Two feared dead, 20 missing in Japan as torrential rains unleash landslides – NHK
Tokyo, JapanReuters At least two people were feared dead on Saturday after landslides triggered by heavy rains hit the central Japanese city of Atami, where about 20 people were still missing, public broadcaster NHK said. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who convened an emergency task force to tackle the crisis, asked people in the affected areas […]
Australian officials report biggest daily COVID-19 caseload for 2021
Melbourne, AustraliaReuters Australia’s New South Wales state recorded its biggest daily rise in COVID-19 infections this year, even as residents in several major cities across the country were released from snap lockdowns on Saturday. Sydney, the New South Wales state capital and home to a fifth of Australia’s 25 million population, has been hit hardest […]
Presbyterian Church in America leaders say those who identify as gay are not qualified for ordination
RNS Pastors and church leaders in the Presbyterian Church in America passed an overture at its General Assembly this week saying those who identify as gay are not qualified for ordination in the conservative Presbyterian denomination. The overture includes any identity Christians may profess “that undermines or contradicts their identity as new creations in Christ,” […]
Trump expanded evangelical support in 2020, but Biden gained with other white Christians – survey
Washington DC, USRNS A new survey reports former President Donald Trump expanded his robust support among white evangelicals in the 2020 election, but President Joe Biden won in part by making significant gains among Catholics and non-evangelical Protestants. That’s according to Pew Research’s new “Behind Biden’s 2020 Victory” study unveiled on Wednesday. The findings, based on […]
Without ICUs, doctor in Jakarta hospital battles to help COVID-19 patients
Jakarta, IndonesiaReuters Indonesian doctor Cheras Sjarfi says the small public hospital where she works in south Jakarta was not ready for the influx of COVID-19 patients who arrived after a surge of new infections in the world’s fourth-most-populous country. Only equipped for basic health care, her facility has had to treat COVID-19 patients even though […]
“Please show mercy”: Evicted by Cambodia, ethnic Vietnamese stuck at watery border
MATT BLOMBERG, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on the plight of displaced stateless people living on Cambodia’s Tonle Sap River…
Trudeau denounces church burnings, vandalism in Canada
Vancouver, British ColumbiaAP Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday denounced the burning and vandalism of Catholic churches that has followed discovery of unmarked graves and former schools for Indigenous children. Several Catholic churches have recently been vandalised or damaged in fires following the discovery of more than 1,100 unmarked graves at the sites of […]
UN warns of worsening famine, more clashes in Ethiopia’s Tigray
United NationsReuters Top UN officials warned the Security Council on Friday that more than 400,000 people in Ethiopia’s Tigray were now in famine and that there was a risk of more clashes in the region despite a unilateral ceasefire by the Federal Government. After six private discussions, the Security Council held its first public meeting […]