Pope visits young cancer patients ahead of expected release
Rome, ItalyAP Pope Francis visited young cancer patients at the Rome hospital where he is recovering from intestinal surgery before his release, which the Vatican said Tuesday would take place “as soon as possible”. A smiling and standing Pope patted the children on their heads as their parents held them, according to photos of the […]
Worst violence in years spreads in South Africa as grievances boil; churches appeal for it to stop
Johannesburg, South AfricaReuters Crowds clashed with police and ransacked or burned shopping malls in South Africa on Tuesday, with dozens reported killed as grievances unleashed by the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma boiled over into the worst violence in years. Protests that followed Zuma’s arrest last week have widened into looting and an outpouring […]
Peru’s Indigenous tribes use tech tools to track Amazon deforestation
Bogota, ColombiaThomson Reuters Foundation Peruvian Indigenous groups equipped with remote sensing technology and satellite-based alerts have been helping to track and report forest loss in the Amazon as drug trafficking fuels deforestation, research published on Monday showed. Members of nearly 40 Indigenous communities in Peru’s northern border region of Loreto were trained to use smartphone […]
Books: A timely guide to helping pastors respond to mental health issues in their congregations
DAVID ADAMS reads Matthew S Stanford’s guide for those in ministry to understanding mental illness and how to respond to it…
Cuba arrests activists as government blames unrest on US interference; church leaders reportedly among detained
Havana, CubaReuters Cuba blamed historic protests that took place over the weekend on US “economic asphyxiation” and detained some of the highest profile activists, while the Biden administration said it supported the Cuban people’s right to demonstrate. The streets of Havana were quiet on Monday, although there was a heavy police presence and the capitol […]
Amid Catholic opposition, US states are legalising composting of human remains
RNS Washington, Colorado and Oregon are now among the US states that have legalised the process of converting human bodies into soil, a procedure the Catholic Church said fails to show “respect for the body of the deceased”. Meanwhile, California and New York are seeking to be next in line to allow human composting. The […]
Four new bishops – and first biracial bishop – elected to AME Church
RNS Four new bishops were elected to the African Methodist Episcopal Church on Saturday, the final day of the denomination’s General Conference in Orlando, Florida. Four general officers and two judicial council members were also elected. Rev Francine A Brookins is the first biracial bishop to be elected, and Advocate Thabile M Ngubeni is the first […]
WHO says countries should not order COVID-19 boosters while others still need vaccines
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters Rich countries should not be ordering booster shots for their vaccinated populations while other countries have yet to receive COVID-19 vaccines, the World Health Organization said on Monday. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said deaths were again rising from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Delta variant was becoming dominant, and many countries had yet […]
Align yourself
How do you get the best out of life? PICTURE: Randy Feth/Unsplash Well, in a group, if you align yourself – cooperate – with the biggest force in the group, things go better. Maybe it’s your teacher, coach or captain. Imagine working against them. So in life, if you align yourself with the biggest thing […]
Myanmar: Turmoil deepens as clashes spread
Reuters reports on the deteriorating security situation in Myanmar…