Be informed. Be challenged. Be inspired.

Italian Catholic, Jewish leaders condemn use of Nazi flag at church funeral

Rome, ItalyReuters Italian Catholic and Jewish leaders on Tuesday condemned as outrageous an episode in which right-wing extremists put a flag with a swastika on a coffin outside a church after a religious funeral and gave Nazi salutes. Rome’s Catholic archdiocese said in a statement that priests at the parish of St Lucy in a […]

Sudanese medics shaken by attacks on hospitals treating anti-coup protesters

Sudan Khartoum Khartoum Teaching Hospital1

Khartoum, Sudan Reuters On the afternoon of 30th December, security forces banged on the windows of Khartoum Teaching Hospital then fired tear gas into an emergency room packed with protesters injured in a nearby demonstration.  “We were around the corner trying to hide, it came right past our heads,” said a nurse who asked to […]

Head of Serbian Orthodox Church tests positive for virus

Serbia Belgrade Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarch Porfirije

Belgrade, Serbia AP Patriarch Porfirije, the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, has tested positive for COVID-19, the church said Tuesday, amid a surge in infections in the country and elsewhere in the Balkan region.  Porfirije has developed “very mild symptoms of the virus infection” and remains in home isolation, said the statement. It added […]

UN seeks record $US4.4 billion in aid for Afghanistan’s future

US Afghanistan aid

Geneva, Switzerland Reuters UN agencies on Tuesday asked donors for $US4.4 billion in humanitarian aid for Afghanistan in 2022, calling the funds an “essential stop gap” to ensure the country’s future after a period of turmoil marked by the Taliban’s seizure of power and a hasty US exit.  The United Nations says the appeal, which […]

North Korea conducts second missile test in a week, drawing complaints from neighbours

North Korean flag and barbed wire

Seoul, South Korea Reuters North Korea appeared to test fire a ballistic missile on Tuesday for the second time in less than a week, drawing condemnation from South Korea, Japan and the United States where officials said the repeated launches risked destabilising the region. The suspected ballistic missile launch was detected around 7:27am from an […]

Not another 70 years: Republicans seek to douse Queen Elizabeth celebrations

UK Queen Elizabeth II Oct 2021

London, UK Reuters British republicans said on Monday they would launch a campaign to end the monarchy in the run-up to celebrations to mark Queen Elizabeth’s 70 years on the throne. Elizabeth, 95, the world’s oldest and longest-reigning monarch, will mark her seventh decade as sovereign next month and on Monday Buckingham Palace detailed plans […]

Parthenon fragment returns to Greece, rekindling campaign for UK to hand over marbles

Greece Athens Parthenon fragment

Athens, Greece Reuters A marble fragment of the Parthenon temple has been returned to Athens from a museum in Sicily, a move officials hope will advance efforts to have the British Museum send back ancient sculptures from Greece’s most renowned ancient landmark. Athens’ Acropolis Museum presented on Monday the “Fagan fragment”, a 35-by-31-centimetre marble fragment showing […]

Pope moves to reorganise Vatican doctrine office

Vatican Pope Francis Angelus prayer 9 Jan 2022

Rome, Italy AP Pope Francis took the first step Monday to reorganise the Vatican’s powerful doctrine office, removing the number two official widely believed responsible for a controversial document barring blessings for same-sex couples because God “cannot bless sin”. Francis named Archbishop Giacomo Morandi, currently the secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the […]