International help rolls in to fight persistent Canadian wildfires
Ottawa, CanadaReuters Allies around the world have promised to increase their help to Canada in its fight against hundreds of blazes that have swept through the country in its worst-ever start to wildfire season. Forest fires that have gathered strength over the last month have forced tens of thousands of people from their homes and […]
“Era has passed” as Beijing subway drops mandatory COVID mask rule
Beijing, China Reuters Beijing’s subway has dropped mandatory mask requirements for travellers, local media reported on Sunday, days after a Chinese health expert said the threat of COVID-19 to humans is no longer at a serious level. The mask move is in line with broader measures by China, which said last week it was now […]
WHO urges travellers to wear masks as new COVID variant spreads
London, UKReuters Countries should consider recommending that passengers wear masks on long-haul flights, given the rapid spread of the latest Omicron subvariant of COVID-19 in the United States, World Health Organization officials said on Tuesday. In Europe, the XBB.1.5 subvariant was detected in small but growing numbers, WHO and Europe officials said at a press […]
Lifestory: My father’s drug addiction put a mask on me. Here’s how I took it off.
US publicist and author JENNIFER R FARMER, in an article published on Religion News Service, reflects on how her father’s drug addiction has shaped her…
Australians urged to work from home as winter Omicron wave swamps hospitals
Sydney, AustraliaReuters Australians admitted to hospitals from COVID-19 neared record levels on Wednesday as authorities urged businesses to let staff work from home and recommended people wear masks indoors and get booster shots urgently amid a major outbreak. Australia is in the grip of a third Omicron wave driven by the highly transmissible new subvariants, […]
Sight-Seeing: They refused the vaccine but still want our empathy. Can we deny them?
Mennonite pastor and author MELISSA FLORER-BIXLER reflects, in an article first published on Religion News Service, says that when people’s carelessness causes harm, it’s not surprising that compassion wears thin – but that as Christians our anger can coexist with hope…
Churches and coronavirus: Masks keep churches from being superspreaders. But they make sermons tough
BOB SMIETANA, of Religion News Service, reports on how US preachers are coping with masks, church closures, online services and social distancing measures…
CeCe Winans “absolutely not” paid for COVID-19 PSA requested by Trump administration
RNS Gospel singing star CeCe Winans said the planned public service announcement in which she discussed the coronavirus pandemic with the US surgeon general was “not political” and did not mention President Donald Trump. The singer, who co-pastors a Nashville, Tennessee, church with her husband, told Rev AR Bernard in an Instagram Live interview on […]
Australia’s Victoria requires masks for Melbourne hit by COVID-19
Melbourne, AustraliaReuters People in Melbourne must now wear masks when leaving their homes as Victoria, Australia’s second most-populous state, marked two weeks of triple-digit increases in new coronavirus infections on Sunday. Melbournians not wearing face coverings will be fined $A200, said Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews. Police officers patrol the grounds outside a public housing tower, […]
Postcards: The Mask Project offers jobs to unemployed and masks to Arizona’s hardest-hit communities
JACOB WIRTSCHAFTER, writing for Religion News Service, reports on interfaith project to help the Navajo Nation in the US, known as The Mask Project…