Gunmen kill dozens and kidnap children in northern Nigeria
Bauchi, Nigeria Reuters Gunmen in Nigeria have killed dozens of people and kidnapped a number of children in separate attacks in two northern states, police and residents said on Sunday, the latest incidents in a region dogged by armed violence. Armed gangs on motorbikes frequently take advantage of thinly stretched security forces in the region […]
Scores detained in Hong Kong on Tiananmen crackdown anniversary
Hong Kong, China/Taipei, Taiwan Reuters Hong Kong police searched and detained scores of people on Sunday, including four arrested for “seditious” intent, as authorities tightened security for the 34th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. Restrictions in Hong Kong have stifled what were once the largest vigils marking the anniversary of the bloody crackdown […]
India rescue work ends as focus turns to cause of worst train crash in decades
Bahanaga, India Reuters Indian rescue workers completed operations on Sunday after the country’s deadliest rail crash in more than two decades, with signal failure emerging as the likely cause of an accident that killed at least 275 people. The death toll from Friday’s crash was revised down from 288 after it was found that some […]
Fighting escalates in Sudan’s capital after ceasefire expires
Dubai, United Arab EmiratesReuters Fighting intensified in several areas of Khartoum on Sunday after a ceasefire deal expired, residents of Sudan’s capital reported, and activists said a new outburst of violence in North Darfur state had left at least 40 people dead. The ceasefire between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces had started […]
Companies like Microsoft can help manage migration: incoming UN migration chief
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters The incoming head of the UN migration agency said this week that she has talked to companies like Microsoft to see how they can build partnerships to manage migration. A record number of people – more than 100 million – are forcibly displaced around the world and the Geneva-based International Organization for Migration […]
Sudan’s war scatters country’s emergent art scene
Cairo, EgyptReuters Like many other residents of Sudan’s capital, painter Yasmeen Abdullah had to leave much behind when she fled the war erupting around her. As an artist, that included most of her work. “I had to abandon many things but also leave without knowing when I’d return, or if the things I did leave […]
Japan demographic woes deepen as birth rate hits record low
Tokyo, JapanReuters Japan’s birth rate declined for the seventh consecutive year in 2022 to a record low, the health ministry said on Friday, underscoring the sense of crisis gripping the country as the population shrinks and ages rapidly. The fertility rate, or the average number of children born to a woman in her lifetime, was […]
Where are the jobs?: India’s world-beating growth falls short
IRA DUGAL, of Reuters, reports on the struggle for employment among job-seekers, especially the young…
Virtual worshippers often satisfied, but more Americans choose in-person services
United StatesReligion News Service At the height of the pandemic, many Americans who attended in-person worship services turned to their computers and their couches instead for virtual viewing. Now, the Pew Research Center finds a third of Americans regularly attend in-person worship services while a bit more than a quarter regularly watch religious services on […]
Transfer of holy icon shows Russian Orthodoxy’s new sway under Putin
Moscow, Russia Reuters President Vladimir Putin’s decision to move one of Russia’s holiest icons from a museum to a Moscow cathedral highlights his growing reliance on the Church as the Ukraine war drags on, but has also raised fears about the safety of the fragile artifact. Emphasising its importance to the faithful, Putin last month […]