US “deeply troubled” by attacks on civilians as Taliban sweep across Afghanistan
New Delhi, India/Kabul, Afghanistan Reuters The United States said on Wednesday it was deeply troubled by reports of escalating attacks on civilians as the Taliban sweep across Afghanistan and Washington pulls out its last remaining troops and ends its longest war. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, on a visit to India, said the only path […]
Raab calls for global vaccine drive as UK starts donating shots
Oxford, England Reuters British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab warned that the world would not be adequately vaccinated until 2024 unless other countries joined Britain in donating shots to poorer nations, an effort that could bring that date forward to the middle of next year. Britain pledged to donate 100 million vaccines when it hosted the […]
Sydney adds four weeks to lockdown as Australia COVID-19 cases grow
Sydney, AustraliaReuters Australia’s biggest city, Sydney, extended a lockdown by four weeks on Wednesday after an already protracted stay-at-home order failed to douse a COVID-19 outbreak, with authorities warning of tougher policing to stamp out non-compliance. Far from a planned exit from lockdown in three days, the city of five million people and neighbouring regional […]
Myanmar floods, coup, complicate growing COVID-19 outbreak
Reuters Flooding in Myanmar has displaced hundreds of people, residents said on Tuesday, adding to the misery of a nation struggling against a fast-spreading coronavirus outbreak while living through the chaos created by a military coup in February. Heavy downpours since the weekend caused flooding in several areas, forcing healthcare workers to move COVID-19 patients through […]
StrangeSights: South Korean broadcaster apologises for stereotypes in Olympic Opening Ceremony coverage; an app to show your cat’s pain; and, the world’s oldest tennis player…
DAVID ADAMS writes about the odder side of life…
Only half of American households donate to charity – study
AP For the first time in nearly two decades, only half of US households donated to a charity, according to a study released Tuesday. The findings confirm a trend worrying experts: Donations to charitable causes are reaching record highs, but the giving is done by a smaller and smaller slice of the population. The study, […]
Haitians displaced by gang violence face bleak future
Port-au-Prince, HaitiReuters Haitians displaced by gang incursions into swaths of the capital Port-au-Prince now live on the sharpest edge of insecurity in the Caribbean country, which is reeling from the assassination of President Jovenel Moise earlier this month. Officials say thousands of people have lost their homes to creeping encroachment by violent gangs into central […]
Designer who won’t make same-sex wedding websites loses case in US court
Denver, Colorado, USAP A US appeals court has ruled against a web designer who didn’t want to create wedding websites for same-sex couples and sued to challenge Colorado’s anti-discrimination law, another twist in a series of court rulings nationwide about whether businesses denying services to LGBTQ people amounts to bias or freedom of speech. A […]
Remains of a war: Grim aftermath of Ethiopian battle offers rare clues about brutal conflict
GIULIA PARAVICINI and MAGGIE FICK, of Reuters, report from Ethiopia…
Australian teenagers suffering COVID-19-related anxiety and trauma, says Mission Australia report
Sydney, Australia Teenagers across Australia are suffering from increased anxiety about their education, experience of isolation, mental health and future prospects due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the annual Mission Australia report on youth says. The Young Voices of the Pandemic: Youth Survey COVID Report 2020, released on Wednesday, shows amongst those reporting personal concerns, 58.7 […]