Australian telescope maps deep space at record speed
Melbourne, AustraliaReuters A powerful new telescope in outback Australia has mapped vast areas of the universe in record-breaking time, revealing a million new galaxies and opening the way to new discoveries, the country’s national science agency said on Tuesday. The A$188 million radio telescope, dubbed the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), was able to […]
Postcards: Coronavirus robs Biblical Bethlehem of Christmas cheer
JELAL HASSAN, of The Associated Press, reports from the West Bank…
Left vacant by COVID-19, can offices become homes to fix housing shortages?
Bangkok, ThailandThomson Reuters Foundation The coronavirus pandemic has increased pressure on governments to address shortages in housing and allowed authorities more freedom to convert empty offices, urban experts said on Tuesday. Last month, the South Korean government said it will add 114,000 homes for public housing within the next two years by buying empty hotels […]
Seventy-six Franciscan nuns test positive at monastery in Germany
Berlin, GermanyAP Seventy-six Catholic nuns have tested positive for COVID-19 after an outbreak at a Franciscan convent in north-western Germany, church authorities said Tuesday. Another 85 nuns received negative test results at the monastery in Thuine, not far from the Dutch border, the convent’s Mother Superior told The Associated Press. Exterior view of the monastery […]
UN warns child labour, trafficking on the rise in troubled Mali
Dakar, SenegalThomson Reuters Foundation More children have been trafficked, forced to work in gold mines and to fight as soldiers in Mali this year as conflict worsened and COVID-19 shut schools, the United Nations said on Tuesday. With security in Mali deteriorating, a network of humanitarian agencies led by the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, documented […]
Updated: COVID-19 drives 40 per cent spike in number of people needing humanitarian aid, UN says
Updated 9pm (AEDT)New York City, USThomson Reuters Foundation The coronavirus pandemic is pushing the number of people worldwide who need humanitarian assistance to survive to new highs, the United Nations said on Tuesday, dramatically increasing the ranks of extreme poverty in just one year. One in 33 people will need aid to meet basic needs […]
Red Cross chief urges vaccine “fake news” fight
United NationsAP The head of the world’s largest humanitarian network is urging governments and institutions to combat “fake news” about COVID-19 vaccines which has become “a second pandemic” and start building trust in communities around the world about the critical importance of vaccinating people. Francesco Rocca, president of the International Federation of Red Cross and […]
Eric Metaxas, Christian radio host, tells Trump, “Jesus is with us in this fight”
RNS Jesus once told his followers that the greatest love of all is to lay down your life for your friends. Christian radio talk show host and author Eric Metaxas offered to do just that for President Trump during an interview with the president on Monday. “I’d be happy to die in this fight,” Metaxas […]
Sean Feucht protest worries Los Angeles homeless advocates
Los Angeles, USRNS Christian musician Sean Feucht has plans to bring his outdoor “worship protest” tour to downtown Los Angeles on New Year’s Eve at a site near the local homeless community of Skid Row, according to his website. Feucht’s tour, which he refers to as the #letusworship movement, has received criticism from health officials and […]
Botswana sets up gender violence courts to tackle pandemic backlog
Gaborone, BotswanaThomson Reuters Foundation Botswana will launch 25 gender violence courts this week following a rise in cases during the coronavirus pandemic – a measure women’s campaigners hope will bring swifter justice to victims of sexual and domestic abuse. The government of the southern African country moved to establish the courts after women’s rights advocates […]