Explainer – How the World Health Organization might face future pandemics
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters Negotiations on new rules for dealing with pandemics will begin at the World Health Organization on Thursday, with a target date of May, 2024, for a treaty to be adopted by the UN health agency’s 194 member countries. A new pact is among more than 200 recommendations for shoring up the world’s defences […]
In the US, veterans hospital Bible lawsuit dismissed; separate display proposed
Concord, New Hampshire, USAP A judge agreed to dismiss a nearly three-year-old lawsuit Wednesday over a Bible displayed on a table at a New Hampshire veterans hospital after the plaintiffs’ lawyer proposed a separate display and sought to work with the hospital. Two US Air Force veterans filed the lawsuit in federal court in 2019 […]
GreenSight: Tamar or tomar, the date palm
ALVIN JOHNSON says the ‘tamar’ or ‘tomah’, translated as the the date palm, is mentioned more than 50 times in the Bible…
US and France attack actions of Russian mercenaries in CAR
United NationsAP The US and France criticized mercenaries in the Central African Republic from the Russian security company Wagner, accusing them on Tuesday of executing civilians, attacking UN peacekeepers and targeting predominantly Muslim communities in their military operations. Russia never mentioned mercenaries or Wagner in responding, but said that “Russian specialists” are working “successfully” in […]
Extreme wildfires are here to stay – and multiply
London, UKReuters Indonesia’s peatlands, California’s forests, and, now, vast swathes of Argentine wetland have all been ravaged by extreme wildfires, heralding a fiery future and the dire need to prevent it. With climate change triggering droughts and farmers clearing forests, the number of extreme wildfires is expected to increase 30 per cent within the next […]
As Russian threat escalates, prominent US faith leaders hold peace vigil for Ukraine
RNS More than a dozen faith leaders offered prayers for a peaceful resolution to the escalating conflict between Russia and Ukraine during an online vigil Wednesday hosted by the Episcopal Church and the Friends Committee on National Legislation. “There are people and children of God whose lives and freedom are threatened and so we pray,” […]
Ukraine separatists ask for Russia’s help as Kyiv drafts men
Kyiv/Donetsk, UkraineReuters Separatists in Ukraine asked for Russian help to repel “aggression” on Wednesday and Kyiv announced compulsory military service and a state of emergency as the West slapped more sanctions on Moscow in a bid to stop an all-out invasion. In one of the worst post-Cold War security crises in Europe for decades, convoys […]
Cambodia: Internet gateway raises fears of China-style surveillance
RINA CHANDRAN, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on critics claims that, when implemented, Cambodia’s National Internet Gateway will hit privacy and hamper the work of human rights defenders amid a crackdown on dissent…
Guidepost report: RZIM leaders were blinded by loyalty, spent donor money to sue a survivor
RNS A newly released report on the internal culture at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries found that leaders at the ministry were blinded by loyalty to the founder, overlooked Zacharias’ misconduct for years, used ministry funds to sue an abuse survivor and misled the public. The report from Guidepost Solutions was released Wednesday, seven months after the board […]
Essay: Tens of thousands of Afghan evacuees made it to the US – here’s how the resettlement process works
KATHRYN LIBAL and SCOTT HARDING, of theUniversity of Connecticut, look – in an article first published on The Conversation – at the most significant US resettlement effort since 1975…