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- CLAIRE GIANGRAVÉ
In calls with faith leaders, White House focuses on virus as well as election; Southern Baptists cancel meeting
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- ADELLE M BANKS and JACK JENKINS
The White House held calls with religious leaders last week to encourage their support of its guidelines for addressing the coronavirus, gathering more than a thousand people on three phone calls.
President Donald Trump took part in at least one of the calls.
“On Friday, President Trump
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- David Adams
The World Council of Churches has called for Christians across the world to join in praying the Lord's Prayer at noon, Rome time, on Wednesday, 25th March, as the world continues to grapple with the expanding coronavirus pandemic.
The call for prayer was first issued by Pope Francis
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- SAKURA MURAKAMI and KAROLOS GROHMANN
Tokyo, Japan/Athens, Greece
Reuters
The Tokyo Olympics were postponed on Tuesday to 2021, the first such delay in the Games' 124-year modern history, as the coronavirus crisis wrecked the world's last sporting showpiece still standing this year.
Though a huge blow to Japan, which has invested $US12 billion
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- EMILY MCFARLAN MILLER
Bekah Stoneking doesn’t always get her Christmas tree taken down right away after the December holiday.
Sometimes Stoneking, who edits the Explore the Bible Sunday school materials for LifeWay Kids, will keep the fake tree up through the Christian celebration of Epiphany in January, glittering with warm,
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- David Adams
Missionary journalist Dan Wooding, founder of ASSIST News Service, died last Wednesday morning in the UK at the age of 79.
In a Facebook post last week Wooding's sons Peter and Andrew said their father “peacefully passed away at 9am UK time" on 18th March.
Norma
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- RINA CHANDRAN
Bangkok, Thailand
Thomson Reuters Foundation
A partial lockdown in Thailand to limit the spread of coronavirus exempts construction, exposing thousands of migrant workers to the deadly disease, human rights groups warned on Monday.
Thailand has more than 700 coronavirus cases, a health ministry spokesman said on Monday, the
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- RAPHAEL SATTER, JACK STUBBS and CHRISTOPHER BING
Washington, DC/London, UK
Reuters
Elite hackers tried to break into the World Health Organization earlier this month, sources told Reuters, part of what a senior agency official said was a more than two-fold increase in cyberattacks.
WHO Chief Information Security Officer Flavio Aggio said the identity of the
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- JOSH SMITH
Seoul, South Korea
Reuters
With international focus on the coronavirus, North Korea has doubled down on its missile development and military exercises in recent weeks while signalling new confidence that it has dodged an outbreak of its own.
Some international experts are sceptical of North Korea's assertion that
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- PRAVEEN MENON
Wellington, New Zealand
Reuters
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern appealed to New Zealanders to help fight the coronavirus pandemic, as the country prepared for a complete lockdown from Thursday to beat the spread of the virus.
Cases of COVID-19 crossed the 100 mark in New Zealand this week as
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- DOMINIC KIRUI
Mahiga-Meru, Kenya
Thomson Reuters Foundation
After desert locusts invaded her farm in central Kenya, Mary Muthoni, 61, ran around her maize fields shouting and banging on an old iron sheet in a desperate attempt to drive them away.
"They came here yesterday evening and sat on top
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- CLAIRE GIANGRAVÉ
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- STEPHANIE NEBEHAY and KATE KELLAND
Geneva, Switzeraland/London, UK
Reuters
The COVID-19 pandemic is accelerating, the World Health Organization said on Monday, with more than 300,000 cases now recorded and infections reported from nearly every country.
Dr Mike Ryan, the WHO's top emergencies expert, said it had advised Olympic and Japanese officials about
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- STEVE KEATING and LEIKA KIHARA
Toronto, Canada/Tokyo, Japan
Reuters
The International Olympic Committee has decided to postpone the Tokyo 2020 Summer Games because of the coronavirus pandemic, IOC member Dick Pound said on Monday.
Major sporting nations Australia and Canada had already withdrawn on Monday as organisers came under global pressure to postpone
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- IAN RANSOM
