US finds 500 Native American boarding school deaths so far
Flagstaff, Arizona, USAP A first-of-its-kind federal study of Native American boarding schools that for over a century sought to assimilate Indigenous children into white society has identified more than 500 student deaths at the institutions, but officials say that figure could grow exponentially as research continues. The Interior Department report released Wednesday expands to more […]
Sri Lankan President to appoint new PM, cabinet this week; Pope calls for leaders to respect human rights
Colombo/Weerakeiya, Sri Lanka Reuters Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said on Wednesday he would appoint a new Prime Minister and cabinet this week, after his elder brother and former premier Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned following deadly violence in the country. The new prime minister and cabinet will command a majority in the 225-seat parliament, Rajapaksa said, […]
Wives of Mariupol defenders to Pope: “You are our last hope”
Vatican CityAP The wives of two Ukrainian soldiers defending the Mariupol steel mill met with Pope Francis on Wednesday and begged him to intervene to arrange for a third-party evacuation of the troops before Russian soldiers capture or kill them. “You are our last hope. We hope you can save their lives. Please don’t let […]
Updated: Hong Kong police bail Catholic cardinal arrested on national security charge
Updated: 7.45am (AEST), 12th May, 2022Hong Kong, ChinaReuters Cardinal Joseph Zen, one of the most senior Catholic clerics in Asia, and three others who helped run a now-disbanded Hong Kong fund for protesters were arrested by on charges of “collusion with foreign forces,” and later released on bail. Zen, a 90-year-old former bishop of Hong […]
Reuters wins Pulitzer for intimate, devastating images of India’s pandemic
Reuters From hospitals, funeral pyres and remote villages to a Himalayan hillside, car parks and temples, Reuters photographers produced coverage of the coronavirus pandemic in India that captured the spread of the disease and its remorseless toll. The Reuters team won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography for pictures balancing “intimacy and devastation while […]
Californian child who died was allegedly subject to exorcism
San Jose, California, US AP A three-year-old girl whose death last fall has been ruled a homicide was the subject of an alleged exorcism last year at a Northern California church, a newspaper reported Tuesday. The child, Arely Naomi Proctor, died last September after family members performed a ceremony to “liberate her of her evil […]
White House’s Melissa Rogers affirms religious diversity as interfaith group expands
Washington DC, US RNS Interfaith leaders, including a top White House official, gathered at Georgetown University on Tuesday to affirm engagement across faiths and urge more multireligious action to enhance democracy and diminish polarisation. “Especially at a time of deep division and threats to our constitutional democracy, governmental leaders, for one, must demonstrate both in […]
StrangeSights: Rooftop garden to cool those on the move; new record for oldest marathon swimmer; and, a bust with an unexpected history…
DAVID ADAMS provides a round-up of some stories on the odder side of life…
Some Ukrainian refugees return home despite the dangers
Przemysl, PolandThomson Reuters Foundation As Russian bombs rained down on the north-eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv in early March, Zoya Mamatkulova and her mother packed up their bags, put their cat in a pet carrier and headed for Poland. But after travelling across three countries, shuttling between refugee shelters and a relative’s house, the pair decided to […]
Conviction after protest “badge of honour” for US civil rights activist
Raleigh, North Carolina, US AP A US civil rights leader said Tuesday that he won’t stop raising his voice for the poor, uninsured and downtrodden, although his trespassing conviction for a demonstration five years ago at North Carolina’s Legislative Building was allowed to stand. Rev William Barber II of Goldsboro, president of the national Repairers […]