Pope Francis encourages young climate activists to build dialogue
Vatican CityRNS In a message to young people attending an event in Italy on the environmental crisis, Pope Francis encouraged activists to promote human relationships and environmental protections by overcoming divisions. “There must be harmony between people – men and women – and the environment,” the Pope said in his recorded message at the Youth4Climate […]
Ukraine marks 80th anniversary of mass shootings in Kyiv’s Babyn Yar
Kyiv, UkraineReuters Ukraine marked the 80th anniversary on Wednesday of the mass shooting of civilians at the wooded ravine of Babyn Yar in Nazi-occupied Kyiv, one of the biggest single massacres of Jews during the Holocaust. Nazi troops at Babyn Yar gunned down nearly 34,000 Jewish men, women and children on 29th and 30th September, […]
Search for remains of Indigenous children killed in Guatemala massacre blocked by residents
Guatemala City, Guatemala Reuters Residents of a Mayan community in Guatemala prevented experts on Tuesday from beginning to exhume the remains of more than 100 children believed to have been buried clandestinely in a former military garrison during the country’s civil war in the 1980s. The search efforts in the village of Chiul, more than […]
New Zealand to halt removal of “at risk” children from families
Wellington, New ZealandReuters New Zealand said on Wednesday it will put a virtual halt to the practice of taking at-risk children away from their families, a care policy that has long angered its Indigenous Maori community. Children deemed to be facing harm have been moved into state care for decades despite Maori criticism that the […]
Puppet makes cross-Europe trek to support child refugees
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters A 3.5 metre tall puppet depicting a Syrian refugee girl arrived in Geneva on Tuesday as part of an 8,000-kilometres walk across Europe to raise awareness of the plight of young refugees. “Little Amal” – which means ‘hope’ in Arabic – started her journey on 27th July in Gaziantep, Turkey, near the Syrian […]
StrangeSights: Fat Bear Week; wrapping the Arc; and, a drowning girl in Bilbao…
DAVID ADAMS provides a round-up of some stories on the odder side of life…
Advocating for Haitians, US faith groups pressure Biden to end Trump-era measure
RNS Rev Myrlande DesRosiers likens what has happened to Haiti in the past few months to Biblical plagues: the mounting death toll of COVID-19, the assassination of the Haitian President and a massive 7.2 magnitude earthquake in August that left thousands dead on the island nation and reduced homes to rubble. And this month, a fourth catastrophe: […]
Colombian unions march in support of aid bills for working class and poor
Bogota, ColombiaReuters Thousands of Colombian protesters returned to the streets of major cities on Tuesday to once again demand that Congress approve union-backed social policies to benefit the poorest. The marchers – their numbers much reduced from a peak earlier this year – also demonstrated against a nearly $US4 billion tax reform approved this month […]
Nine days after eruption, lava from La Palma volcano reaches ocean
La Palma, SpainReuters Red hot lava from a volcano that devastated the Spanish island of La Palma reached the Atlantic Ocean late on Tuesday evening, nine days after it started to flow down the mountain, wrecking buildings and destroying crops. Big clouds of white steam billowed up from the Playa Nueva area as the lava […]
The Interview: Amid pandemic and personal struggles, Max Lucado finds peace in divine purpose
EMILY MCFARLAN MILLER, of Religion News Service, speaks with Max Lucado about his new book ‘You Were Made for this Moment’, the Biblical Book of Esther and his recent diagnosis with a serious health condition…