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- ADELLE M BANKS
An Episcopal seminary in Virginia has announced plans to create a $US1.7 million endowment fund whose proceeds will support reparations for the school’s ties to slavery.
Virginia Theological Seminary said in a 5th September statement that enslaved persons worked on its campus and the school “participated in
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- NITA BHALLA AND TOM FINN
Nairobi, Kenya/London
Thomson Reuters Foundation
Hundreds of refugees trapped in Libyan detention centres will be evacuated to Rwanda as part of urgent efforts to relocate people as conflict rages in the north African nation, the United Nations said on Tuesday.
Vincent Cochetel, special envoy for the central Mediterranean
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- CLAIRE GIANGRAVÉ
Vatican City
RNS
Known as a beach bum’s paradise and a millionaire’s tax haven, the island nation of Mauritius welcomed Pope Francis, who encouraged its people to embrace their rich diversity as the country struggles with past and recent forms of colonisation.
“You possess an authoritative voice, one
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- RINA CHANDRAN
Bangkok, Thailand
Thomson Reuters Foundation
Huge renewable energy projects planned in Asia, such as solar parks and hydropower dams, risk accelerating the conversion of farmland, uprooting communities and destroying livelihoods, energy experts and human rights activists warned on Tuesday.
As they look to curb climate changing emissions,
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- David Adams
More than 1,000 people attended celebrations surrounding the inauguration of a new Catholic Church in Oman last weekend, Agenzia Fides reports.
Located in the southern city of Salalah, construction of the 600 seat church, which is dedicated to St Francis Xavier, was completed in just 18 months.
The
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- PAULINA DURAN
Sydney, Australia
Reuters
Hundreds of Australians have fled their homes in the eastern states as 140 fires ravaged parts of Queensland and New South Wales, officials said on Tuesday.
Strong winds have fanned bushfires in the two Australian states since Monday, with flames out of control in some
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- David Adams
One person around the world dies every 40 seconds from suicide, according to the latest data from the World Health Organization.
The data reveals that 79 per cent of suicides occur in low and middle income nations but that high income countries have the highest rate of suicide at 11.5
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- CLAIRE GIANGRAVÉ
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- SONIA ELKS
London
Thomson Reuters Foundation
From tracing ill-gotten gains back to their source to spotting illegal factories, technology will be key in beating slavery as a fragmenting workplace leaves many more at risk, the United Nations leading expert on slavery said last week.
With an increase in automation and
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- JESSIE PANG
Hong Kong
Reuters
Hundreds of uniformed school students, many wearing masks, formed human chains in districts across Hong Kong on Monday in support of anti-government protesters after another weekend of clashes in the Chinese-ruled city.
Metro stations reopened after some were closed on Sunday amid sometimes violent confrontations,
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- RINA CHANDRAN
Bangkok, Thailand
Thomson Reuters Foundation
Asian cities are switching to electric vehicles in a bid to tackle worsening air quality, cut climate changing emissions, and expand their public transport networks, climate experts said last week.
Transport is the fastest-growing source of climate-warming greenhouse gases, with the vast majority
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- GEORGINA EVANS and KATE RYAN
London/New York
Thomson Reuters Foundation
Women hold one in five top jobs in science, technology, maths and engineering globally, which slows down innovation, a study of research institutions said last week.
While women made up more than 50 per cent of higher education students in those subjects -
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- ADELA SULIMAN
London
Thomson Reuters Foundation
More must be done to prevent the destruction of cultural property during conflicts, from museums to libraries, in order to preserve communities, artists and academics told a symposium called "Culture Under Attack" on Saturday.
From the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra partly destroyed
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- WILL ZIEBELL
Melbourne, Australia
Reuters
Australian firefighters battled more than 100 bushfires across two eastern states on Sunday as authorities warned that parts of the country could expected a severe bushfire season this summer.
"We've never seen this before in recorded history, fire weather has never been as severe this
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- ALEJANDRA MOLINA
