150-year-old Bible spared from fire at US church
Unity, Maine, USAP Firefighters responding to a fire at a church in Unity saved the building – and a 150-year-old Bible. Firefighters were alerted Monday evening to the blaze at the Unity United Methodist Church. The old Bible was saved with minor water damage, Fire Chief Blaine Parsons told WABI-TV. “Our crews did a phenomenal job […]
New Year’s resolution? Slim your carbon footprint by a tonne in 2021
Thomson Reuters Foundation Get fit, quit smoking, eat healthily. Most years begin with good intentions that often fall by the wayside as life gets busier again. But how about trying a different challenge for 2021 which goes beyond personal improvement and benefits the planet too? Wind turbines are seen on the carbon-negative island of Samso […]
Montenegro lawmakers change religious law opposed by church
Podgorica, Montenegro AP Montenegro’s new, pro-Serb authorities have amended a law on religious rights and property that was passed by a previous government but was strongly opposed by the Serbian Orthodox Church, which led months of protests against the bill. The parliament early Tuesday approved the legislative changes with 41 votes in the 81-member assembly. […]
Russian monk charged with inciting suicidal acts in sermons
Moscow, RussiaAP Russian riot police stormed into a monastery Tuesday to detain a rebel monk who has castigated the Kremlin and the Russian Orthodox Church leadership and denied the existence of the coronavirus. In the overnight showdown, police clashed with the priest’s supporters at the Sredneuralsk monastery outside Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains. In this […]
US court upholds religious challenges of NY pandemic limits
New YorkAP A US federal appeals court on Monday upheld challenges to New York state’s attendance restrictions at houses of worship to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that Governor Andrew Cuomo’s order limiting attendance at places of worship with fixed capacity in hotspots “discriminates […]
Ethiopian police arrest Reuters cameraman
Nairobi, KenyaReuters A Reuters cameraman, Kumerra Gemechu, was arrested in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Thursday and will be kept in custody for at least two weeks, his family said. He has not been charged. No reason was provided to the family for Thursday’s arrest, and police did not respond to Reuters requests for […]
2020 – A Year in Review: 24 stories that shaped Sight’s year
In our annual round-up, Sight editor DAVID ADAMS selects 24 stories that helped to shape Sight’s year…
Empty offices to co-living: Five ways cities tackled housing crises in 2020
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation From affordable home shortages to ongoing evictions during the pandemic, the past year has laid bare worsening housing crises around the world. Armed with digital title deeds and empty offices, here are some of the ways cities sought to tackle those challenges in 2020: Empty officesThe coronavirus pandemic has increased pressure […]
How COVID-19 may result in one million excess deaths from other diseases in Africa
Nairobi, KenyaThomson Reuters Foundation Africa’s 1.3 billion people may have fared better than expected in terms of containing COVID-19 but the pandemic has dealt a severe blow to already weak health services, raising fears of excess deaths from other illnesses plaguing the continent. A World Health Organization analysis of 14 African countries found a more […]
Pakistan’s kidnappings: Each year 1,000 girls forcibly converted to Islam
KATHY GANNON, of The Associated Press reports on the plight of those girls in Pakistan who are subjected to forced marriage and religious conversion…