UN urges Mali to end hereditary slavery
Dakar, SenegalReuters UN human rights experts on Friday called on Mali to crack down on hereditary slavery after a series of violent attacks against people born into servitude. Slavery was officially abolished in colonial Mali in 1905, but a system persists in which people are still forced to work without pay for families that enslaved […]
Rich nations to acknowledge climate change threat, take urgent steps – draft communique
Rome, Italy Reuters Leaders of the 20 richest countries will acknowledge the existential threat of climate change and will take urgent steps to limit global warning, a draft communique seen ahead of the COP26 summi shows. As people around the world prepared to demonstrate their frustration with politicians, Pope Francis lent his voice to a chorus demanding […]
Moon tells Pope a visit to North would help peace in Koreas
Vatican CityAP South Korean President Moon Jae-in gave Pope Francis a statue of a cross made with barbed wire from the demilitarized zone separating the Koreas and told him Friday that a papal visit to the North would help create “momentum for peace” on the peninsula, officials said. Moon, a Catholic, called on Francis before […]
Biden: Pope told me that I should “keep receiving Communion”
Rome, ItalyAP Face-to-face at the Vatican, President Joe Biden held extended and highly personal talks with Pope Francis on Friday and came away saying the pontiff told him he was a “good Catholic” and should keep receiving Communion, although conservatives have called for him to be denied the sacrament because of his support for abortion […]
Biden, Pope to talk virus, climate, poverty at Vatican
Rome, ItalyAP President Joe Biden arrived at the Vatican Friday to meet with Pope Francis, the world’s two most notable Roman Catholics huddling to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and poverty. The President takes pride in his Catholic faith, using it as moral guidepost to shape many of his social and economic policies. Biden […]
Actions, not words – Pacific Islands urge strong commitment on climate
Canberra, AustraliaReuters The world must unite and take significant action now to tackle climate change that is threatening the survival of Pacific island nations, the region’s leaders said on Friday, as they prepared to travel to Scotland for a climate summit. The low-lying Pacific islands are widely seen as a main front line in the […]
Australia’s COVID-19 vaccination drive reaches Antarctica’s frozen shores
Sydney, Australia Reuters COVID-19 vaccines have arrived at Australia’s Casey research station in Antarctica, authorities said on Friday, allowing expeditioners to be inoculated before they journey back home to a country reopening to the world. Australia is gradually easing pandemic restrictions as it boosts vaccination levels after its southeast was rocked by a third wave […]
Snapshot: The Rock of Gibraltar
See MICHAL MROZEK’s image…
Soundbite – The TCM Update: Reuben Morgan, Hillsong Worship and ‘Never Walk Alone’
Hillsong Worship. Listen to this week’s TCM Update…
Most Americans support church-state separation; Christian nationalists differ – poll
RNS Americans do not want to see the United States declared a Christian country and they do not want to forsake the separation of church and state, a new Pew Research study finds. The study, a first-of-its-kind, conducted online in March among 12,055 Americans, finds that even among highly religious Christians, only a third said the US […]