Kyiv monks accused of Russia links refuse eviction order
Kyiv, Ukraine AP Orthodox monks who’ve been ordered out of a monastery in Kyiv refused to leave on Wednesday, as a deadline to vacate the complex expired. The dispute over the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastery, Ukraine’s most revered Orthodox site, is part of a wider religious conflict playing out in parallel with the war. A senior priest of the […]
Sight-Seeing: Weeping in Nashville
SCOTT SAULS, senior pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee, contemplates – in an article published by Religion News Service – the ‘why?’ of this week’s shooting…
Nashville mourns victims of school shooting, Governor speaks of “need for hope”
Updated: 11:25am (AEDT)Nashville, Tennessee, USReuters First lady Jill Biden visited Nashville on Wednesday to join a memorial vigil for the three children and three adults shot to death this week at a Christian day school, including two educators who were close friends of the Tennessee governor’s wife. The outdoor ceremony was scheduled to start about […]
Pope to be hospitalised for days with respiratory infection
Vatican City AP Pope Francis was hospitalised with a respiratory infection Wednesday after experiencing difficulty breathing in recent days and will remain in the Rome hospital for several days of treatment, the Vatican said. The 86-year-old Pope, who had part of one lung removed as a young man, doesn’t have COVID-19, spokesman Matteo Bruni said […]
Mexican President vows to deliver justice for migrants killed in fire
Updated: 1pm (AEDT)Ciudad Juarez, Mexico Reuters Migrants were locked in a cell as a blaze spread killing 39 people at a detention centre in Mexico, witnesses and a survivor said on Wednesday, as Mexico’s President vowed to bring to justice those responsible. An investigation is underway to determine what happened Monday at the centre in […]
Ukraine hits Russian-held city deep behind front as talk of counter-offensive grows
Kyiv, Ukraine Reuters Ukraine struck a railway depot and knocked out power in the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol deep behind front lines on Wednesday amid growing talk from Kyiv of a counter-assault against Russian forces worn out by a failed winter offensive. Unverified images on the internet showed explosions lighting up the night sky with […]
Philippines’ Marcos to shut out ICC after losing drugs war appeal
Manila, The Philippines Reuters Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr, on Tuesday said he would cut off contact with the International Criminal Court after it rejected an appeal asking it to stop investigating his predecessor’s lethal war on drugs. Thousands of Filipinos, mainly low-level dealers and users, were killed by police during Rodrigo Duterte’s fierce crackdown […]
Arctic Council under pressure as Norway readies for Russian handoff
Oslo, Norway/London, UKReuters Norway said it will prioritise a smooth transition with Russia as it plans to assume the chair of the Moscow-helmed Arctic Council on 11th May, but will not commit to restarting stalled cooperation given the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Arctic Council was created in 1996 to discuss issues affecting the polar […]
StrangeSights: Tilted art; a zebra on the run; and, Greenland opts for permanent daylight savings…
DAVID ADAMS provides a round-up of some stories on the odder side of life…
In the US, religious attendance dips slightly after pandemic – study
United StatesRNS In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, religious leaders worried that lockdowns and the move to online services would accelerate already declining church attendance and usher in what some called a “religion recession“. A new study from Pew Research suggests that’s probably overstated. PICTURE: Gabriella Clare Marino/Unsplash The study found that the share of US […]