Postcards: In Madison, mainline and evangelicals work together to help their churches thrive
BOB SMIETANA, of Religion News Service, reports on how a collaboration of mainline and evangelical Christians in Dane County, Wisconsin, hopes to work together for the common good…
Shackleton’s ship “Endurance” found beneath Antarctic ice, 100 years on
London, UKReuters The wreckage of polar explorer Ernest Shackleton’s ship Endurance, which was crushed by Antarctic ice and sank some 3,000 metres to the ocean floor more than a century ago, has been found, a team searching for it said on Wednesday. The three-masted sailing ship was lost in November 1915 during Shackleton’s failed attempt to make […]
Four convicted in Islamic State killing of French priest
Lyon, France AP Four men were convicted in Paris Wednesday of terrorist conspiracy after the murder of a Catholic priest in a Normandy church in 2016, an attack claimed by the Islamic State group. The four were handed sentences of between eight years and life in prison over the attack on Father Jacques Hamel, 85, […]
Thousands more Ukrainians flee across borders, many with nowhere to go
Przemsyl, Poland/Isaccea, Romania Reuters Thousands more Ukrainian refugees fled to central and eastern Europe on Wednesday, many with no contacts and nowhere to go, as host countries scrambled to accommodate them. The number of refugees has probably reached 2.1 to 2.2 million since Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th February, the head of the UN refugee […]
Top Vatican official says reported bombing of Ukraine children’s hospital “unacceptable”
Rome, ItalyReuters The Vatican’s secretary of state on Wednesday condemned the reported bombing of a children’s hospital in the besieged port of Mariupol in Ukraine. The Mariupol city council said the hospital had been hit several times by a Russian air strike, causing “colossal” destruction. Vatican’s Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin leads a mass […]
Australia declares east coast floods a national emergency
Sydney, AustraliaReuters Australia declared a national emergency on Wednesday in response to devastating floods along its east coast, and designated catastrophe zones in towns swept away by swollen rivers. “Australia is becoming a harder country to live in because of these natural disasters,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Wednesday after touring the worst-hit Northern […]
South Korea to elect new leader to tackle soaring house prices, inequality
Seoul, South Korea Reuters Some 44 million South Koreans are heading to polls to elect the country’s next president on Wednesday, capping a race that has been marked by a series of surprises, scandals and smear campaigns. The winner of the election will face mounting challenges including deepening inequality and surging housing prices that have […]
StrangeSights: A prison test-run; slap fighting; and, Edward Scissorhands home on the market…
DAVID ADAMS provides a round-up of some stories on the odder side of life…
‘Don’t Worry, Be Happy’: Behind sandbags, Odessa waits to see if it’s next
Odessa, Ukraine Reuters From behind sandbags and anti-tank barriers in front of Odessa’s Opera and Ballet Theatre, a familiar if unexpected melody drifted across the near-deserted streets of Ukraine’s main Black Sea port on Tuesday: Don’t Worry, Be Happy. Odessa has so far escaped shelling but its one million people are nervously waiting to see […]
UN cultural agency moves to protect Ukraine’s heritage sites
Reuters The United Nations’ cultural agency UNESCO said on Tuesday it had bolstered protective measures to preserve Ukraine’s endangered cultural heritage in light of Russia’s invasion of its neighbour. “The first challenge is to mark cultural heritage sites and monuments and recall their special status as protected areas under international law,” UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay […]