Death toll in Afghan capital mosque bombing now 21 – police
Kabul, Afghanistan AP A bombing at a mosque in the Afghan capital of Kabul during evening prayers killed at least 21 people, including a prominent cleric, and wounded at least 33 others, eyewitnesses and police said Thursday. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack on Wednesday night, the latest to strike the […]
Ukraine death toll “thousands higher” than reported; at least 3,000 have died for want of disease treatment – UN
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters Thousands more civilians have been killed in Ukraine during nearly 11 weeks of war there than the official UN death toll of 3,381, the head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission for the country said on Tuesday. The United Nations team, which includes 55 monitors in Ukraine, has said most of the […]
Essay: The Global COVID-19 Summit left children off its agenda. The church should not.
In an article published by Religion News Service, ALBERT L REYES, president and CEO of US-based Christian charity Buckner International, says that with more than five million children having lost a primary or secondary caregiver to COVID-19, their needs must be a priority at this week’s Global COVID-19 Summit…
Indian opposition seeks higher compensation for COVID deaths after damning WHO report
New Delhi, IndiaReuters India’s main opposition Congress party on Friday demanded a hefty rise in compensation for the families of those who died of COVID-19, after the World Health Organization estimated the country’s toll was nearly 10 times the reported figure. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has rejected the WHO estimate released on Thursday that 4.7 […]
India releases 2020 death data ahead of WHO COVID mortality study it objects
New Delhi, IndiaReuters India registered about 475,000 more total deaths in 2020 than the previous year, government data released months ahead of schedule on Tuesday showed, as the World Health Organization readies its estimates of excess COVID-19 deaths whose methodology New Delhi has opposed. Some experts estimate India’s actual COVID death toll is as high […]
South Korea’s total COVID cases top 10 million as crematoria, funeral homes overwhelmed
Seoul, South KoreaReuters South Korea’s total coronavirus infections topped 10 million, or nearly 20 per cent of its population, authorities said on Wednesday, as surging severe cases and deaths increasingly put a strain on crematories and funeral homes nationwide. The country has been battling a record COVID-19 wave driven by the highly infectious Omicron variant […]
Scant progress in peace talks as Ukrainian cities pounded in more Russian attacks
Kyiv/Lviv, Ukraine Reuters Rescue workers on Thursday dug survivors out of the rubble of a theatre in the besieged city of Mariupol which Ukraine said had been hit by a Russian air strike as people sheltered there from bombardments. Russia denied striking the theatre. But Ukraine’s capital Kyiv came under renewed Russian shelling on Thursday […]
Death toll in Brazil’s Petropolis mudslides, floods hits 176; more than 110 missing
Rio de Janeiro, BrazilReuters The death toll from last week’s mudslides and floods in the Brazilian city of Petropolis reached 176 as of Monday, Rio de Janeiro’s state civil defence said, with more than 110 people still missing. Downpours in the colonial-era city exceeded the average for the entire month of February last Tuesday alone, […]
Death toll from Cyclone Batsirai in Madagascar rises to 120 – state agency
Antananarivo, MadagascarReuters The death toll from Cyclone Batsirai in Madagascar jumped to 120 on Friday from 92 reported earlier this week, the state disaster relief agency said. The cyclone hit the Indian Ocean island late on Saturday, slamming the southeastern coastline before receding late on Sunday. An aerial view shows damaged houses and debris on […]
India’s COVID deaths cross 500,000 but some analysts count millions more
New Delhi, IndiaReuters India’s official COVID-19 death toll crossed 500,000 on Friday, a level some data analysts said was breached last year but was obscured by inaccurate surveys and unaccounted dead in the hinterlands, where millions remain vulnerable to the disease. The country, which has the fourth-highest tally of deaths globally, recorded 400,000 deaths by […]