Argentine congress debates abortion rights; activists gather
Buenos Aires, ArgentinaAP Argentine lawmakers on Thursday debated a bill that would legalise abortion in most cases as demonstrators for and against the initiative gathered in separate areas outside the congress building. The bill, backed by President Alberto Fernández, appeared headed for approval by ruling party lawmakers in the lower house, but the outlook in […]
Conversations: Neri Morris, author of ‘Single Me’
Sydney-based Neri Morris recently released her first book, ‘Single Me: Learning To Love The Unwanted Path Of Singleness’. She talks to DAVID ADAMS about why she wrote it, her own experience of being single and what the church can do to better include and support single people…
Number of women in jail soars, despite global push to cut numbers
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation The number of women in jail globally has soared by 17 per cent in a decade, despite leaders’ pledges to put fewer women behind bars for petty crimes and the devastating impact on their mental health and children, penal reformers said on Thursday. Penal Reform International said 741,000 women were in […]
Australia’s CSL ends COVID-19 vaccine trial, to focus on AstraZeneca’s shots
Updated: 10.15amSydney, AustraliaReuters Australia abruptly halted the production of a home-made vaccine against COVID-19 after trials showed it could interfere with HIV diagnosis, the developers said, with its makers instead agreeing to produce additional doses of a rival vaccine. The inoculation being developed by the University of Queensland and vaccine maker CSL, one of four […]
270 million people face starvation, says WFP as it receives Nobel Peace Prize
Oslo, NorwayReuters Some 270 million people worldwide – equivalent to the combined populations of Germany, Britain, France and Italy – stand on the brink of starvation, the head of the United Nations’ World Food Programme said on Thursday upon receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. The WFP, which has coordinated medical logistics during the coronavirus pandemic, […]
Australia says it can beat carbon goals by 2030 without credits
Sydney/Melbourne, AustraliaReuters Australia could beat its target for cutting carbon emissions under the Paris accord by 2030 without counting credits from overachieving on its targets in previous climate pacts, Energy Minister Angus Taylor said on Thursday. The latest projection marked a sharp shift for one of the world’s biggest emitters per capita and came ahead […]
Know It All: Weird sports in the Olympics
The International Olympic Committee announced this week that “breaking” – a form of dancing – is among new sports to debut at the next couple of Games. But that’s by no means the oddest sport that’s been included over the years. DAVID ADAMS take a look…
Women running ethical businesses seen worse hit by COVID than men
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation Women who run ethical businesses were harder hit by the pandemic than their male counterparts, a United Nations-backed survey found on Wednesday, raising fears of another sector where women bear the economic brunt of COVID-19. From factory floors to shops, women have endured greater job losses and wage cuts due to the […]
Human rights legislation a better option than Australia’s proposed religious freedom reforms, say lawyers
Australians would be better served through new human rights legislation with proven mechanisms to adjudicate conflicts involving religion rather than the Federal Government’s proposed religious freedom bill, a panel of expert lawyers said this week. In a 90 minute online event convened by the Law Society of New South Wales on Tuesday, Rosalind Croucher, president […]
Labour group seeks help for hundreds of thousands of seafarers stranded by COVID
New York, USThomson Reuters Foundation Hundreds of thousands of seafarers around the world are stranded at sea due to coronavirus travel restrictions, unable to go home or get medical care, the International Labour Organization said on Tuesday, calling on nations to address their plight. Many shipping and transport workers have been at sea as long […]