Mediterranean has become a “wildfire hotspot”, EU scientists say
Brussels, BelgiumReuters The Mediterranean has become a wildfire hotspot, with Turkey hit by its most intense blazes on record and a heatwave producing a high risk of further fires and smoke pollution around the region, a European Union atmosphere monitor said on Wednesday. Wildfires are raging in countries including Greece and Turkey, where thousands of […]
Global COVID-19 cases surpass 200 million as Delta variant spreads
Reuters Coronavirus cases worldwide surpassed 200 million on Wednesday, according to a Reuters tally, as the more-infectious Delta variant threatens areas with low vaccination rates and strains healthcare systems. The global surge in cases is highlighting the widening gap in inoculation rates between wealthy and poor nations. Cases are rising in about one-third of the […]
Expert in faith-based disaster management new leader of US Homeland Security centre
RNS An expert in public-private collaborations and disaster management has been named the new director of the Department of Homeland Security’s Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Marcus T Coleman, 35, held the role as an interim from 2017 to 2018 and was a special assistant for it from 2013 to 2016. He was appointed […]
Bolsonaro’s “land grab” bill passes Brazil’s lower house
Brasilia, BrazilReuters Brazil’s lower house of Congress passed a land bill on Tuesday that is backed by the country’s powerful farm sector but that environmentalists say will contribute to deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. The bill allows squatters on public land to more easily receive deeds to their properties and was initially proposed by far-right […]
WHO’s pandemic project faces cash crunch amid vaccine, oxygen shortages
Brussels, BelgiumReuters The World Health Organization is seeking $US11.5 billion in urgent funding to fight the more infectious Delta variant of the coronavirus, a draft report seen by Reuters shows, amid worries wealthy nations are partly bypassing its COVID-19 programs. A large portion of the cash being requested from the WHO’s partners is needed to […]
StrangeSights: Women in COVID fight honoured with Barbies; truckdrivers and the “tea bag challenge”; and, a gem of a find…
DAVID ADAMS writes about the odder side of life…
Thousands of migrant kids stuck in US border patrol custody, again
Roma, TexasReuters The number of migrant children in Border Patrol facilities has been steadily rising, an analysis of US Government data shows, as record numbers crossed the US-Mexico border in July, renewing a politically sensitive issue for President Joe Biden. On 1st August there were more than 2,200 unaccompanied children in US Customs and Border […]
In poor area of Tunis, hopes for better times ahead
Tunis, Tunisia Reuters As day breaks over Tunis, Jamila Ghuili takes her two small children out into the streets to scavenge in waste bins for plastic bottles that she sells to buy food for her family. Abandoned by her husband, the single mother lives in a poor part of Omrane Superieur, a neighbourhood of the […]
Kidnappers in Nigeria demand ransom to release 80 schoolchildren
Kaduna, NigeriaReuters Kidnappers are demanding a ransom of one million naira each to release around 80 children snatched from a boarding school in northern Nigeria last month, according to a pastor involved in the negotiations for their release. The attack on the Bethel Baptist High School in the state of Kaduna was the 10th mass […]
Books: How to be a good sport
DAVID ADAMS reads Stephen Liggins’ book on the intersection of Christianity and sport…