Know It All: ‘Church of The Presidents’

MEAGAN CLARK, of Religion Unplugged, looks at the history of the Washington, DC, church which hit the headlines this week…
Snapshot: Lightshow over Monrovia, Liberia…

See BETHANY LAIRD’s image…
Soundbite – The TCM Update: Australian pop duo THE SAGA on the impact of COVID-19

Alyssa Agius (left) and Georga Byrne from THE SAGA. Listen to this week’s TCM Update…
UN says coronavirus pandemic compounding “dire” situations in Mali and Sahel; Brazil death toll grows

AP The United Nations chief says the coronavirus pandemic has compounded “the dire humanitarian and security situations” in Mali and Africa’s Sahel region. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says in a report to the Security Council obtained Thursday by The Associated Press that the deteriorating security situation “remains of grave concern with terrorist groups allied with al-Qaida […]
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef suffers most extensive coral bleaching

Sydney, Australia Reuters Australia’s Great Barrier Reef suffered its most extensive coral bleaching event in March, with scientists fearing the coral recovers less each time after the third bleaching in five years. February, 2020, was the hottest month on record since records began in 1900, Terry Hughes, Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for […]
Fewer suspected modern slaves uncovered in UK under coronavirus
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation Reports of suspected modern slavery in Britain are down for the first time since 2016, the government said on Thursday, raising concerns that lockdown is pushing victims deeper underground. Campaigners say the shutdown had stopped victims being seen or seeking help, with frontline services focused on COVID-19. About 2,870 possible victims […]
Southern Baptists: Without annual meeting, amid decline, debates continue on race, women’s roles

ADELLE M BANKS, of Religion News Service, reports on the ongoing debates within the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in the US…
Street art depicting Pope Francis highlights homeless struggle in Milan

Vatican City RNS Pop art graffiti depicting Pope Francis as homeless and a begging Madonna and Child, made by the subversive artist aleXsandro Palombo, appeared in the northern Italian city of Milan last week. “The coronavirus aggravated social inequalities and caused an alarming increase in poverty,” Palombo, an artist and activist for 25 years whose […]
Essay: Remembering the Christianity of Jesus, not empire

Rev AMY BUTLER, former senior minister of Riverside Church in New York City, says that in addressing issues like racism “it’s time to go beyond words to faithful action, as Jesus did”…
Protests lead brands to speak out against racism. But will they act?

London Thomson Reuters Foundation Major brands taking to social media to condemn racial inequalities have been challenged to back up their words with action to tackle a lack of black leadership in many firms and entrenched racial pay gaps in the United States. As protests against the death of an unarmed black man George Floyd […]