Postcards: Tax law overhaul could boost deprived US areas after Democratic gains
CAREY L BIRON, writing for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, on hopes deprived neighbourhoods in the US could benefit from a new push to spur investment…
Texas megachurch pastor sent to prison for fraud scheme
Houston, USAP A former Houston megachurch pastor who once was an adviser to presidents has been sentenced to six years in federal prison for his part in a multi-million dollar fraud scheme. “They trusted me with their money, and I abused that trust,” Kirbyjon Caldwell, former pastor of Windsor Village United Methodist Church, an 18,000-member […]
LA clergy look to hold city officials responsible for allowing Sean Feucht’s Skid Row event
Los Angeles RNS At a virtual news conference on Wednesday, Rev Stephen “Cue” Jn-Marie of the advocacy group Clergy for Black Lives condemned a pair of Los Angeles homeless outreach events on 30th and 31st December by a group of conservative Christians led by musician Sean Feucht. Jn-Marie – who founded The Row, or “The Church […]
Two members of WHO delegation to Wuhan held back over health screening
Wuhan, China/Geneva, Switzerland Reuters Two members of a World Health Organization-led team that arrived on Thursday in China’s Wuhan city to investigate the origins of COVID-19 remained behind in Singapore after testing positive for coronavirus antibodies, the global body said. The team of 15 had all tested negative for the disease prior to leaving their […]
Aid sector blasted as “last safe haven” for sex abusers
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation The aid sector is rife with sexual abuse, British lawmakers said on Thursday, calling it “the last safe haven for perpetrators” despite a slew of scandals that prompted promises of a cleanup. Lawmakers rounded on the international aid sector, saying abusers were too often allowed to act with impunity while victims […]
Trendspotter: The rise of nomophobia
DAVID ADAMS looks at what a new Australian study has revealed about the fear of being without your mobile phone…
African Union secures 270 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine
Nairobi, KenyaAP South Africa’s President says a task team under the African Union has secured 270 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines for the African continent, the largest such deal so far for the region. President Cyril Ramaphosa, the current AU chair, says the doses will come from Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca via the […]
“Ecological Ponzi scheme” threatens to bring down humanity, scientists warn
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation Accelerating biodiversity loss, climate change and over-consumption are swiftly pushing human societies toward a “ghastly future” of growing hunger, political division and societal breakdown, leading scientists said on Wednesday. Despite years of warnings, the threats are underestimated and not broadly understood, and efforts to head them off are hamstrung because many […]
Team from WHO heads to China in search of COVID origins
Geneva, Switzerland/SingaporeReuters An international team of scientists led by the World Health Organization was set to arrive in the central Chinese city of Wuhan on Thursday to investigate the origins of the novel coronavirus that sparked the pandemic. The United States, which has accused China of having hidden the extent of its initial outbreak a […]
In the US, James Clyburn to propose designating ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’ as US national hymn
RNS US House of Representatives Majority Whip James Clyburn plans to introduce legislation to designate the song Lift Every Voice and Sing, long a staple in the Black community, as the country’s national hymn. “To make Lift Every Voice and Sing a national hymn, would be an act of bringing the country together,” reads a […]