Postcards: Greek monastery manuscripts tell new story of Ottoman rule
COSTAS KANTOURIS, of Associated Press, reports from Mount Athos in Greece…
In the US, judge sides with California baker over same-sex wedding cake
Bakersfield, California, USAP A California judge has ruled in favour of a bakery owner who refused to make wedding cakes for a same-sex couple because it violated her Christian beliefs. The state Department of Fair Housing and Employment had sued Tastries Bakery in Bakersfield, arguing owner Cathy Miller intentionally discriminated against the couple in violation […]
Brazilians honour coronavirus victims in Sao Paulo homage
Sao PauloReuters Brazilians on Sunday paid tribute in Sao Paulo to friends and family members who died of the coronavirus by writing messages on a mural set up on a boulevard in honour of the 680,000 people Brazil lost to the pandemic. The South American nation as of July had the world’s third-highest death toll […]
Boris Johnson drops UK PM comeback bid, Sunak favourite to win
London, UKReuters Rishi Sunak looked set to become Britain’s next prime minister after Boris Johnson withdrew from the contest on Sunday, saying that although he had enough support to make the final ballot he realised the country and the Conservative Party needed unity. Johnson had raced home from a holiday in the Caribbean to try […]
Macron urges Russian Orthodox Church to resist Kremlin pressure on Ukraine
Rome, ItalyReuters French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday said the Russian Orthodox Church was allowing itself to be manipulated by the country’s authorities to justify their war in Ukraine and urged it to resist such pressure. Macron, who is on an official visit to Italy, spoke in a keynote speech at an international conference organised […]
Russia hits Ukraine homes, evacuates Kherson, warns of escalation
Mykolaiv, Ukraine Reuters Under pressure in the south of Ukraine, Russia fired missiles and drones into Ukrainian-held Mykolaiv on Sunday, destroying an apartment block in the ship-building city near the front and said the war was trending towards “uncontrolled escalation”. Mykolaiv lies roughly 35 kilometres nort-west of the front line to occupied Kherson, the southern […]
China’s Xi clinches third term, packs leadership with loyalists
Beijing, ChinaReuters China’s Xi Jinping secured a precedent-breaking third leadership term on Sunday and introduced a top governing body stacked with loyalists, cementing his place as the country’s most powerful ruler since Mao Zedong. Shanghai Communist Party chief Li Qiang followed Xi onto the stage at the Great Hall of the People as the new […]
Pakistan taken off global watchdog’s ‘grey’ list for terrorism financing
Islamabad, PakistanReuters Pakistan has been removed from an international grey list that warrants increased surveillance for terrorism financing, the head of the international money laundering watchdog which makes the list said on Friday. The decision, which provides a boost to the reputation of the crisis-ridden South Asian nation, was taken at the end of a […]
John P Meier, priest, scholar and author of ‘A Marginal Jew’ has died at 80
United StatesRNS John P Meier, a theologian and biblical commentator whose multi-volume A Marginal Jew transformed the Catholic approach to critical historical research into the life of Jesus and religious faith, died last week in South Bend, Indiana. He was 80-years-old. John P Meier in 2018. PICTURE: Barbara Johnston/University of Notre Dame. Meier was born […]
As Europe saves energy, some Romanians have little to unplug
Vasilati, Romania Reuters In the quiet Romanian village of Vasilati, where most houses are heated with wood, people worry about their power bills even though Romanians consume the least electricity per capita in the European Union and many have cut back use all they can. Georgeta Ichim, a 67-year-old pensioner and widow, lives alone in […]