant
US Catholic commentator THOMAS REESE argues that while US Supreme Court Amy Coney Barrett’s Catholic faith may influence her views of the law, what matters is the decisions she makes not the motivations behind them…
Sight-Seeing: Whipsawed by 2020
MAX LUCADO, in an article first published by Religion News Service, says that while we may be “whipsawed” by 2020, God is not…