Pope rejects German cardinal’s resignation, urges reform
Rome, ItalyAP Pope Francis refused Thursday to let German Cardinal Reinhard Marx resign over the sex abuse scandal in the German Church, but said a process of reform was necessary and that every bishop must take responsibility for the “catastrophe” of the crisis. Francis wrote a letter to Marx to respond to his bombshell announcement […]
G7 to donate one billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to poorer countries
Carbis Bay, UKReuters British Prime Minister Boris Johnson expects the Group of Seven to agree to donate one billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to poorer countries during its summit starting on Friday, and help innoculate the world by the end of next year. Just hours after US President Joe Biden vowed to supercharge the battle against […]
Biden to donate 500 million Pfizer doses, urge others to join in
St Ives, UKReuters US President Joe Biden plans to buy and donate 500 million doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine to more than 90 countries, while calling on the world’s democracies to do their part to help end the deadly pandemic, the White House said. The announcement of the vaccine donation – the largest ever […]
Online anti-Semitism rises in Czech Republic amid pandemic
Prague, Czech RepublicAP Anti-Semitic incidents in the Czech Republic continued their rise last year amid the coronavirus pandemic, with the bulk of the anti-Jewish hatred being expressed online, the country’s Jewish community said Wednesday. In its annual report, the Federation of the Jewish Communities said it registered 874 antisemitic incidents in 2020, 180 more than […]
A Sustainable Life: Stop removing your solar panels early, please. It’s creating a huge waste problem for Australia
In an article first published on The Conversation, DEEPIKA MATHUR, of Australia’s Charles Darwin University, and IMRAN MUHAMMAD, of Massey University in New Zealand, look at why prematurely removing solar panels and throwing them away is such a problem…
Guatemalan court charges retired soldiers for civil war killings, disappearances
Guatemala City, GuatemalaReuters A judge in Guatemala on Wednesday charged six ex-military members for their alleged participation in the death and forced disappearance of at least 183 civilians during Guatemala’s civil war in the 1980s. Judge Miguel Galvez said there was sufficient evidence to bring the retired soldiers to trial for the 1983-1985 crimes, part […]
“She screams when someone comes near”: Gaza children in trauma
GazaReuters Three weeks since Suzy Eshkuntana was pulled from the rubble of her house, destroyed by an Israeli air strike, the six-year-old girl has barely spoken except to ask for her mother and four siblings who were killed that day. Her life turned upside down, Suzy and her father are now living with her uncle, […]
WTO to start vaccine supply negotiations amid clash on patents
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters World Trade Organization members agreed on Wednesday to start formal negotiations on a plan to boost COVID-19 vaccine supply to developing countries, but face rival proposals – one with and one without a waiver of intellectual property rights. South Africa and India, backed by many emerging nations, have been pushing for eight months […]
Gunmen kill at least 10 Afghans working for mine-clearing agency
Kabul, AfghanistanReuters Gunmen shot dead 10 Afghans working for the international demining organisation the Halo Trust in an attack on their camp in the north of the country, Halo said on Wednesday. Halo did not attribute blame for Tuesday’s attack, saying only that an “unknown armed group” carried it out. Afghan officials blamed it on […]
Catholic education: Facing enrolment declines, some US dioceses are betting on online schools
YONAT SHIMRON, of Religion News Service, reports on the move of some US Catholic schools to permanent online learning…