Updated: Dozens die in Burkina Faso as Islamist militants raid convoy
Updated: 10.40am (AEST)Ouagadougou, Burkina FasoReuters Dozens of people were killed in northern Burkina Faso on Wednesday when Islamist militants raided a civilian convoy that was being escorted by military police, the latest in a spate of attacks across West Africa’s Sahel region this month. President Roch Kabore ordered three days of national mourning following the […]
Quick facts: Evacuations from Afghanistan by country
Reuters Western nations are scrambling to get diplomats, civilians and eligible Afghans out of Kabul as the Taliban make first efforts to set up a government after their lightning sweep into the capital. About 5,000 diplomats, security staff, aid workers and Afghans have been evacuated in the last 24 hours, a Western official told Reuters […]
At least three killed as Afghan protests test Taliban’s promise of peaceful rule
Kabul, AfghanistanReuters At least three people were killed in anti-Taliban protests in the Afghan city of Jalalabad on Wednesday, witnesses said, as the Islamist group moved to consolidate power and Western countries ramped up evacuations from a chaotic Kabul airport. Thousands of people are trying to flee the country, fearing a return to the austere […]
Two Catholic nuns killed in South Sudan ambush; President Kiir says attack is an act of terror
Kampala, Uganda South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has condemned Monday’s killing of two Catholic nuns in an ambush along the Juba-Nimule Highway, referring to it as an act of terror. Sisters Mary Daniel Abut and Regina Roba, attached to the Congregation of Sacred Hearts of the Catholic Diocese of Juba, were waylaid, shot at and killed […]
Pope Francis urges everyone to get COVID-19 vaccines for the good of all
Vatican CityReuters Pope Francis issued an appeal on Wednesday urging people to get inoculated against COVID-19, saying the vaccines could bring an end to the pandemic, but needed to be taken by everyone. “Thanks to God’s grace and to the work of many, we now have vaccines to protect us from COVID-19,” the Pope said […]
Heartbroken and homeless: Algerian villagers grapples with wildfire aftermath
Bejaia, AlgeriaReuters When Algeria’s deadly wildfires tore through the forest around their village, brothers Khelaf and Lyazid Tazibt could only hustle their families out of the door and abandon the home they shared to the flames. The two men, both retired, and their wives and children, are now among hundreds of Algerians left homeless by […]
StrangeSights: ‘Field of Dreams’ makes real-world news; pets looking for a love match; and, chomped gold medal replaced…
DAVID ADAMS writes about the odder side of life…
Afghans scramble to delete digital history, evade biometrics
Thomson Reuters Foundation Thousands of Afghans struggling to ensure the physical safety of their families after the Taliban took control of the country have an additional worry: that biometric databases and their own digital history can be used to track and target them. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned of “chilling” curbs on human rights and violations […]
Cuba struggles to get oxygen to the sick, vaccines to the healthy
Havana, CubaReuters Cuba has turned to the military to provide oxygen amid a surge of the coronavirus even as doctors rush to administer locally developed vaccines to the population. The government announced on Sunday that the Caribbean island’s main oxygen plant had broken down in the midst of a Delta variant-driven coronavirus surge that has […]
Biden authorises new refugee funds, fends off criticism from aid groups
Washington DC/Chicago, USRNS President Joe Biden has authorised an additional $US500 million to aid refugees from Afghanistan, pushing through the funds as the White House fends off suggestions it failed a moral test to aid those fleeing the war-torn country. Biden approved the funds in a memorandum Monday to meet “unexpected urgent refugee and migration […]