US reunites only seven immigrant children with parents since February
Los Angeles, USReuters An effort by US President Joe Biden to reunite migrant families separated by the previous administration is moving slowly, with only seven children reunited with parents by a task force launched in February, according to a US Department of Homeland Security report released on Tuesday. Another 29 families are set to be […]
UN says estimated 100,000 displaced by Myanmar violence
Reuters The United Nations said on Tuesday an estimated 100,000 people in Myanmar’s Kayah state had been displaced by fighting that included “indiscriminate attacks by security forces” in civilian areas. Myanmar has been in turmoil since a military coup on 1st February, with daily protests in towns and cities and fighting in borderlands between the […]
Swiss to vote on whether to become first European nation to ban synthetic pesticides
Zurich, SwitzerlandReuters Switzerland could become the first European country to ban artificial pesticides in a 13th June referendum which backers of the initiative hope will trigger similar prohibitions elsewhere. Globally, only Bhutan has a complete ban on synthetic pesticides, according to supporters aiming to outlaw the use of products made by agro-chemical giants such as […]
Global crackdown on organised crime after high-tech US-Australia sting
Canberra, AustraliaReuters US and Australian authorities hacked into an app used by criminals to read millions of encrypted messages, leading to hundreds of arrests of suspected organised crime figures in 18 countries, Australian officials said on Tuesday. “Operation Ironside” by Australian police and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation ensnared suspects in Australia, Asia, South […]
Books: Giving a new future to thousands of women, all in the service of God
DAVID ADAMS is inspired by Australian Christian missionary doctor Andrew Browning’s memoir…
In the US, Poor People’s Campaign plans ‘Moral March on Manchin’
Washington DC, USRNS The faith-led Poor People’s Campaign is planning a march in the home state of West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin to protest the moderate Democrat’s recent decision to oppose voting rights legislation and efforts to end the Senate filibuster. Poor People’s Campaign co-chair Rev William Barber announced via Twitter on Monday that his group will […]
Give Pope message on school second chance, Canadian cardinal says
Rome, ItalyReuters Canadians disappointed that Pope Francis did not apologise for the Catholic Church’s role in a scandal surrounding a former school for indigenous students should give his message “a second chance” because his sorrow and shock are sincere, a Canadian cardinal said. Michael Czerny, one of two Vatican-based Canadian cardinals, spoke in an interview […]
Sarajevo siege survivors hope for closure with Mladic verdict
Sarajevo, Bosnia and HerzegovinaReuters Survivors of the 43-month siege of Sarajevo are hoping for closure when Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic receives a final verdict on Tuesday in his appeal against conviction for genocide and war crimes during the 1990s. In 2017, the Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia jailed Mladic for […]
Close or closed?
It’s no coincidence the words close and closed are so close! Things that make a group close, close us off to others. Things like ‘in jokes’, group language, informal invites that forget new folk. PICTURE: Kimson Doan/Unsplash There’s a paradox here. For a group to thrive it needs to hive. It needs to become close, […]
“We’re starting from scratch”: A US refugee agency rebuilds its pipeline after Trump
EMILY MCFARLAN MILLER, of Religion News Service, reports on how Bethany Christian Services is working to rebuild its refugee resettlement services after years of cuts…