StrangeSights: Back-flipping gymnasts and pulling a car on your hands – Guinness has its day; Peppa Pig comes to the aid of Boris Johnson; and, pardons for Peanut Butter and Jelly…
DAVID ADAMS provides a round-up of some stories on the odder side of life…
In the US, a faith advisory board with Trump ties urges religious vaccine exemptions for military
RNS More than 1,700 religious leaders organised by former President Donald Trump’s faith advisers are urging the US military to grant religious exemptions to COVID-19 vaccine mandates, alleging service members with spiritual objections to the inoculations are being “stripped of their religious liberties”. But while the effort singled out COVID-19 vaccine mandates first initiated by President […]
Number of children recruited into conflict grows in West and Central Africa
Dakar, SenegalReuters West and Central Africa has recorded the highest number of children recruited into conflict of any region in the world, and the number is growing, the UN children’s agency said on Tuesday. Children are used as fighters as well as messengers, spies, cooks, cleaners, guards and porters by armed groups from Mali to […]
Americans think bad things just happen; God is not responsible – survey
RNS Few Americans blame God when bad things happen in their lives, according to a new Pew Research Center survey that looks at how people respond to suffering in the wake of a pandemic that has killed more than 750,000 Americans. The survey of 6,485 US adults polled online in September shows that Americans overall have a […]
Children and Scripture: New Bibles rethink how Christians share old, old story with young readers
EMILY MCFARLAN MILLER, of Religion News Service, reports on a string of new children’s story Bibles to be released in the US…
Military moves in Ethiopia risk undermining progress toward peace talks – US envoy
Washington DC, US Reuters The US Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa said on Tuesday that “nascent progress” toward getting all parties to Ethiopia’s conflict into negotiations on a ceasefire risks being outpaced by an “alarming” increase in military operations. Envoy Jeffrey Feltman briefed reporters in Washington after returning on Monday from Ethiopia, where […]
Essay: Spotty data and media bias delay justice for missing and murdered Indigenous people
In an article first published on The Conversation, WENDELIN HUME, of the University of North Dakota in the US, says addressing the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous people in the US means first compiling accurate data…