This Life: Discovering where – and to whom – you belong
In an article first published on ASSIST News Service, US columnist CAROL ROUND looks at the importance of belonging…
California legislator wants religious services deemed essential during state of emergency; Grace Community Church postpones event
Los Angeles, USRNS Senator Brian Jones, a Republican in San Diego County, introduced a piece of legislation on Friday that would deem religious services an essential activity during any declared state of emergency. In this 11th April, 2020, file photo, a person films pastor Nicolas Sanchez, centre left, celebrating Easter Vigil Mass at his church […]
Scores protest in India against arrest of climate activist
New Delhi, IndiaAP Scores of people demonstrated in the Indian cities of Bengaluru and Mumbai on Monday after a climate activist was arrested for circulating a document on social media supporting months of massive protests by farmers. Disha Ravi, 22, was arrested in Bengaluru on Saturday. Police said at a news conference on Monday that […]
Canada launches 58 nation initiative to stop arbitrary detentions
Ottawa, CanadaReuters Canada on Monday launched a 58-nation initiative to stop countries from detaining foreign citizens for diplomatic leverage, a practice that Ottawa and Washington say China and others are using. Foreign ministers signed a non-binding declaration to denounce what Canadian Foreign Minister Marc Garneau called unacceptable behaviour. “Taking people from their families and using […]
WHO approves AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters The World Health Organization on Monday listed AstraZeneca and Oxford University’s COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, widening access to the relatively inexpensive shot in the developing world. “We now have all the pieces in place for the rapid distribution of vaccines. But we still need to scale up production,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO […]
Australia marks 13th anniversary of Indigenous apology
Canberra, AustraliaReuters Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Monday marked the 13th anniversary of an official government apology to the country’s Indigenous population for their historic mistreatment. Morrison said past actions, including the removal of more than 100,000 Aboriginal children from their families and communities, had to be acknowledged. “In acknowledging that fact, I repeat […]
NASA rover faces ‘seven minutes of terror’ before landing on Mars
Los Angeles, USReuters When NASA’s Mars rover Perseverance, a robotic astrobiology lab packed inside a space capsule, hits the final stretch of its seven-month journey from Earth this week, it is set to emit a radio alert as it streaks into the thin Martian atmosphere. By the time that signal reaches mission managers some 204 […]
Facebook, Twitter outpaced by smaller platforms in fight against harmful content – agency
Reuters Facebook, Twitter and Alphabet’s YouTube made smaller strides than their social media rivals including TikTok and Reddit at battling harmful content such as hate speech and misinformation during the second half of 2020, a study released last week has shown. Advertising agency IPG Mediabrands released its ‘Media Responsibility Index’, examining how the top social […]
Frederick CK Price, US televangelist who built LA’s FaithDome, dies from COVID-19
RNS Rev Frederick KC “Fred” Price, a prominent Los Angeles pastor who build one of the largest church buildings in the US, has died at 89. “Our Husband, Father & your Apostle has gone to be w/ the Lord this evening,” the Price family said in a statement posted on social media. “We accept his decision to […]
After death: First human-composting funeral home in US is now open in the state of Washington
ALEJANDRA MOLINA, of Religion News Service, reports on the opening of the first human-composting funeral home in Washington and the push for the practice, controversial for some, to be legalised in California…