Macron admires Notre Dame restoration from cathedral’s fire-damaged rooftop
Paris, France Reuters President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday applauded the painstaking work to restore Notre-Dame de Paris, two years after a fire destroyed the cathedral’s centuries-old attic and sent its spire crashing through the vaults below. In the hours after the blaze, Macron told a distraught nation that the cathedral, which dates back to the […]
Sexual violence being used as weapon of war in Ethiopia’s Tigray, UN says
New York City, US Reuters Sexual violence is being used as a weapon of war in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, where girls as young as eight are being targeted and some women have reported being gang-raped over several days, UN aid chief Mark Lowcock said on Thursday. He told the UN Security Council that the humanitarian […]
India breaches 200,000 daily COVID-19 cases as hospital beds, oxygen fall short
New Delhi/Bengaluru, India Reuters India reported a record 200,000 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday and the financial hub of Mumbai entered a lockdown, as many hospitals treating coronavirus patients reported severe shortages of beds and oxygen supplies. The surge was the seventh record daily increase in the last eight days and comes as India battles […]
UAE partners with Japan’s ispace to send rover to the Moon in 2022
Dubai, United Arab Emirates Reuters Lunar exploration company ispace will transport a United Arab Emirates rover to the Moon in 2022, the company said on Wednesday, as the UAE pushes for rapid expansion in the space exploration business to diversify its economy. The UAE is using its space programme to develop its scientific and technological […]
Crime and what punishment? Russian women pin hope on domestic violence ruling
Tbilisi, Georgia Thomson Reuters Foundation She got slammed against her bathroom door and beaten up for refusing her husband sex. He got off with a small fine. Welcome to Russia – where an estimated one in five women suffer violence from their husband and where rights groups say the law offers little punishment and even […]
EU sets out five-year crime cooperation, anti-trafficking plans
Brussels, Belgium Reuters The European Union will seek to increase police cooperation, target human trafficking and establish new rules to counter money laundering, according to plans detailed by the European Commission on Wednesday. The EU executive set out a five-year roadmap of legislative proposals and initiatives designed to combat organised criminal gangs, who have increasingly […]
French high court clears cardinal of abuse cover-up claims
Lyon, France AP France’s highest court confirmed on Wednesday that the former Archbishop of Lyon, Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, did not cover up the sexual abuse of minors by a predator priest. The ruling by the Court of Cassation closes a long, emotional drama that brought angst to the Roman Catholic Church, under scrutiny around the […]
Air pollution: Nepal chokes on smoke and ash as drought-worsened wildfires rage
AADESH SUBEDI, writing for Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports from Nepal on how air pollution caused by fires is creating hardships…
Volcanic eruption in Caribbean prompts Baptist church meals, relief agency supplies
RNS Rev Cecil Richards is working with members of his Kingstown Baptist Church to help feed people in Saint Vincent who have been evacuated due to the volcanic eruption on the island nation. Soon after the initial eruption on Friday, volunteers prepared 170 meals from their church kitchen to distribute to evacuees at shelters in […]
Essay: As India’s COVID crisis worsens, leaders play the blame game while the poor suffer once again
In an article published on The Conversation, SUJEET KUMAR, a senior research fellow at the Centre for the Study of Law and Governance at Jawaharlal Nehru University, says its time for India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi “to show decisive leadership”…