German Archbishop offers to resign over Catholic Church’s sexual abuse “catastrophe”
Berlin, Germany/Rome, ItalyReuters One of Roman Catholicism’s most influential liberal figures, Germany’s Cardinal Reinhard Marx, has offered to resign as Archbishop of Munich, saying he had to share responsibility for the “catastrophe” of sexual abuse by clerics over past decades. His offer, which Pope Francis has yet to accept, follows an uproar among the German […]
Germany “persistently” broke air pollution rules, EU top court rules
Brussels, BelgiumReuters Germany persistently violated EU limits on air pollution, the European Union’s top court said on Thursday, in a ruling that could see the country face financial penalties if it fails to improve air quality in several big cities. Air pollution in Europe has eased in the last decade, but remains the continent’s biggest […]
Snapshot: Darvaza gas crater, Turkmenistan
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Soundbite – the TCM Update: Vale BJ Thomas
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Australian court fines media $A1.1 million for breach of gag order in Cardinal Pell sex assault case
Melbourne, AustraliaReuters An Australian court on Friday ordered a dozen media firms to pay a total of $A1.1 million in fines for breaching a suppression order on reporting the conviction of former Vatican treasurer George Pell for child sexual assault. The 12 media outlets, mostly owned by Nine Entertainment Co and Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, […]
Time is running out, says UN, as HIV/AIDS targets missed
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation The world has missed ambitious goals to stem the spread of HIV and widen access to treatment, jeopardising a target to end the AIDS pandemic by 2030 unless global efforts are stepped up, the United Nations said on Thursday. Last year, 84 per cent of HIV-positive people knew they had the […]
Updated: Hong Kong cordons off annual Tiananmen vigil site, arrests organiser
Updated: 6pm (AEST)Hong Kong, ChinaReuters Hong Kong closed off Victoria Park where tens of thousands gather annually to commemorate China’s 1989 Tiananmen crackdown and arrested the vigil’s organiser, in what activists see as suppression of one of the city’s key symbols of democratic hope. Thousands of officers are expected to patrol the city’s streets on […]
“So frustrating”: For migrants, red tape turns Italian work permit scheme into mirage
GAVIN JONES, of Reuters, reports on the plight of irregular migrants in Italy, a year after promises to give them the chance to work legally on farms and as domestic helpers…
Clergy call for an end to kidnaps, murders as Uganda marks Martyrs Day
Namugongo, Uganda Top Catholic and Anglican bishops in Uganda have condemned the wave of violent crimes including kidnaps, torture and murders that have gripped the country. Speaking during the celebrations to mark Uganda Martyrs’ Day on 3rd June at the Uganda Martyrs Shrine in Namugongo, Wakiso District, the bishops appealed to whoever is perpetrating the violent […]
Essay: Five ways COVID-19 has impacted Bible translation
TIM NEU, interim president and CEO of Bible translation organisation Wycliffe Associates, looks at how the coronavirus pandemic has affected the work of those involved in translating the Bible around the world…