Postcards: Sun, water and ice – Lithuania tests floating solar power
ALISTER DAVIS, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on how a Lithuanian power company is exploring the idea of “floatovoltaics”…
Updated: US Christian leaders John Hagee, Greg Laurie, test positive for COVID-19
Updated: 12.15pm (AEST)RNS John Hagee, the head of Christians United for Israel and one of President Donald Trump’s unofficial evangelical advisers, has tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. Hagee’s diagnosis was announced on Sunday by his son Matt Hagee at the church they pastor, Cornerstone Church in San Antonio. Influential Texas evangelist […]
Best-kept secret? Google move shows mapping risks
Bangkok, ThailandThomson Reuters Foundation A request by Australian authorities for Google to remove photographs of the top of a sacred Indigenous site has sparked a debate on how to better protect such places and whether mapping tools are increasing privacy and conservation risks. Parks Australia, which is responsible for the national park where Uluru is […]
Mental health services disrupted during pandemic, as needs grow – WHO
Reuters Services for mentally ill and substance abuse patients have been disrupted worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the disease is expected to cause further distress for many, the World Health Organization said on Monday. Only seven per cent of the 130 countries responding to the WHO’s survey reported that all mental health services were fully […]
One in 10 may have caught COVID, as world heads into “difficult period” – WHO
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters Roughly one in 10 people may have been infected with the coronavirus, leaving the vast majority of the world’s population vulnerable to the COVID-19 disease it causes, the World Health Organization said on Monday. Mike Ryan, the WHO’s top emergency expert, was addressing the agency’s executive board, where the United States made a […]
Facing a conservative turn, US Supreme Court opens new term
Washington DC, USAP The US Supreme Court opens a new term with Republicans on the cusp of realising a dream 50 years in the making, a solid conservative majority that might roll back abortion rights, expand gun rights and shrink the power of government. Eight justices are getting back to work Monday at a most […]
Vatican: Pope Benedict XVI approved bishop accord with China
Rome, ItalyAP The Vatican doubled down on the weekend on its intent to pursue continued dialogue with China over bishop nominations, defending a deal it did with the Chinese Government in 2018 as necessary to the life of the Catholic Church there, over strong US objections. The Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, gave […]
New Zealand’s Ardern lifts coronavirus restrictions in Auckland
Wellington, New ZealandReuters Coronavirus restrictions in New Zealand’s largest city will be lifted this week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday as she expressed confidence a second wave of COVID-19 infections in Auckland has been almost eliminated. The city will move to alert level one from 11.59pm on Wednesday, joining the rest of the […]
Prince William calls for action on climate in new documentary
London, UKReuters Prince William has expressed his concerns about rising sea levels and other impacts of climate change in a television documentary to be aired in Britain on Monday, the ITV channel reported. William, grandson of Queen Elizabeth and second-in-line to the British throne, was interviewed on the royal Sandringham Estate, which is located in […]
Surviving a pandemic: Most US congregations are doing all right during COVID-19. But the future is uncertain.
BOB SMIETANA, of Religion News Service, reports on the findings of a new study looking at how religious congregations have coped during the coronavirus pandemic…