Hundreds gather on Sydney’s Bondi Beach to mourn Westfield attack victims
Sydney, Australia Reuters Hundreds gathered on Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Sunday evening, lighting candles as the sun set, to mourn the six people killed in a knife attack in the area’s Westfield shopping mall a week ago. Joel Cauchi, a 40-year-old who had suffered with mental health issues, killed five women and a male security […]
Fighting flares at Myanmar-Thai border as rebels target stranded junta troops
Reuters Fighting raged at Myanmar’s eastern frontier with Thailand on Saturday, both governments said, forcing 3,000 civilians to flee as rebels fought to flush out Myanmar junta troops holed up for days at a bridge border crossing. Resistance fighters and ethnic minority rebels seized the key trading town of Myawaddy on the Myanmar side of […]
John Adams’ Nativity oratorio ‘El Nino’ gets colourful staging at the NYC Met
New York AP The children crumple and fall to the stage, victims of King Herod’s assassins. Then the Virgin Mary, in a voice brimming with anguish and outrage, memorialises the student protesters who were massacred by Mexican armed forces in 1968. This is El Nino, a retelling of the birth and early life of Jesus through a […]
Thousands protest in Spain’s Canary Islands over mass tourism
Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain Reuters Thousands of people protested in Tenerife on Saturday, calling for the Spanish island to temporarily limit tourist arrivals to stem a boom in short-term holiday rentals and hotel construction that is driving up housing costs for locals. Holding placards reading “People live here” and “We don’t want to see […]
Iraq’s PMF force says base was attacked, army investigates
Baghdad, Iraq Reuters A huge blast at a military base in Iraq early on Saturday killed a member of an Iraqi security force that includes Iran-backed groups. The force commander said it was an attack while the army said it was investigating and there were no warplanes in the sky at the time. Two security […]
Hiking, disc golf, flower arranging: United Methodist Church initiative connects people around non-church interests
YONAT SHIMRON, of Religion News Service, reports that ‘Fresh Expressions’ is a denominational initiative intended to connect people who may not be interested in church but are interested in learning a new skill or making new friends…
Thousands of Israelis join anti-government protests calling for new elections
Tel Aviv Reuters Thousands of Israeli demonstrators took to the streets on Saturday to call for new elections and demand more action from the government to bring the hostages held in Gaza home, in the latest round of protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The protests have continued as the war in Gaza moves through […]
Russia’s Kurgan orders evacuation in some districts as floodwaters rise
Moscow, Russia Reuters Authorities in the region of Kurgan in Russia’s Urals mountains ordered an evacuation from several districts on Saturday due to rising river levels, after large snowfalls melted and heavy rain fell on ground already waterlogged before winter. Russia’s Urals region and northern Kazakhstan often suffer flooding at this time of year but […]
US House passes $US95 billion Ukraine, Israel aid package, sends to Senate
Washington DC, US Reuters The US House of Representatives on Saturday with broad bipartisan support passed a $US95 billion legislative package providing security assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, over bitter objections from Republican hardliners. The legislation now proceeds to the Democratic-majority Senate, which passed a similar measure more than two months ago. US leaders […]
More than 14 Palestinians killed as violence flares in West Bank
Nur Shams, West Bank Reuters Israeli forces killed 14 Palestinians during a raid in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, while an ambulance driver was killed as he went to pick up wounded from a separate attack by violent Jewish settlers, Palestinian authorities said. Israeli forces began an extended raid in the early hours of […]