Philippines’ feared death toll from Typhoon Rai rises to 31
Manila, The Philippines Reuters The feared death toll from a typhoon that battered the Philippines has risen to 31, officials said on Saturday, nearly triple the previous day’s number as rescue teams reach damaged areas and communication lines are restored. Aerial view showing damaged houses in Surigao City, Surigao Del Norte Province, Philippines, on 17th […]
Settlers clash with Palestinians in aftermath of West Bank killing
Homesh, West Bank Reuters The United Nations Mideast peace envoy warned against escalating tensions on Friday after Palestinian gunmen killed an Israeli in the occupied West Bank and Jewish settlers were accused of attacking Arab villages in the aftermath. Yehuda Dimentman, 25, was killed on Thursday in an ambush on his car as he left […]
‘Mary Did You Know’ writer Mark Lowry good-natured over song’s controversy
RNS For Mark Lowry, almost every day is Christmas. Whenever the storyteller and singer takes the stage for a concert, he always closes the show with the same song – Mary Did You Know? – no matter what time of year it is. “When you have one hit, you better end with it,” Lowry said […]
Ex-hostages doing well, have left Haiti, mission agency says
AP All the former hostages from a US-based missionary group kidnapped in Haiti have been flown out of the country after a two-month ordeal, the leader of their Ohio-based missions organisation said Friday, as he also extended an offer of forgiveness to their captors. Unidentified people depart on route to the airport from the Christian […]
Polish charity near Belarus border protests police raid
Warsaw, PolandAP A Catholic humanitarian group aiding migrants on Poland’s border with Belarus on Friday denounced a police raid on their regional premises as a “scandalous” act of intimidation. Armed police questioned four volunteers for hours on Wednesday night and confiscated laptops and mobile phones from the aid centre run by the Club of Catholic […]
Pope at 85: Gloves come off as Francis’ reform hits stride
NICOLE WINFIELD, of The Associated Press, reports that despite his successful papal trips and his ongoing campaign for a more just world, Pope Francis, continues to face problems at home and abroad – something to he has responded with the papal equivalent of “no more Mr Nice Guy”…
Clashes in Cameroon’s north displace over 100,000 – UN agency
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters Clashes between herders, fishermen and farmers in the far north of Cameroon have driven at least 100,000 people from their homes in the past two weeks, creating a humanitarian emergency, the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Friday. Cameroonians who fled deadly intercommunal violence between Arab Choa herders and Mousgoum and Massa […]