Testimony: Pope approved Vatican payout for London property
Vatican CityAP Pope Francis allegedly authorised negotiating an exit strategy for a key figure in the Vatican’s bungled London real estate investment and was so satisfied with the outcome that he paid for a celebratory dinner at a fancy Roman fish restaurant the night €15 million payout closed, a defendant in the Vatican’s extortion trial […]
Sight-Seeing: Language is hard – are you sure they mean what you think they mean?
KAREN SWALLOW PRIOR, in an article first published on Religion News Service, says caring for each other includes the humility of accepting that we understand each other and our words only in part…
Sri Lanka suffers long power cuts as currency shortage makes fuel scarce
Colombo, Sri Lanka Reuters Sri Lankans faced 10-hour power cuts on Wednesday and warnings of longer blackouts on Thursday, as a deepening economic crisis roiled markets and the electricity regulator urged more than a million government employees to work from home to save fuel. The island nation has been unable to pay for fuel shipments […]
WHO lays out plan to emerge from emergency phase of pandemic
Reuters The World Health Organization on Wednesday released an updated plan for COVID-19, laying out key strategies that, if implemented in 2022, would allow the world to end the emergency phase of the pandemic. The plan includes three possible scenarios for how the virus might evolve in the coming year. A worker in a protective […]
US to end COVID-era order blocking migrants at Mexico border
Washington DC, USReuters US health officials are planning to end a sweeping, pandemic-related expulsion policy that has effectively closed down the US asylum system at the border with Mexico by 23rd May, a US official familiar with the matter told Reuters, adding that the decision had not yet been finalised. A draft notice by the […]
Russia bombards Kyiv outskirts as it regroups for offensive in east Ukraine
Mala Rohan/near Irpin, UkraineReuters Russian forces bombarded the outskirts of Kyiv and a besieged city in northern Ukraine on Wednesday, a day after promising to scale down operations there in what the West dismissed as a ploy to regroup by invaders suffering heavy losses. Nearly five weeks into an invasion in which Russia has failed […]
US Navy barred from acting against religious vaccine refusers
Washington DC, USAP A US federal judge in Texas is barring the US Navy from taking action for now against sailors who have objected to being vaccinated against COVID-19 on religious grounds. US District Judge Reed O’Connor had in January issued a preliminary injunction preventing the Navy from disciplining or discharging 35 sailors who sued over the […]
Quake-hit Azores island could have eruption like La Palma, volcano experts warn
Sao Jorge, PortugalReuters Volcano experts warned on Tuesday that the earthquake-hit island of Sao Jorge in Portugal’s Azores archipelago could experience an initial eruption similar to Spain’s La Palma last year, which destroyed thousands of properties and crops over 85 days. The lush mid-Atlantic island has been rattled by more than 20,000 small earthquakes in […]
Loud blast, gunshots as suspected bandits attack Nigerian train
Kaduna, Nigeria Reuters Aminu Sani was travelling by rail to see his newborn baby in the northern Nigerian city of Kaduna on Monday night when a loud blast shook the train and gunfire followed, forcing passengers to take cover on the floor. At least seven people were killed and several were missing after suspected bandits […]
Australia’s Emergency Action Alliance launches Ukraine appeal with ABC Concert
Sydney, Australia The Emergency Action Alliance has launched an appeal to raise money for people fleeing the conflict in Ukraine. Over four million people have fled so far. The Emergency Action Alliance has 15 member organisations including Baptist World Aid. The alliance is launching its first appeal through a televised concert with the ABC. Refugees fleeing […]