Urban air quality less improved by COVID lockdowns than first believed
Rome, Italy Thomson Reuters Foundation Lockdowns during the first wave of COVID-19 had a much smaller impact on urban air quality than first expected, a study of 11 global cities, from Wuhan to New York, found on Wednesday. As millions stayed home, concentrations in the air of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) – a key pollutant emitted […]
Wow!: Woman’s salve for devastation of Lebanese blast: 100 dolls
MARIAM FAM, of Associated Press, reports from Beirut on the work of Lebanese painter Yolande Labaki to help bring healing to the country’s capital…
Australian scientists suggest delaying AstraZeneca vaccine as infections fall
Sydney, AustraliaReuters Some Australian scientists have proposed delaying mass inoculation using AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine with a view to considering a different shot instead. Questions surrounding the vaccine in Australia, which recorded just one new local case of the novel coronavirus on Wednesday, have cast a cloud over its immunisation plans, with 53 million doses of […]
US House impeaches Trump for a second time; 10 Republicans vote yes
Updated 3.30pm (AEDT) Washington DC, US Reuters Donald Trump on Wednesday became the first president in US history to be impeached twice, as 10 of his fellow Republicans joined Democrats in the House of Representatives to charge him with inciting an insurrection in last week’s violent rampage in the Capitol. The vote in the Democratic-controlled […]
Review shows Australia made huge miscalculation on funds transfers, Vatican says
Vatican City Reuters Australia’s financial watchdog has drastically reduced the sum of money it says was sent from the Vatican to Australia, the Vatican said on Wednesday, after it earlier reported a huge figure which raised suspicions of money laundering. The joint Vatican-Australian review showed only $A9.5 million transited between 2014 and 2020, a fraction […]
COVID-19 spurs calls to boost protections for millions of homeworkers
London, UK Thomson Reuters Foundation The dramatic global shift to remote working during COVID-19 lockdowns has underscored an urgent need for greater protections for homeworkers, many of whom are paid far less than those employed outside the home, the United Nations said on Wednesday. About 7.9 per cent of workers – 260 million people – […]
Pandemic cut traffic congestion in most countries last year: report
New York, US/London, UK Reuters Coronavirus-induced lockdowns caused annual traffic congestion to fall in most countries for the first time in at least 10 years, disrupting long-held traffic patterns like the dreaded morning commute to work, a report released on Tuesday showed. Congestion declined sharply on the gridlocked roads of crowded cities, including Los Angeles, […]
Africa’s leap to clean energy seen needing policy change, investment
Johannesburg, South Africa Thomson Reuters Foundation Renewable energy is expected to account for less than 10 per cent of Africa’s electricity generation by 2030, showing massive investment is needed to unlock the continent’s wind and solar power potential, researchers said on Monday. Drastic policy change and investment will also be needed if the notion of […]
Essay: Five reasons global persecution should matter to Christians in Australia
As Open Doors releases its annual World Watch List of countries where Christian persecution is greatest, MURRAY NOBLE, a leading researcher at Open Doors Australia, outlines why Christians in the West – and in Australia in particular – should care about the persecuted church…
Christians denied emergency COVID related food relief because of their faith – Open Doors’ report
The worldwide coronavirus pandemic has been a “catalyst” for the repression of Christian minorities around the world with some denied emergency relief because of their faith, according to Open Doors‘ latest annual report on the persecution of Christians across the globe. The report – known as the World Watch List – said that among those […]