Fire guts historic church home to New York’s Liberty Bell
New York, USAP An historic church in lower Manhattan that houses New York’s Liberty Bell and whose congregation dates to the city’s earliest days was gutted by a massive fire early Saturday that sent flames shooting through the roof. The Middle Collegiate Church in the East Village burned before dawn after a fire spread from […]
“This is not science fiction”, say scientists pushing for “neuro-rights”
Thomson Reuters Foundation Scientific advances from deep brain stimulation to wearable scanners are making manipulation of the human mind increasingly possible, creating a need for laws and protections to regulate use of the new tools, top neurologists said this week. A set of “neuro-rights” should be added to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted […]
Feeling the heat? Scientists warn of climate shocks to global health
Barcelona, SpainThomson Reuters Foundation Heat-related deaths are surging around the world, particularly among older people, scientists said this week, warning of growing pressure on health systems hit hard by COVID-19. Extreme heat led to the deaths of almost 300,000 people over 65 years old in 2018 – a 54 per cent rise in two decades, […]
LA officials stream annual ceremony honouring unknown dead
Los Angeles, APAP During their lives they somehow slipped out of sight to the rest of us, and when death came to these 1,547 residents of Los Angeles County, they had become anonymous to the world. Rather than simply place their remains in an unmarked grave after three years of fruitless searching for family, local […]
Rights group pledges to defend clerical sex abuse victims
Mexico CityAP The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights pledged this week to defend victims of clerical sex abuse and work to ensure member countries do better at protecting children and punishing such cases. Commission Vice President Flávia Piovesan told a hearing on the subject Thursday that “you have our firm and absolute commitment that we […]
Vaccinating the world: Lessons learned from India, Haiti and Sierra Leone
ANASTASIA MOLONEY, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, talks to the experts about what’s been learned from previous mass vaccination efforts around the world…
Israel arrests man who doused inside of church with fuel
Jerusalem, IsraelAP Israeli police said Friday they arrested a Jewish man after he poured out a “flammable liquid” inside a church near Jerusalem’s Old City, in what they described as a “criminal” incident. The police did not provide further details about the motive, but past attacks on churches in the Holy Land have been blamed […]
First Rohingya refugees arrive at isolated Bangladesh island
Dhaka, BangladeshAP Authorities in Bangladesh on Friday started sending a first group of more than 1,500 Rohingya refugees to an isolated island despite calls by human rights groups for a halt to the process. The 1,642 refugees were boarding seven Bangladeshi naval vessels in the port of Chittagong for the trip to Bhashan Char, according […]