In US state of Kansas camel escapes Nativity scene, latest in series of camel mishaps
RNS An escaped camel sent police scrambling in a Kansas City suburb this past weekend. The dromedary in question escaped a Nativity scene in Bonner Springs, Kansas. The incident is the latest chapter in the colorful and often chaotic history of camels in the United States. The animal was part of a drive-through Nativity scene […]
Wow!: Loans keep women afloat as they plant fast-vanishing mangroves in Kenya
DOMINIC KIRUI, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports from Pate Island off Kenya’s east coast…
Weeping Guatemalans honour remains of Indigenous victims of civil war
Sepur Zargo, Guatemala Reuters Chanting prayers and laying down flowers over small wooden coffins, Indigenous Guatemalans honoured the remains of over 100 people killed decades ago in the country’s brutal civil war in a ceremony aimed at healing still-open wounds. Mourners from the Maya q’eqchi community gathered in a small Catholic church in the Guatemalan hamlet […]
Human Rights Watch says Cameroonian separatists target schools
Dakar, SenegalReuters An international human rights group on Thursday accused separatist fighters in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions of systematically targeting schools, students and teachers during a civil war that has killed thousands of people. The attacks have forced two out of every three schools in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions to close, denying over 700,000 students access to […]
First group of migrants from Cyprus relocated under Pope pledge
Nicosia, CyprusReuters A first group of migrants left Cyprus on Thursday as part of an initiative by Pope Francis to assist in their relocation, the government said. Pope Francis visited Cyprus in early December. He pledged to arrange the transfer of 50 migrants to Italy, Cyprus’s interior ministry said at the time. Pope greets a […]
Updated: Typhoon Rai intensifies to Cat 5 storm as it slams Philippines
Updated 9.30pm (AEDT)Manila, Philippines Reuters Typhoon Rai rapidly intensified to a Category 5 storm before making landfall in the southern Philippines on Thursday, forcing mass evacuations and flight cancellations as floodwaters reached chest-high in low-lying communities. Rai, the 15th typhoon to enter Philippine territory this year, hit the holiday island of Siargao in the southern […]
Ugandan church group denounces prominent pastor for marrying second wife under customary law
Kampala, Uganda A group of pastors in Uganda have denounced one of their colleagues who abandoned his wife after 29-years of matrimony and married a young woman under the Uganda customary law. Pastor Aloysius Bugingo, of House of Prayer Ministries in Kampala, was denounced by the National Fellowship of Born-Again Pentecostal Churches on 9th December […]
Health Insight: Planning a Christmas get-together? Eight tips to avoid a super-spreader event
In an article first published on The Conversation, THEA VAN DE MORTEL – an expert in infection control and prevention, provides some advice for those holding Christmas gatherings…
There are no African American saints. A lay Catholic group seeks to change that
RNS Frustrated with a church that didn’t reflect his identity, Ralph Moore went into St Pius Church in West Baltimore late one night with his friends and painted the statues of Jesus and Mary black – a “parting shot” before he left Catholicism. He recalled a Stations of the Cross depiction – painting Jesus Black […]
Inside La Palma’s volcano: lull in activity allows look into crater
La Palma, Canary Islands, SpainReuters The Cumbre Vieja volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma was silent for a second day on Wednesday, giving scientists the first chance to study the main crater from its brink as the eruption appeared to be nearing its end after three months. A group of scientists collecting gas […]