In historic move, Biden says 1915 massacres of Armenians constitute genocide
Washington DC, USReuters US President Joe Biden said on Saturday that the 1915 massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire constituted genocide, a historic declaration that infuriated Turkey and further strained frayed ties between the two NATO allies. The largely symbolic move, breaking away from decades of carefully calibrated language from the White House, was […]
At drug war frontline, Pope’s envoy says Mexico hushed him
Aguililla, Mexico Reuters The Vatican’s Ambassador to Mexico on Friday said officials three years ago had asked him not to talk about the extreme violence that has swept the country during more than a decade of fighting between drug cartels, so as not to scare away tourists. The envoy, Franco Coppola, made the comments while […]
In Spain, Catholic leaders put numbers to sex abuse claims
Madrid, SpainAP In a first public attempt to put numbers to instances of child sex abuse by the country’s Catholic clergy, Spain’s Episcopal Conference revealed Friday that 220 cases were officially reported to the Vatican over the past two decades. The conference, which is the top governing body of Spain’s Catholic Church, said Spanish bishops […]
Abandoned plant and wasteland: Ukraine eyes UNESCO World Heritage tag for Chernobyl
Kyiv, UkraineReuters A mothballed nuclear power station surrounded by wasteland, rubble and abandoned buildings is not what most people associate with a UNESCO World Heritage site. But that is exactly what Ukraine has in mind for Chernobyl. Hoping that such an assignation could mean more funding and more tourists, the government has begun a process […]
Brands urged to extend workers’ safety deal, eight years after Rana Plaza disaster
Dhaka, BangladeshThomson Reuters Foundation Labour activists on Thursday urged brands to extend a factory safety deal in Bangladesh ahead of the eighth anniversary of the Rana Plaza disaster, in which some 1,100 workers died. The collapse of the eight-storey building near Dhaka – the industry’s deadliest accident – on 24th April, 2013, led some 200 […]
Church finances: Will COVID-19 finally be the end of the collection plate?
BOB SMIETANA, of Religion News Service, reports on how in many churches in the US, the way in which people give of their finances is changing in a trend spurred on by the coronavirus pandemic…
In the US, Obama faith adviser accuses Trump counterpart of laying spiritual groundwork for Capitol insurrection
Washington DC, USRNS A long-simmering debate between liberal and conservative Christian faith leaders came to a head during a panel session at a Religion News Association conference on Thursday, with a former Obama White House faith adviser blaming an evangelical Christian adviser to former President Donald Trump for quickening the rise of Christian nationalism and […]
Israeli police arrest dozens in night of chaos in Jerusalem
Jerusalem, IsraelAP Israeli police say 44 people were arrested and 20 officers were wounded in a night of chaos in Jerusalem, where security forces separately clashed with Palestinians angry about Ramadan restrictions and Jewish extremists who held an anti-Arab march nearby. Tensions have spiked in recent days in Jerusalem, which has long been a flashpoint […]