WHO’s Tedros says countries on “dangerous track” in pandemic
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters The world is now at a critical juncture in the COVID-19 pandemic and some countries are on a dangerous path, facing the prospect of health services collapsing under the strain, the head of the World Health Organization said on Friday. “We are at a critical juncture in the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in the […]
Albania joins global efforts to combat anti-Semitism
Tirana, AlbaniaAP The Albanian Parliament on Thursday passed a resolution joining global efforts to combat anti-Semitism. The parliament unanimously voted to approve the definition of anti-Semitism from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, becoming the second majority-Muslim country to adopt it after Kosovo. The definition describes hate speech and other acts that discriminate against the Jewish […]
Snapshot: Balloons over Cappadocia, Turkey
See MAR CERDEIRA’s image…
Victoria Police not investigating Vatican money transfers to Australia
Sydney, AustraliaReuters Police in the Australian state of Victoria said they were not conducting any further investigation into a transfer of monies from the Vatican to Australia that they were alerted to by the financial crimes watchdog. Victoria Police said in a statement that the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) had made them […]
Weather disasters opening US eyes to climate threats – Al Gore
Thomson Reuters Foundation As the frequency and ferocity of extreme weather events from wildfires to floods grows, the US public is becoming more concerned and ready to act on climate threats, former US Vice President Al Gore said. “The world, and the United States, are crossing the political tipping point on climate right now,” the […]
Indian garment workers cover bosses’ lockdown losses
Chennai, IndiaThomson Reuters Foundation From unpaid overtime to wage cuts, Indian garment workers say they are being made to compensate their bosses for the food, shelter and salary provided in the coronavirus lockdown. But it is a steep price for a workforce that was already juggling low pay and poor conditions before the pandemic shuttered […]
Kabul evicts street vendors in “discipline” drive
Kabul, AfghanistanThomson Reuters Foundation Kabul is evicting thousands of roadside vendors, destroying pushcarts and removing hoardings as part of an ambitious drive to instill “urban discipline” in the chaotic Afghan capital. Since Saturday, armed police and city authorities have removed thousands of merchants who crowd the narrow streets with carts to hawk everything from drinks […]
Facing a global challenge: How one Australia aid and development agency is fighting for the world’s most vulnerable
DAVID ADAMS speaks with Tearfund Australia CEO Matthew Maury about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the world’s most vulnerable, the need for global cooperation in addressing it and the organisation’s recent name change…
“We are being squeezed”, says prize-winning Amazon Indigenous activist
Sao Paulo, BrazilThomson Reuters Foundation Alessandra Munduruku, a leader of Brazil’s Munduruku Indigenous community, has seen her home broken into and been threatened over her work defending her people and their Amazon land from illegal miners and loggers, hydropower plants and other threats. On Thursday, the 36-year-old received the Robert F Kennedy 2020 Human Rights Award for “her work […]
Essay: How did voter access become a faith issue? The Bible told us so.
JIM WALLIS, founder of Sojourners and a co-convenor of Lawyers & Collars, writes about why protecting the image of God in the upcoming US election means “protecting the voting rights of Americans of colour, whose votes some are trying to suppress and even intimidate – deliberately and strategically”…