Beijing sweats in extreme 40 degrees-plus heat for record third day
Beijing, ChinaReuters Beijing topped 40 degrees Celsius on Saturday for a record third day as the Chinese capital sweltered in extreme heat, while uncommonly high temperatures for June grilled an area the size of California in northern China. At 1:51pm, the temperature measured by Beijing’s benchmark weather station in its southern suburbs briefly soared above […]
Rebel Russian mercenaries turn back short of Moscow “to avoid bloodshed”
Rostov-on-Don/Voronezh, RussiaReuters Heavily armed Russian mercenaries who advanced most of the way to Moscow began turning back on Saturday, de-escalating a major challenge to President Vladimir Putin’s grip on power, in a move their leader said would avoid bloodshed. Yevgeny Prigozhin, a former Putin ally and founder of the Wagner army, said his men reached […]
Russian helicopters battle rebel mercenaries rolling towards Moscow
Updated: 10pm (AEST)Reuters Russian military helicopters opened fire on Saturday afternoon on a convoy of rebel mercenaries already more than half way towards Moscow in a lightning advance after seizing a southern city overnight. President Vladimir Putin vowed to crush an armed mutiny he compared to Russia’s Civil War a century ago. Russian President Vladimir […]
Congo’s Catholic church questions government’s election preparations
Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of CongoReuters Democratic Republic of Congo’s government is not on track with preparations for elections, the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO) said on Friday ahead of presidential and parliamentary polls later this year. Democratic Republic of Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi attends talks with Chinese Premier Li Qiang at the Great Hall […]
Sudanese families fleeing to Egypt separated by new visa rules
Port Sudan, SudanReuters Elsafi Mahdi was separated from his wife and three younger children on 1st June near Sudan’s border with Egypt. He does not know when he’ll see them again. Like many families fleeing the war in the capital Khartoum, Mahdi, a prominent music teacher and conductor, left home without a visa required for […]
Modi’s denial of discrimination against minorities in India is a lie, activists say
Washington DC, USReuters Narendra Modi’s denial that discrimination against minorities exists in India contradicts thorough documentation by rights advocates, according to activists disappointed by President Joe Biden’s embrace of the Indian Prime Minister. Asked at a press conference with Biden on Thursday what steps he was willing to take to “improve the rights of Muslims and […]
A “catalyst for change”: After a decade of sex abuse education in Africa, Freely in Hope pivots to American churches
FIONA ANDRE, of Religion News Service, reports that the organisation’s shift to North America was prompted by numerous recent sexual abuse scandals in American churches…
Moscow accuses Wagner head of mutiny, he says his forces enter Russia
Moscow, Russia/Kyiv, UkraineReuters Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Saturday his Wagner fighters had crossed the border into Russia from Ukraine and were prepared to go “all the way” against Moscow’s military, hours after the Kremlin accused him of armed mutiny. As a long-running standoff between Prigozhin and the military top brass appeared to […]
Black nun who founded first African American religious congregation advances closer to sainthood
United StatesAP Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange – a Black Catholic nun who founded the United States’ first African American religious congregation in Baltimore in 1829 – has advanced another step toward sainthood. Under a decree signed by Pope Francis on Thursday, Lange was recognised for her heroic virtue, and advanced in the cause of her […]
Pope Francis invites artists to the Sistine Chapel as the Vatican seeks a new cultural dialogue
Vatican CityAP Pope Francis praised artists on Friday as true visionaries who can see, dream and invent as he welcomed 200 artists, filmmakers and writers into the Sistine Chapel to mark the 50th anniversary of the Vatican Museums’ contemporary art collection. Francis acknowledged that some in the crowd – there was Andres Serrano, of Piss Christ fame […]