Mediators meet to bolster Ethiopia truce amid signs of detente
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Reuters Mediators between Ethiopia’s Federal Government and authorities in the Tigray region, embroiled until last month in a brutal war, are stepping up efforts to enforce a truce as relations between the two sides inch closer toward normality. The 2nd November ceasefire quieted a two-year conflict that killed tens of thousands and […]
Prayers for ailing Benedict in retired Pope’s native Bavaria
Marktl am Inn, Germany AP People in Pope Benedict XVI’s Bavarian homeland prayed Thursday for the retired pontiff, a favourite son of the region even 40 years after he left Germany for the Vatican and nearly a decade after his resignation stunned the world. At the St Oswald church in the small town of Marktl […]
UN aid chief to visit Afghanistan over female aid worker ban
United NationsReuters UN aid chief Martin Griffiths will visit Afghanistan in the coming weeks and will seek to meet the highest possible officials within the Taliban-led administration after it banned female aid workers, a senior UN official said on Thursday. “We regret to see that there is already an impact of this decision on our […]
Brazil arrests four people for alleged coup attempt in Bolsonaro riots
Brasilia, Brazil Reuters Brazilian police said they had arrested at least four people and carried out nationwide raids on Thursday in investigations into an alleged coup attempt during riots by supporters of defeated far-right President Jair Bolsonaro. Brazilian authorities, led by the Supreme Court, have been cracking down on a small but committed minority of […]
Russia fires barrage of missiles, Ukraine condemns “senseless barbarism”
Kyiv, UkraineReuters Russia fired scores of missiles into Ukraine early on Thursday, targeting Kyiv and other cities including Lviv in the west and Odesa in the south-west, sending people rushing to shelters and knocking out power in one of Moscow’s largest aerial assaults. “Senseless barbarism. These are the only words that come to mind seeing […]
Updated: Cambodian casino fire kills 19, dozens more feared dead
Updated: 7:25am, 30th December, 2022 (AEST)Poipet, CambodiaReuters At least 19 people, many of them Thais, were killed and up to 30 were missing after a fire tore through a casino-hotel complex in a Cambodian town on the Thai border, officials said on Thursday. About 400 employees and patrons were in the Grand Diamond City casino […]
Jamaica renews regional states of emergency due to gang violence
Kingston, JamaicaReuters Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness renewed states of emergency in eight parishes on Wednesday to control an ongoing threat of crime linked to gang activity in the Caribbean nation. Holness on 15th November had announced regional states of emergency, which allow authorities to search buildings and arrest citizens without a warrant. Members of […]
On the Screen: ‘A Man Called Otto’ highlights our need for others
DAVID ADAMS watches Tom Hank’s new film about the value of a life shared…
Slipping over Mexico border, migrants get the jump on US court ruling
Ciudad Juarez, Mexico Reuters Even before the US Supreme Court on Tuesday opted to keep in place a measure aimed at deterring border crossings, hundreds of migrants in northern Mexico were taking matters into their own hands to slip into the United States. The contentious pandemic-era measure known as Title 42 had been due to […]
In the US, UMC’s North Georgia Conference blocks church departures
United StatesRNS A regional body of the United Methodist Church in the US state of Georgia will temporarily block member churches from leaving the denomination, citing the spread of “defamatory” misinformation about the United Methodist Church and its disaffiliation procedure. In an email sent on Wednesday, the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church announced […]