Canada vows to nearly double intake of ‘protected persons’ as refugee family backlog grows
Toronto, CanadaReuters Canada will admit more refugees and their families this year as part of its effort to tackle a global crisis, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Marco Mendicino said on Friday. He said Canada will take nearly double the number of protected persons, defined as people who have applied for and been granted refugee […]
Liberian rebel sentenced in Switzerland for war crimes, cannibalism
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters A Liberian rebel commander was sentenced in Switzerland to 20 years in jail on Friday for rape, killings and an act of cannibalism, in one of the first ever convictions over the West African country’s civil war. The case was also Switzerland’s first war crimes trial in a civilian court. It involved 46-year-old […]
Chinese astronauts board space station module in historic mission
Jiuquan, ChinaReuters Three Chinese astronauts this week flew to an unfinished space station in China’s first crewed mission since 2016, expanding the country’s already growing near-Earth presence and challenging US leadership in orbital space. The astronauts rode to Tianhe – the module that will be the living quarters of China’s completed space station – on […]
Vatican hosts faith leaders ahead of Glasgow climate meeting
Rome, ItalyAP The Vatican will host a gathering of faith leaders this fall to build momentum behind a moral appeal for strong, courageous commitments to be taken at a November climate change conference in Glasgow, organisers said Thursday. The Vatican foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, said the 4th October gathering, sponsored by the British and […]
The Interview: “We still have work to do” – Wheaton’s Theon Hill on the new US holiday, Juneteenth
PAUL O’DONNELL, of Religion News Service, speaks with Theon Hill, an associate professor at Wheaton College who teaches rhetoric, race and social change in American culture and politics, about the newly declared US national holiday, Juneteenth…
One kidnapped student dead, seven rescued in Nigeria’s Kebbi state, the army says
Abuja, Nigeria Reuters One student from a group of dozens abducted from a school in north-west Nigeria this week has been found dead, the army said on Friday, adding it had rescued five students and two teachers. Gunmen raided the school in Kebbi state in broad daylight on Thursday in the latest case of mass […]
Micah Australia calls for increased Australian aid to help end global vaccine inequality
Sydney, Australia A peak Australian Christian advocacy group has lobbied federal politicians for a permanent $A1.3 billion increase in the foreign aid budget to help developing nations fight COVID-19. Micah Australia, which represents all major Christian denominations in Australia, have warned that 20 years of gains to alleviate poverty, famine and conflict in poorer neighbouring […]
Delta COVID variant becoming globally dominant, WHO official says
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters The Delta variant of COVID-19, first identified in India, is becoming the globally dominant variant of the disease, the World Health Organization’s chief scientist said on Friday. Soumya Swaminathan also voiced disappointment in the failure of CureVac’s vaccine candidate in a trial to meet the WHO’s efficacy standard, in particular as highly transmissible […]