US achieves first Moon landing in half century with private spacecraft
Updated: 5:30pm (AEDT) Reuters A spacecraft built and flown by Texas-based company Intuitive Machines landed near the Moon’s south pole on Thursday, the first US touchdown on the lunar surface in more than half a century and the first ever achieved by the private sector. NASA, with several research instruments aboard the vehicle, hailed the […]
In the US, the Episcopal Church takes steps to improve protocols for bishop misconduct
RNS After months of allegations that it lacks a credible process for disciplining its bishops, the Episcopal Church is taking steps to make it simpler to report misconduct, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry said in an announcement on Thursday. “Given the current atmosphere, I have chosen to exercise my canonical discretion to adopt a general protocol for […]
Ukraine’s Zelenskiy asks Polish leaders for talks over farmer protest
Warsaw, Poland/Kyiv, Ukraine Reuters Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Wednesday called on Poland’s leaders and European Union officials to come to the Polish-Ukrainian border for talks over repeated blockades by Polish farmers angry at what they say is unfair competition from Kyiv. Polish Farmers staged a major day of protest on Tuesday, blocking almost all traffic […]
Pakistan ex-PM Imran Khan urges IMF to call election audit, his lawyer says
Islamabad, Pakistan Reuters Pakistan’s jailed former prime minister Imran Khan will write to the IMF urging it to call for an independent audit of the country’s controversial 8th February national elections before it continues talks with Islamabad, his lawyer said on Thursday. Pakistan averted default last summer thanks to a short term International Monetary Fund bailout, but […]
India’s Modi says committed to farmers’ welfare, protesting leaders to expand campaign
Shambu, India Reuters Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday his government is committed to the welfare of farmers and is on a mission to make them entrepreneurs and exporters, amid a protest by thousands of farmers seeking higher prices for their produce. Modi’s comments on farmers were his first since the protests began […]
South Korea health alert raised to ‘severe’ over doctors walkout
Seoul, South Korea Reuters South Korea will maximise the use of public hospitals to respond to growing strains on the medical system after a mass walkout by trainee doctors, the prime minister said on Friday, as the public health alert was elevated to the highest level. The protests by almost two-thirds of the country’s young […]
The cost of conflict: How life in Ukraine has been shattered by two years of war
CHARLOTTE BRUNEAU, of Reuters, reports ahead of the second anniversary of the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine…
Essay: Bipartisanship is dead; can it be resurrected?
US Catholic commentator THOMAS REESE, in an article first published on Religion News Service, says partisanship is baked into the US political system because of gerrymandering, primaries and campaign financing…
Conversations: Matthew Slater, a Super Bowl champ with his eye on higher things, retires from football
In an interview which took place before his retirement announcement this week, BOB SMIETANA, of Religion News Service speaks with NFL player Matthew Slater about his career, his faith and his plans for the future…
Chemical weapons watchdog blames Islamic State for 2015 Syria attack
Amsterdam, The Netherlands Reuters The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons on Thursday identified Islamic State militants in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) as the likely perpetrator of a chemical weapons attack in Marea, Syria, on 1st September, 2015. There were “reasonable grounds to believe that on 1 September 2015, during sustained attacks aimed at capturing […]