Bieber samples King’s sermons, supports Poor People’s Campaign with new album ‘Justice’
RNS Pop star Justin Bieber tweeted his support on Thursday for the Poor People’s Campaign, the faith-led anti-poverty initiative that was inspired by a campaign Rev Martin Luther King, Jr, started in the ’60s. Bieber listed the campaign, headed by Rev William Barber II and Rev Liz Theoharis, among “organizations that embody what justice looks like in action”, […]
Plague of mice hits parts of rural Australia
Sydney, AustraliaReuters Some rural communities in the Australian state of New South Wales are suffering their worst plague of mice in decades after a bumper grain harvest, local people said. Eyewitness video obtained by Reuters showed thousands of the tiny rodents swarming around a farm in the town of Gilgandra. Mice run away on a […]
Tanzania’s first female president takes office, breaking new ground for women in hijab
RNS A few years after becoming the first female vice president in Tanzanian history, Samia Suluhu Hassan was sworn in Friday as the country’s sixth president and the first female leader of East Africa’s largest country after the death of President John Magufuli on Wednesday. Samia Suluhu Hassan, 61, only the second Muslim to lead […]
Papua New Guinea orders restrictions as COVID-19 numbers climb
Sydney, AustraliaReuters Papua New Guinea will tighten internal border controls, restrict personal movement and enforce mask wearing in public from next week, as it confronts a steep rise in COVID-19 infections. The authorities in the Pacific island nation of nine million people also said they will ban mass gatherings, close schools and may order burials […]
Pope Francis: New book credits pontiff with “disruptive innovation”
CLAIRE GIANGRAVÉ looks at a new book by papal historian John Cornwell on Pope Francis…
Schism decision on hold, United Methodist bishop addresses way forward
RNS Graduations, funerals, college reunions and weddings have all been delayed or otherwise impacted by the yearlong pandemic, adding to the emotional roller coaster those events can be. But imagine the spiritual wear and tear for United Methodists, who for more than a year have been dealing with a looming church schism. “These are extraordinary […]