Updated: Death toll in Florida uncertain as Ian takes aim at Carolinas
Updated: 11:05am (AEST)Venice, Florida, USReuters Emergency crews tried on Thursday to reach stranded Florida residents as a resurgent Hurricane Ian veered toward the Carolinas after cutting a path of destruction across Florida, leaving behind deadly floodwaters, downed power lines and widespread damage. Ian, one of the strongest storms ever to hit the US mainland, flooded […]
Updated: Hurricane Ian batters Florida’s Gulf Coast with catastrophic fury; 20 missing after Cuban migrant boat sinks
Updated: 12.25pm (AEST)Venice, Florida, USReuters Hurricane Ian plowed into Florida’s Gulf Coast with catastrophic force on Wednesday, unleashing howling winds, torrential rains and a treacherous surge of ocean surf that made it one of the most powerful US storms in recent years. Crashing ashore as a Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of up to […]
Trudeau tours storm-hit Atlantic Canada; millions in Florida urged to evacuate as Hurricane Ian nears
Port aux Basques, Newfoundland, CanadaReuters Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday started a tour of Atlantic Canada, where thousands were still without power after record-setting storm Fiona ravaged the country’s east coast, tossing homes into the sea and killing at least three people. Fiona recorded the lowest barometric pressure ever for a storm when it […]
Just a third of Americans back Republican migrant flights – Reuters/Ipsos
Washington, USReuters Only a third of Americans – including half of Republicans and one in six Democrats – say it’s OK for state officials to fly or bus migrants to other states, a sign the push by Republican Southern governors to ship foreigners north could backfire with some voters, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll. Republican […]
In the US, 31 United Methodist churches in North Carolina demand immediate exit from denomination, threaten lawsuit
Updated: 11:45pm, 20th August, 2022 (AEST)United StatesRNS Thirty-one United Methodist churches in western North Carolina in the US are demanding they be allowed to leave the United Methodist Church and have hired a Florida legal firm to push their claim forward. The National Center for Life and Liberty sent a letter to Bishop Ken Carter, […]
More than 100 Florida churches file lawsuit to leave United Methodist Church
United StatesRNS More than 100 churches are suing the Florida Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church to immediately disaffiliate from the denomination. The lawsuit comes amid a slow-moving schism in the United Methodist Church largely over the ordination and marriage of its LGBTQ members. And, according to the head of a new, theologically conservative […]
In the US, ex-Disney workers sue, claiming religious discrimination
Lake Buena Vista, Florida, USAP Three former employees have sued Walt Disney World, saying they were fired after refusing to wear face masks and get the COVID-19 vaccine due to religious reasons, according to a lawsuit. Barbara Andreas, Stephen Cribb and Adam Pajer said in the lawsuit filed on 30th June that Disney discriminated against […]
In the US, Florida churches among first to begin exit from UMC to new, conservative denomination
United StatesRNS A statement posted on Facebook on Tuesday by the Wesleyan Covenant Association’s Florida chapter caught the attention of the Florida bishop for the United Methodist Church: “107 Florida Methodist Churches Depart United Methodist Church”, it began. The Facebook post came just a few days after the launch of the Global Methodist Church, a […]
Movement to build affordable housing on church land reaches Florida
RNS As Miami-Dade County in Florida grapples with a housing affordability crisis, houses of worship are being recruited to build affordable homes on vacant or underutilised church land. The national non-profit Enterprise Community Partners last Thursday announced $US1.3 million in grant funding from the Wells Fargo Foundation that would go toward helping 15 South Florida […]
Migrant minors dispute pits Florida against Catholic Church
Miami, Florida, USAP The debate over whether to deter or accommodate minors arriving at the US-Mexico border without their parents has pitted Florida’s Catholic governor against the state’s highest-ranking Roman Catholic. The Archbishop of Miami, Thomas Wenski, and other faith leaders have implored the governor to reconsider an order that suspends renewals of state licenses […]