Malta’s government carries responsibility for journalist’s murder, inquiry finds
Valletta, MaltaReuters An independent inquiry into the car bomb murder of anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta found on Thursday that the state had to bear responsibility after creating a “culture of impunity”. Caruana Galizia was killed in a massive explosion as she drove out of her home on 16th October, 2017. A sign […]
Thousands protest in Guatemala demanding President’s resignation
Guatemala City. GuatemalaReuters Thousands of Guatemalans took to the streets in protest on Thursday, lighting fires and blocking roads across the Central American country, to demand the resignation of President Alejandro Giammattei after the firing of a well-known anti-corruption prosecutor. The protests have gained momentum since Guatemala’s Attorney General Maria Porras last week removed anti-graft […]
US imposes sanctions on Syrian prisons, officials
Washington DC, USReuters The United States on Wednesday said it imposed sanctions on eight prisons run by Syria’s intelligence apparatus, some of which featured in graphic images by a former Syrian military photographer codenamed “Caesar” that show brutal torture. The Treasury Department also slapped sanctions on five Syrian officials who directed the prisons, Syrian armed […]
North Wales’ slate landscapes named UNESCO World Heritage site
London, UKReuters The slate landscapes of north-west Wales have been added to the list of World Heritage Sites, UNESCO said on Wednesday, a boost for Britain after the city of Liverpool was stripped of its status. The government nominated the area to the UN cultural organisation in 2020 to recognise its role as a leader […]
A Sustainable Life: Sixty years ago, scientists let a UK farm field rewild – here’s what happened
Sixty years ago, a decision was made to let a Cambridgeshire field return to a wild state. RICHARD K BROUGHTON, an ecologist and ornithologist at UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, looks – in an article first published on The Conversation – at what the experiment has revealed…
As Iran faces “water bankruptcy”, drought exposes past problems, future threats
Beirut, LebanonThomson Reuters Foundation Severe water shortages in Iran in recent weeks have prompted electricity outages and even sparked deadly protests, but analysts say the underlying causes go back decades – and will rattle the country for much longer than this summer’s drought. Sadeq Ziaeian, director of Iran’s National Drought Warning and Monitoring Center, said […]
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church celebrates paid-off debts at major meeting
RNS The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church opened its General Conference in the US with a worship service celebrating its paid-off debts. “We loved our church and we wanted to make sure that when we came to General Conference we would have enough money saved by making these transactions, so when we came here the […]
Residents flee as winds fan massive wildfire in southern Turkey
Ankara, TurkeyReuters A massive forest fire in southern Turkey spread to the town of Manavgat as the flames were fanned by strong winds on Wednesday, according to the local mayor, and TV footage showed residents running for their cars as streets were engulfed in smoke. Footage showed plumes of black smoke rising from the forest […]
US apology to Native Americans: How a new spiritual movement is calling for official recognition
EMILY MCFARLAN MILLER, of Religion News Service, reports on efforts – led by Negiel Bigpond and former US senator and ambassador Sam Brownback – to see an apology to Native Americans issued in 2010 to be formally recognised in a White House ceremony…
Vaccine hesitancy declines among faith groups in the US, spurred partly by religious appeals – survey
RNS A new survey finds vaccine hesitancy has fallen among Americans overall and among all religious subgroups in just three months, with many who once balked saying they embraced inoculation against COVID-19 at the urging of faith leaders. Many stalwart subsets of “vaccine refusers”, however, have barely budged, raising concerns as to whether they will […]