UN chief urges strong global nature deal to end “orgy of destruction”
Montreal, CanadaReuters As countries prepare to negotiate a new global agreement to protect Earth’s environment, the head of the United Nations warned there was no time to lose. “Humanity has become a weapon of mass extinction,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told delegates to the COP15 biodiversity summit at an opening ceremony on Tuesday in Montreal. […]
This Life: The gift of God’s presence
CHARISSA CHEONG reflects on the fact that we are “not merely allowed into the presence of the Father”, but welcomed as “treasured sons and daughters”…
Dig at UK housing site may have yielded grave of early female Christian religious leader
London, UKAP A 1,300-year-old gold and gemstone necklace found on the site of a new housing development marks the grave of a powerful woman who may have been an early Christian religious leader in Britain, archaeologists said Tuesday. Experts say the necklace, uncovered with other items near Northampton in central England, is part of the […]
M23 rebels ready to withdraw from occupied areas in eastern Congo
Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of CongoReuters Congo’s M23 rebel group is ready to withdraw from occupied territory in the east of the country and will support regional peace-making efforts despite not being represented in talks, it said in a statement on Tuesday. The Tutsi-led militia has staged several offenses in east Democratic Republic of Congo this […]
Beijing drops COVID testing burden as wider easing beckons
Beijing, ChinaReuters Residents of China’s capital were allowed into parks, supermarkets, offices and airports without a negative COVID-19 test on Tuesday, the latest in a mix of easing steps nationwide after unprecedented protests against a tough zero-COVID policy. “Beijing readies itself for life again,” read a headline in the government-owned China Daily newspaper, adding that […]
Ukraine appears to expose Russian air defence gaps with long-range strikes
Kyiv/Novosofiivka, Ukraine Reuters A third Russian airfield was ablaze on Tuesday from a drone strike, a day after Ukraine demonstrated an apparent new ability to penetrate hundreds of kilometres deep into Russian air space with attacks on two Russian air bases. Officials in the Russian city of Kursk, around 90 kilometres north of the Ukraine […]
UN summit aims for global pact to protect nature
Montreal, CanadaReuters Countries are gathering Tuesday for a key UN nature conference in Montreal, aiming to broker a new global agreement to protect what’s left of Earth’s wildlife and natural spaces. Negotiators hope that the two-week summit, known as COP15, yields a deal that ensures there is more “nature” – animals, plants, and healthy ecosystems […]
Human Rights Watch warns against Mexico’s “regressive” electoral overhaul
Mexico City. Mexico Reuters A leading rights group on Monday called for Mexican lawmakers to vote against a proposal to overhaul the electoral system, warning it could seriously undermine electoral authorities’ independence, putting free and fair elections at risk. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s proposal to reform Mexico’s National Electoral Institute (INE) would cut the […]
On the Screen: Trauma and tenacity on display in ‘She Said’
JO KADLECEK finds parallels between ‘She Said’ and ‘All the President’s Men’…
“There is no future”: Lebanon’s new poor face long-term stagnation
Beirut, Lebanon Reuters Unemployed and unable to support his family of four, Hussein Hamadeh, 51, now spends his days trying to find help to weather a protracted economic crisis that some Lebanese fear has become the new norm. Hamadeh lost his stable job in carpentry and developed an illness that requires expensive medication. He used […]