Pope pledges to continue being a “pest” in defence of the poor
Vatican CityReuters Pope Francis said on Saturday he realises some people, including within the church, consider him to be “a pest” for defending the poor and most vulnerable, but that it won’t stop him as it is part of Christianity. “Thinking about these situations [of exclusion and inequality], I make a pest of myself with […]
Earthquake of magnitude 4.8 strikes Bali, kills three
Jakarta, IndonesiaReuters An earthquake of magnitude 4.8 struck Indonesia’s Bali island on Saturday morning, killing at least three people, Indonesia’s search and rescue agency said. The quake affected the Karangasem and Bangli districts on the eastern side of the tourist island and a search has been concluded, the agency said in a statement, but authorities […]
UK PM Johnson visits church where lawmaker was stabbed to death
Leigh-on-Sea, UKReuters British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday laid flowers at the church where a lawmaker was stabbed to death a day earlier, in what police say was a terrorist attack probably linked to Islamist extremism. The attack on David Amess, from Johnson’s Conservative Party, comes five years after the murder of Jo Cox, […]
Residents of Canadian Arctic capital told city water is unsafe to drink
Vancouver, CanadaReuters The capital of Canada’s Arctic territory has ordered its 7,000 residents not to drink the city’s water due to suspected fuel contamination. Iqaluit, the capital of Canada’s northernmost territory Nunavut, which borders Greenland, declared a state of emergency on Tuesday night, telling residents to stop using city water for drinking and cooking. Jackie […]
Raphael Warnock honoured with Four Freedoms award in ‘extra step’ for racial justice
RNS Senator Raphael Warnock, who continues to pastor his historic Atlanta church while serving as Georgia’s first Black US senator, has received the Roosevelt Institute’s Freedom of Worship Award in a ceremony focused on racial justice. “I really felt that the strength of his pastoral voice was unique,” Anne Roosevelt, grand-daughter of President Franklin Delano […]
Kuwait’s stateless bedoun in limbo as hundreds lose bank accounts
KuwaitReuters Frontline worker Ahmad al-Enezi, a member of Kuwait’s stateless community, has spent the last 14 months lost in a bureaucratic maze after his bank account was suspended, freezing access to his salary and savings in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Enezi’s predicament has its origins in a push by the Gulf country to […]
China crackdown on Apple store hits holy book apps, Audible
AP Amazon’s audiobook service Audible and phone apps for reading the holy books of Islam and Christianity have disappeared from the Apple store in mainland China, the latest examples of the impact of the country’s tightened rules for internet firms. Audible said Friday that it removed its app from the Apple store in mainland China […]
Fighting COVID: Latino Catholics are among the most vaccinated religious groups in the US. Here’s why.
ALEJANDRA MOLINA, of Religion News Service, looks at why vaccination rates are so among Latino Catholics…
Blast at Shi’ite mosque in Afghan city of Kandahar kills dozens
Kabul, AfghanistanReuters Suicide bombers attacked a Shi’ite mosque in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, killing at least 35 people, the second week in a row that militants bombed Friday prayers and killed dozens of worshippers from the minority sect. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Friday’s attack in Kandahar, but Islamic State […]
Updated: British lawmaker stabbed to death in “terrorist incident”
Updated 7.15pm (ADST)Leigh-in-Sea, EnglandReuters British lawmaker David Amess was stabbed to death in an Essex church on Friday by an assailant who lunged at him as he met voters, in what police said was a terrorist attack. Amess, 69, from Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party, was knifed repeatedly in the attack at about midday […]