Tigrayan forces take control of Ethiopia’s Lalibela, a UN World Heritage Site – eyewitnesses
Addis Ababa Reuters Forces from Ethiopia’s Tigray region have taken control of the town of Lalibela, whose famed rock-hewn churches are a United Nations World Heritage Site, and residents were fleeing, two eyewitnesses told Reuters on Thursday. Lalibela, also a holy site for millions of Ethiopian Orthodox Christians, is in the North Wollo Zone of […]
Ignoring WHO call, major nations stick to vaccine booster plans
Paris, France/Berlin, Germany Reuters Germany, France and Israel will go ahead with plans to administer COVID-19 vaccine boosters, disregarding an appeal by the World Health Organisation to hold off until more people are vaccinated around the world. The decision to press ahead with booster shots despite the WHO’s strongest statement yet highlights the huge inequities […]
Hillsong co-founder Brian Houston charged over alleged concealment of child sex offences
Last updated: 7am, 6th August, 2021 (AEST) Hillsong co-founder Brian Houston has been charged over the alleged concealment of information about child sexual abuse offences. Police in the Australian state of New South Wales said in a statement that officers attached to The Hills Police Area Command in Sydney commenced an investigation in 2019 into […]
Australia to offer redress payments to some of its ‘Stolen Generation’
Canberra, Australia Reuters Australia said on Thursday it will offer redress payments of $A75,000 to some members of its Indigenous population who were forcibly removed from their families as children. More than 100,000 Indigenous children were taken from their families and communities between the early 1900s and about 1970, described by former Prime Minister Kevin […]
Wade Morris, a popular US Baptist youth speaker, dies after COVID-19 hospitalisation
RNS Wade Morris, a popular Southern Baptist youth speaker who was hospitalised with COVID-19, has died. He was 51. “We are heartbroken to learn of Wade Morris’ passing,” the Oklahoma Baptist Convention posted on Twitter. “His speaking ministry in Oklahoma and across the country has forever impacted countless young people. Wade’s a faithful minister of […]
Know It All: The 1951 Refugee Convention…
The 1951 US Refugee Convention turned 70 last month. DAVID ADAMS takes a look at some facts about the landmark document…
Romance Writers of America rescinds award for Christian novel as publisher defends it
RNS Days after announcing At Love’s Command by Karen Witemeyer as the best romance with religious or spiritual elements of 2021 in its inaugural Vivian Awards, Romance Writers of America has rescinded the award. The decision follows criticism from readers and other romance authors that the Christian romance novel, which opens with a scene depicting […]
Bolsonaro’s new chief of staff vows to fight hunger in Brazil
Brasilia, Brazil Reuters Brazil’s incoming presidential chief of staff Ciro Nogueira said on Wednesday the government will relaunch an ambitious social program to fight hunger and poverty ahead of next year’s elections. Far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who swore in Nogueira as his closest aide on Wednesday, said he plans to increase the benefits of the […]
Hong Kong museum commemorating 1989 Tiananmen victims reopens online
Hong Kong Reuters Hong Kong’s June 4th Museum, dedicated to the victims of China’s 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in and around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, reopened online on Wednesday as “8964 Museum”, a pro-democracy group said. The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, the organisers of annual 4th June vigils […]
Tokyo Olympics: From friendships to slogans, the Vatican makes its mark
CLAIRE GIANGRAVÉ, of Religion News Service, reports on the connections the Vatican is building with athletes, including those attending the Olympic Games…