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Tajikistan says it’s ready to take in up to 100,000 Afghan refugees

Tajikstan frontier post

Dushanbe, Tajikstan Reuters Tajikistan is preparing to take in up to 100,000 refugees from neighbouring Afghanistan where fighting has escalated as United States-led troops withdraw, a senior Tajik official said on Friday. A frontier guard stands on a bridge to Afghanistan across Panj river in Panji Poyon border outpost, south of Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on 31st […]

Biden says “just the beginning” on Cuba sanctions for crackdown on protests

US Joe Biden Kentucky

Washington DC, US Reuters US President Joe Biden said on Thursday that new US sanctions on Cuba target those responsible for a crackdown on protesters and that they are only the first step in the American response. “I unequivocally condemn the mass detentions and sham trials that are unjustly sentencing to prison those who dared […]

From China to Germany, floods expose climate vulnerability

Germany Bad Muenstereifel floods3

Reuters Deadly floods that have upended life in both China and Germany have sent a stark reminder that climate change is making weather more extreme across the globe.  At least 33 people in the central China died on Tuesday, including a dozen trapped in a city subway as waters tore through the regional capital of Zhengzhou after […]

UK to launch daily COVID tests in food sector to tackle ‘pingdemic’

UK supermarket empty shelves

London, UK Reuters Daily contact testing will be rolled out to workplaces in Britain’s food sector so staff who have been ‘pinged’ by the COVID-19 app can keep working if they test negative rather than isolating, the government said on Thursday. Some supermarkets are facing shortages of specific products – mainly those in demand in […]

Venezuela’s Maduro calls Vatican letter a “compendium of hatred”

Venezuela Nicolas Maduro December 2020

Caracas, Venezuela Reuters Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Wednesday called a letter sent by the Vatican’s foreign minister to local businesses, which urged Caracas politicians to take seriously negotiations to resolve the country’s crisis, a “compendium of hatred”. The letter from the Vatican’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, was read aloud by a Catholic […]

Oh Baby, Baby: Amy Grant’s biggest hit turns 30

Amy Grant Heart in Motion 30 2

RNS Thirty years ago, Amy Grant was on top of the world. After years of topping Christian music charts, Grant had caught the mainstream industry’s eye and began finding success on secular radio. In the 1980s, she had teamed up with Peter Cetera of the band Chicago for a number one hit, Next Time I […]