German Government rejects accusations of flood preparedness failures
Steinbachtal Dam, GermanyReuters German officials rejected suggestions that they had done too little to prepare for last week’s floods and said warning systems had worked, as the death toll from the country’s worst natural disaster in almost six decades rose above 160. Flooding has devastated parts of Western Europe since last Wednesday, with the German […]
Suicide attack in Iraq’s Sadr City kills at least 35, wounds dozens – sources
Baghdad, IraqReuters A suicide bomber killed at least 35 people and wounded dozens in a crowded market in the Sadr City neighbourhood of Baghdad on Monday, the eve of the Eid al-Adha festival, security and hospital sources said. More than 60 people were wounded, a police source said. People pick up debris at the site […]
Foreign missions in Kabul issue joint call for Taliban ceasefire
Kabul, AfghanistanReuters Fifteen diplomatic missions and the NATO representative in Kabul joined hands on Monday to urge the Taliban to halt military offensives across Afghanistan, just hours after a peace meeting in Doha failed to agree on a ceasefire. A senior delegation of Afghan leaders met the Taliban’s political leadership in the Qatari capital over […]
Israeli firm’s spyware used to target journalists’ cell phones – reports
Washington DC, USReuters An Israeli company’s spyware was used in attempted and successful hacks of 37 smartphones belonging to journalists, government officials and human rights activists around the world, according to an investigation by 17 media organisations published on Sunday. One of the organisations, The Washington Post, said the Pegasus spyware licensed by Israel-based NSO […]
PM Johnson pleads for caution as ‘Freedom Day’ arrives in England
London, UKReuters Prime Minister Boris Johnson ends more than a year of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions in England on Monday, urging the public to remain cautious but putting his faith in vaccines to protect the country even as infections are surging. On what local media have dubbed “Freedom Day”, Johnson’s decision to lift regulations in favour […]
Church in Norway marks name change for transgender person
Helsinki, NorwayAP A Lutheran church in Norway has held a name change ceremony for a 49-year-old transgender person in what officials said marked the first such event in a place of worship in the Nordic country. Elin Stillingen lived the first 40 years of her life as a man and legally changed her name and […]
COVID-19 response runs underground in junta-ruled Myanmar
Reuters For a week, 21-year-old student Phoe Thar has been out by dawn to gather oxygen cylinders from the homes of coronavirus sufferers in Myanmar’s second city of Mandalay. He and fellow volunteers line the tanks up outside charities for filling and returning, trying to save lives in a country whose health system has largely […]
Indigenous residential schools: Uncovering US boarding school history makes for monumental task
SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN, of Associated Press, reports on the US Government efforts to uncover the troubled legacy of the nation’s policies related to Native American boarding schools…
As climate change spurs migration, Biden urged to weigh new protections
Washington DC, USThomson Reuters Foundation As US President Joe Biden prepares to tackle the thorny issue of cross-border migration related to climate change, he is set to run headlong into political and legal realities, analysts warned this week. Biden’s national security team has been tasked with reporting back to him on climate-related migration threats by […]
Essay: Will those suffering late-stage dementia be the next to be called less than human?
US Catholic columnist CHARLES C CAMOSY, in an article adapted from his new book, ‘Losing Our Dignity: How Secularized Medicine is Undermining Fundamental Human Equality’, on why it’s time to sound the alarm on the care of those living with dementia…