This Life: You can’t hide from God
US columnist CAROL ROUND reflects on how the Creation story – that of Adam and Eve – is our story too…
Vatican defends wartime Pope Pius XII as conference honours Israeli victims of Hamas incursion
Rome, ItalyAP The Vatican secretary of state on Monday strongly defended World War II-era Pope Pius XII as a friend of the Jews as he opened an historic conference on newly opened archives that featured even Holy See historians acknowledging that anti-Jewish prejudice informed Pius’ silence in the face of the Holocaust. Cardinal Pietro Parolin’s defensive remarks […]
Russian lawmakers given 10 days to study revoking nuclear test ban treaty ratification
Moscow, Russia Reuters Russian lawmakers were given 10 days on Monday to study how best to revoke Moscow’s ratification of a landmark treaty banning nuclear tests, after President Vladimir Putin held out the possibility of resuming such testing. Russia’s envoy to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization said on Friday that Moscow would revoke […]
Gazans say nowhere to go as they prepare for Israeli assault after Hamas raid
GazaReuters Palestinians in Gaza are preparing for an Israeli offensive of unprecedented scale after Saturday’s deadly Hamas raid, with more than 130,000 fleeing their homes and stockpiling supplies as air strikes pound the crowded enclave with 560 already dead. Amid an intensified Israeli siege cutting off water, food and power, and a sudden new assault, […]
“Between a warzone and pure hell”: Israeli describes kibbutz attack
JerusalemReuters When Avidor Schwartzman was woken by booming noises on Saturday morning, his first instinct was to grab his one-year-old daughter and his second was to think the disturbance wouldn’t last long. The Kfar Aza kibbutz where he and his family live lies close to Gaza, an impoverished Palestinian enclave under Israeli blockade. They were […]
“She’s a strong lady”: Family of abducted elderly Israeli plead for her release
Luzit, Israel Reuters Soon after Hamas gunmen invaded Israel’s villages videos began to emerge of seized Israelis being dragged away into Gaza. One showed an elderly woman, a defiant expression on her face, driven on a golf cart into the Palestinian enclave. The family of the bespectacled grey-haired woman, wrapped in a pink blanket and […]
Most casualties in recent Afghan earthquakes are women, children – WHO
Kabul, AfghanistanReuters Women and children make up two-thirds of the victims of the recent earthquakes in Afghanistan who were hospitalised with severe injuries, the head of the World Health Organization’s emergency response in the country said on Monday. The Taliban administration said at least 2,400 people were killed and over 2,000 injured in Saturday’s quakes […]
Israel on war footing, Hamas threatens to kill captives
Updated: 7:25am, 10th October (AEST)Jerusalem/GazaReuters The Israeli military said it had called up an unprecedented 300,000 reservists and was imposing a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, in a sign it may be planning a ground assault in response to the devastating weekend attack by Hamas gunmen. After hours of intense bombardment by Israeli jets, […]
Rescuers search for survivors days after deadly quakes hit north-west Afghanistan
Herat, AfghanistanReuters Rescue workers on Monday scrambled to pull out survivors, and the dead, from beneath the rubble two days after the northwestern city of Herat and its surroundings were struck by the deadliest earthquakes to rattle Afghanistan in years. The Taliban administration said at least 2,400 people were killed and many more injured in […]
Desmond Tutu’s modest car reminds South Africans of his values
Cape Town, South AfricaReuters South Africa’s anti-apartheid hero Desmond Tutu could have chosen practically any car in the world when billionaire Warren Buffett offered to buy him a vehicle. But in 2008, the archbishop picked a modest Toyota Corolla with manual transmission over the luxury BMWs and Mercedes Benz favoured by government ministers. He gave […]