Thousands protest Australia Day holiday with ‘Invasion Day’ rallies
Sydney, Australia Reuters Thousands marked Australia’s national day on Friday with “Invasion Day” rallies in support of the country’s Indigenous community, many of whom want to drop celebrations or move the date. Australia Day commemorates the day Britain established the state of New South Wales a penal colony, arriving in what is now the state […]
Snapshot: Muscat, Oman
See LAURA TOMMASINA’s image… Via Unsplash Muscat, Oman
Alabama gasses prisoner with nitrogen in first new execution method in decades
Updated: 5pm (AEDT) Atmore, Alabama Reuters Alabama on Thursday executed convicted murderer Kenneth Smith, who held his breath in vain as officials asphyxiated him with nitrogen gas, the first use of a new method of capital punishment since lethal injections began in the US four decades ago. Smith, convicted of a 1988 murder-for-hire, was a […]
Explainer – How Ethiopia’s quarrel with Somalia could destabilise Horn of Africa
Nairobi, Kenya Reuters Ethiopia’s deal to lease a port in Somalia’s breakaway region of Somaliland has infuriated the government in Mogadishu and prompted concern it will further destabilise the Horn of Africa region. Under a memorandum of understanding signed on 1st January, landlocked Ethiopia would lease 20 kilometres around Somaliland’s port of Berbera for 50 […]
Mexico high schoolers take up arms after village kidnappings
Acapulco, Mexico Reuters A volunteer police force in rural Mexico that says it has been overwhelmed by local kidnappings has recruited schoolchildren as young as 12 to join its ranks, the latest sign of how some parts of the country are struggling to cope with organised crime. Armed with rifles and sticks, and with their […]
UN urges measures to stop arms trafficking fueling Haiti’s gang wars
Reuters The head of the United Nation’s drugs and crime office on Thursday warned of a “vicious cycle” of arms trafficking to increasingly powerful Haitian gangs, fueling an internal conflict and worsening violence across the Caribbean. “It’s more important than ever to take every measure possible to prevent illicit flows,” the UNODC’s executive director, Ghada […]
WHO chief breaks down describing “hellish” Gaza conditions
Geneva, Switzerland Reuters The head of the World Health Organization called for a ceasefire and a “true solution” to the Israel-Palestinian conflict in an emotional plea to the global health body’s governing body on Thursday where he described conditions in Gaza as “hellish”. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who lived through war as a child […]
More than 2,000 people abused in German Protestant Church – study
Berlin, Germany Reuters Some 2,225 people suffered sexual violence in Germany’s Protestant Church at the hands of 1,259 suspected perpetrators over the last eight decades, a study found on Thursday, warning that the scandal was probably far deeper. There have been high-profile cases of abuses across Germany’s Christian institutions, though the main focus has been […]
Next steps: Pope Francis’ synod made few waves, but organisers say it’s already changing the church
The controversy over blessing gay couples is just another example of synodality at work, according to Sr. Nathalie Becquart. CLAIRE GIANGRAVÉ, of Religion News Service, reports….
UK to return looted royal regalia to Ghana in loan deal
London, UK Reuters Britain is returning a selection of Ghanaian gold regalia looted from an Asante king in the 19th century, in a historic loan deal set out on Thursday. Some 32 objects, including a gold peace pipe and a sword of state from London’s British Museum and Victoria & Albert Museum, will be loaned […]