Officials: French church attack suspect faces terror charges
Paris, FranceAP French authorities said Monday that the main suspect behind October’s deadly Nice church attack has been handed terror murder charges. Brahim Issaoui’s health had impeded authorities’ ability to question him. Issaoui was seriously wounded by police following the attack, and remained hospitalised in life-threatening condition for some time. But on Monday a communique […]
Sight-Seeing: Taking your soul to work
KARA MARTIN on what it means to live out a ‘soulful life’ in your workplace…
Australia’s “black summer” bushfires killed or harmed more than 60,000 koalas – WWF
Sydney, AustraliaReuters More than 60,000 koalas were killed, injured or displaced in Australian bushfires last summer, the World Wide Fund for Nature has estimated, in what it called a deeply disturbing number for a species already in trouble. Last summer’s bushfires, which Prime Minister Scott Morrison has dubbed Australia’s “black summer”, also killed 33 people […]
A year into COVID-19, UN declares a day of “epidemic preparedness”
New York, USReuters A year into a global battle against the coronavirus, the United Nations General Assembly on Monday declared 27th December will be the “International Day of Epidemic Preparedness” in a bid to ensure lessons are learned for any future health crises. The COVID-19 virus emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last […]
Vatican: Pope to visit Iraq in March, pandemic permitting
Vatican CityAP Pope Francis will make a pilgrimage to Iraq in March, pandemic conditions permitting, the Vatican said Monday, in announcing what would be the pontiff’s first trip abroad in more than a year. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said Francis will make the 5th to 8th March visit, with stops in Baghdad, and the “plains […]
“I know your favourite drink”: Chinese smart city to put AI in charge
Thomson Reuters Foundation From robots delivering coffee to office chairs rearranging themselves after a meeting, a smart city project in China aims to put artificial intelligence in charge, its creators told a conference last week – raising some eyebrows. Danish architecture firm BIG and Chinese tech company Terminus discussed plans to build an AI-run campus-style […]
US mayors “bleak” about recovery from pandemic’s effects
Washington DC, USThomson Reuters Foundation The nation’s mayors hold bleak outlooks about the future of US cities after the coronavirus pandemic, a major survey showed last week, worried that workers will avoid offices and public transit and neighbourhoods will not recover for years to come. City leaders fear small closed-down businesses will not quickly be […]
A new social network, Untangle, supports people in bereavement
Thomson Reuters Foundation Most startups are struggling to survive let alone thrive in the pandemic – yet 2020 couldn’t have gone better for Untangle, a new player in the age-old death business. Launched in January as COVID-19 began circling the globe, Untangle was born from the grief of two women on a mission to help […]
“Leave Immediately”: Bushfire approaches township in Australia’s Fraser Island
Sydney, AustraliaReuters Australian authorities on Monday asked residents of a coastal township in the world heritage listed Fraser Island to “leave immediately” after a massive bushfire burning there since mid-October was expected to reach the township early morning. The blaze has already destroyed half the island off Australia’s north-eastern coast, which is part of the […]
“Going hungry”; garment workers cut back on food as pandemic hits wages
Phnom Pehn, CambodiaThomson Reuters Foundation Garment workers stitching clothes for major fashion brands are “going hungry” and taking out loans to feed their families due to pay cuts imposed during the coronavirus pandemic, according to global labour rights advocates. Among workers who have held onto their jobs, one in five experience hunger on a daily […]