Amazon rainforest destruction slows sharply year to date, report says
Sao Paulo, BrazilReuters Destruction across the Amazon rainforest so far this year has slowed dramatically, down 55.8 per cent from the same period a year ago in a major turnaround for the region vital to curbing climate change, according to an analysis provided to Reuters. The analysis by the non-profit Amazon Conservation’s MAAP forest monitoring […]
Interpol can’t do much more to stop abuse of ‘red notices’, chief says
Vienna, Austria Reuters Interpol has come a long way in preventing abuse by Russia and others of its “red notice” system where a country asks others to arrest a suspect, and cannot do much more for now to improve it, the agency’s head said on Tuesday. Rights groups, legal experts and others have long said […]
Draft bill seeks ‘loyalty agreement’ from foreigners entering Russia
Reuters Russia’s Internal Affairs ministry is preparing a bill that would oblige foreigners entering the country to sign a “loyalty agreement” that would bar them from discrediting official policies, the TASS state news agency reported early on Wednesday. The agreement would be aimed at protecting Russia’s “national interests,” TASS reported, citing the document Steam rises […]
Ten people die in Ukraine snowstorms; German authorities urge people to stay home
Kyiv, UkraineReuters Ten people have died in snowstorms in Ukraine, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on Tuesday, after icy winds and storms swept the country since Sunday, cutting power and blocking roads. Southern Ukraine was the worst affected, particularly the Black Sea region of Odesa. Cars and buses slid off frozen roads into fields and […]
Sudanese general accuses UAE of supplying paramilitary RSF
Cairo, EgyptReuters A top Sudanese general has said the United Arab Emirates is sending supplies to the Rapid Support Forces, publicly accusing the UAE of involvement in its war with its powerful paramilitary rival for the first time. Army leaders had previously only hinted at interference from unnamed neighbouring countries in the seven-month-old war, which […]
Emotions only get us so far
We are emotional beings much more than we want to admit. Emotions control us. PICTURE: Aneta Pawlik/Unsplash This is not a bad thing. Why? We make gut, emotional, instinctive decisions in a split second about all sorts of things; so that we get away from danger. Our emotions – instincts – have ensured our survival. […]
Water management: Afghans fight drought with small dams as Taliban shut out of COP28
Afghanistan is among the most vulnerable countries to climate change, but has been excluded from the COP28 global climate summit. ROHULLAH TALAASH and EMMA BATHA, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, report…
Pope punishes leading critic Cardinal Burke in second action against conservative American prelates
Vatican CityAP Pope Francis has decided to punish one of his highest-ranking critics, Cardinal Raymond Burke, by revoking his right to a subsidised Vatican apartment and salary in the second such radical action against a conservative American prelate this month, according to two people briefed on the measures. Francis told a meeting of the heads of Vatican offices last […]
Essay: Faith communities are rallying to check climate change – their size and influence counts
RACHEL MASH, a researcher at the University of Pretoria’s Faculty of Theology and Religion, argues – in an article first published on The Conversation – that faith communities have the potential to make a significant impact on climate action…