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Chinese pastor released after two and a half years in prison

Yang Hua

World Watch Monitor A Chinese pastor was released on Tuesday, after being detained for two and a half years for “illegally possessing state secrets”, reports Christian Solidarity Worldwide. Pastor Yang Hua of Huoshi Church (which means Living Stone), in the south-western province of Guizhou, was arrested in December, 2015. He was sentenced a year later, in […]

Cities face dramatic rise in heat, flood risks by 2050, researchers say

Sao Paulo

Thomson Reuters Foundation In just 30 years, cities around the world will face dramatically higher risks from extreme heat, coastal flooding, power blackouts and food and water shortages unless climate-changing emissions are curbed, urban researchers warned this week. Today, for instance, more than 200 million people in 350 cities face stifling heat where average daily […]

Plan for Rome seeks to avert ‘dangerous’ tensions, reap benefits of migrants

Thomson Reuters Foundation Rome must help refugees integrate into life in Italy’s capital city, to cut the risk of tensions between communities that could escalate to dangerous levels – and to benefit from the fresh life they bring to an ageing population, officials said. Welcoming migrants is an important way to strengthen Rome, the city […]

Longer-term impact of Royal Wedding sermon on Brits limited, poll suggests

Royal Wedding Windsor

US Episcopal Bishop Michael Curry’s 14 minute sermon may have been the most “tweeted moment” during the Royal Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in Windsor last month, but a new poll suggests that its longer-term impact may not have been as great as some may have hoped. Commissioned by British thinktank Theos and […]

Wars, persecution drive record 68.5 million from their homes – UN

UNHCR refugee data 2018

Thomson Reuters Foundation Wars, persecution and other violence have driven a record 68.5 million people from their homes, more than the population of Britain or France, the UN refugee agency UNHCR said on Tuesday. Here are some facts from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees’ annual Global Trends study, published on the eve of World […]