Amnesty to shut Hong Kong offices given national security law risks
Hong Kong, ChinaReuters International rights group Amnesty International said on Monday it would close its Hong Kong offices because a China-imposed security law had now made it “effectively impossible” for rights groups to work freely without the risk of reprisals. Anjhula Mya Singh Bais, the chair of Amnesty’s international board, said in a statement that […]
Wow!: In major ocean polluter Philippines, group turns plastic waste into planks
ADRIAN PORTUGAL, of Reuters, reports on the work of The Plastic Flamingo…
World “way off track” in halting warming, UN warns ahead of COP26
Geneva, Switzerland/Glasgow, UKReuters Greenhouse gas concentrations hit a record last year and the world is “way off track” on climate goals, the UN weather agency said on Monday, showing the scale of the task facing governments scrambling to avert dangerous levels of warming. A report by the World Meteorological Organization showed that carbon dioxide levels […]
Orthodox Patriarch released from hospital, set to meet Biden
AP Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodox Christians, was released from a Washington, DC, hospital Monday morning after an overnight stay early in his 12-day visit to the United States. Bartholomew, 81, was scheduled to meet with President Joe Biden later Monday at the White House, and also to meet with Secretary of State Antony […]
Seven killed, 140 hurt in protests against Sudan military coup
Updated 9am (AEDT)Khartoum, SudanReuters Sudan’s military seized power from a transitional government on Monday and a health ministry official said seven people were killed by gunfire and 140 injured in clashes between soldiers and street protesters. The leader of the takeover, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, dissolved the military-civilian Sovereign Council that had been established to […]
Australia looks to roll out COVID-19 booster shots soon as curbs ease
Sydney, AustraliaReuters Australian officials plan to roll out COVID-19 booster shots soon to prevent a resurgence of cases, as residents in the two largest cities of Sydney and Melbourne begin to enjoy more freedoms after months-long curbs. Australia has ditched its COVID-zero strategy in favour of suppressing the coronavirus, after largely stamping out infections for […]
Many Indians unlikely to be fully vaccinated by year-end despite ample COVID shots
New Delhi, IndiaReuters Tens of millions of Indian adults are unlikely to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by the end of 2021, despite ample supplies, due to an unusually large gap between the doses of the most widely-used vaccine and growing complacency as cases fall. The locally-produced AstraZeneca vaccine which is known as Covishield has […]
After fleeing fighting in Marib, displaced Yemenis await help
Marib, YemenReuters Iman Saleh Ali and her family left al-Jubah in the dead of night with only the clothes on their back to escape fighting between government forces and their Houthi foes, the second time they have been forced to do so in the battle for Yemen’s Marib. With no means to afford accommodation, they […]
In the US, Michigan vigil prays for missionaries kidnapped in Haiti
Hart, Michigan, US AP/Report for America More than 100 people gathered Sunday in a small Michigan town in the US to pray for the safe release of a local family among 17 members of a missionary group kidnapped by a gang in Haiti more than a week ago. The vigil in the western Michigan community of Hart took […]
UNICEF warns Haiti fuel shortages put hospitalised women and children at risk
Port-au-Prince, HaitiReuters Fuel shortages in Haiti are putting the lives of hundreds of women and children at risk as hospitals run low on supplies for electricity, United Nations children’s agency UNICEF said on Sunday. Fuel supplies to the capital Port-au-Prince have been severely disrupted in recent weeks by a wave of kidnappings, including the abduction […]