Guyana, Venezuela both committed to peace, Guyanese President says
Kingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Reuters Guyana and Venezuela are committed to ensuring their region remains peaceful, Guyanese President Irfaan Ali said on Thursday during meetings with his Venezuelan counterpart President Nicolas Maduro, amid high tensions over a dispute involving a potentially oil-rich border area. The two leaders met at the airport in Kingstown, […]
Sight-Seeing: Advent is schizophrenic
US Catholic commentator THOMAS REESE, in an article first published on Religion News Service, says God does not comfort us so we can simply be comfortable but comforts us so we can comfort others…
US Black church coalition names reparations, voting, health equity among priorities
United StatesRNS The Conference of National Black Churches has called on African American congregations to embrace a list of priorities – from “government-sponsored reparations” to improved access to healthcare – as they move out of a pandemic era and into an election year. “We believe Black life must be valued and the humanity of all […]
Pope, once a victim of AI-generated imagery, calls for treaty to regulate artificial intelligence
Rome, ItalyAP Pope Francis on Thursday called for an international treaty to ensure artificial intelligence is developed and used ethically, arguing that the risks of technology lacking human values of compassion, mercy, morality and forgiveness are too great. Francis added his voice to increasing calls for binding, global regulation of AI in his annual message […]
Humanitarian crises will worsen in 2024 – International Rescue Committee
Mexico City, CityReuters Climate change, worsening armed conflicts, growing debt-loads and shrinking international support will accelerate humanitarian crises worldwide in 2024, the International Rescue Committee said in a report on Thursday. In its 2024 Emergency Watchlist, the New York-based IRC pointed to 20 nations largely in Africa at the greatest risk of a worsening humanitarian […]
War pushes Sudan towards “catastrophic” famine-like conditions
Cairo, EgyptReuters Families in Sudan’s conflict zones could experience famine-like hunger by next summer, the United Nations has warned, while some in the war-ravaged capital are surviving on a single, meagre daily meal. Some 30 million people, almost two thirds of the population, are in need of assistance in Sudan according to the UN, double […]
Israel strikes length of Gaza as US pushes for “lower intensity” war
Cairo, Egypt/GazaReuters Israel pounded the length of the Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing families in their homes even as Washington’s envoy discussed how its ally could better protect civilians in its war on Hamas militants. The more than two-month-old war is now raging across the entire Palestinian enclave, causing a humanitarian catastrophe, with little end […]
Origins: How the Christmas pudding, with ingredients taken from the colonies, became an iconic British food
Historian TROY BICKHAM, in an article first published on The Conversation, looks at the origins of the Christmas pudding…
Scientists see risk of lost opportunity for long COVID research in China
Shanghai, ChinaReuters With more than a full year past since China eased restrictions and let COVID-19 sweep its households, scientists are worried a unique opportunity may be slipping away to study long COVID from possibly hundreds of millions of infections in that country. Global disease experts say little is known about China’s experience with long-term […]
In Congo’s east, elections dominated by conflict and voter anger
Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo Reuters Conflict defined Ishara Bahati Yassin’s childhood, forcing him time and again to flee his home in eastern Congo, where like millions of compatriots he now lives in a crowded camp for displaced people, sharing a tent with three brothers. At 20, Yassin is eligible to vote for the first […]