Tunisians back new constitution but turnout just 25 per cent, exit poll says
Tunis, TunisiaReuters Voters in a referendum in Tunisia on Monday overwhelmingly backed a new constitution giving President Kais Saied nearly total powers but with only a quarter of eligible voters participating, an exit poll said, amid a boycott by opposition parties. The poll by Sigma Conseil said 92.3 per cent of voters in the referendum […]
UN chief strongly condemns Myanmar executions; rights expert calls for sanctions
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly condemned on Monday the execution of four democracy activists by Myanmar’s ruling military, a UN spokesperson said. “The Secretary-General reiterates his call for the immediate release of all arbitrarily detained prisoners, including President Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi,” deputy UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said […]
Pope apologises for “deplorable evil” of Canadian Indigenous schools
Maskwacis, Alberta Reuters Pope Francis apologised on Monday to Canada’s native people on their land for the church’s role in schools where Indigenous children were abused, calling their forced cultural assimilation a “deplorable evil” and “disastrous error.” Speaking near the site of two former schools in Maskwacis, Alberta, Francis apologised for Christian support of the […]
“No place like home”: Climate change threatens Fiji’s rugby nursery
Namakatula, Fiji Reuters The white sands of Namatakula have nurtured generations of world-class rugby talent but rising sea levels threaten to force the abandonment of the palm-fringed village on Fiji’s Coral Coast within a few years. The village is deemed “at risk” by Fiji’s government and headman Josevata Nagausaukula contemplates a future in which children […]
Record number of COVID-hit Australians in hospital as Omicron surges
Sydney, AustraliaReuters The number of Australians admitted to hospitals with COVID-19 hit a record of about 5,450 on Monday, official data showed, as the spread of highly contagious new Omicron sub-variants strains the healthcare system nationwide. The figure has grown since late June, as the BA.4 and BA.5 strains became dominant since they can evade […]
Updated: Myanmar junta condemned for execution of four democracy activists
Updated: 10:45pm (AEST)Reuters Myanmar’s military junta on Monday said it had executed four democracy activists accused of helping to carry out “terror acts” in the South-East Asian nation’s first executions in decades, sparking widespread condemnation. Sentenced to death in closed-door trials in January and April, the four men had been accused of helping militias to […]
Tunisians vote on constitution expanding President’s power
Tunis, Tunisia Reuters Tunisians vote on Monday in a referendum on a new constitution that critics of President Kais Saied fear will maul the democracy that emerged from a 2011 revolution by handing him nearly total power. The vote is being held on the anniversary of Saied’s sudden move against the elected parliament when he […]
America’s deadly epidemic: Violence against women
MAGALI DRUSCOVICH AND MARIA CASPANI, of Reuters, report on how those who kill women are largely men they know…
“God, give us rain” – Romanian monastery prays for end to drought
Draganesti-Vlasca, RomaniaReuters Iulia Coleasa, an 81-year-old who relies on her small plot for food, travelled 15 kilometres in searing heat to a monastery in southern Romania on Sunday to join a service praying for rain. Temperatures have spiked above 40 Celsius in the country in the last week and the drought has left hundreds of […]
Essay: Of God, governments and trust
TIM COSTELLO reflects on former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’ recent comments about trust…