Activists gather for Earth Day, urge action to avoid ‘dystopian’ future

Reuters Climate change campaigners gathered outside Britain’s parliament building ahead of Earth Day to urge action on global warming, while volunteers worldwide geared up to plant trees and clear trash to mark the 54th annual celebration of the environment. Earth Day this year, officially on Saturday, follows weeks of extreme weather with temperatures soaring to […]
Foreign states start evacuations from Sudan as battle rages

Khartoum, Sudan Reuters Some foreign nationals began evacuating from a Red Sea port in Sudan on Saturday, even as air strikes again rocked the capital Khartoum after a week of fighting between rival commanders that has killed hundreds of civilians across the nation. The bloody onslaught of urban warfare has trapped large numbers in the […]
UK local authority loses bid to stop asylum seekers being housed at air base

London, UK Reuters A local authority in south-eastern England on Friday lost a bid at London’s High Court to stop the British Government from accommodating asylum seekers at a former military base. Braintree District Council, in Essex to the north-east of London, had sought an injunction to prevent the Home Office housing up to 1,700 […]
In the US, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary names David Dockery as new president

United States RNS Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary announced this week that longtime Christian educator David Dockery had been named the school’s president, seven months after the former president resigned unexpectedly. Dockery has been serving as interim president of Southwestern since September, 2022, after the departure of Adam Greenway, who had been installed in February, 2019. David Dockery […]
Australia says discovery of World War II shipwreck ends “tragic” maritime chapter

Sydney, AustraliaReuters Australia’s Defence Minister Richard Marles said on Saturday that the wreck of a Japanese merchant ship, sunk in World War II with 864 Australian soldiers on board, had been found in the South China Sea, ending a tragic chapter of the country’s history. Marles said the SS Montevideo Maru, an unmarked prisoner of […]
Retired German archbishop gives up honour after abuse report

Berlin, Germany AP A former head of the Catholic German Bishops’ Conference is giving up the country’s highest honour following scathing criticism this week of his handling of clergy abuse cases during his tenure as archbishop of Freiburg and as a personnel officer in the diocese. Robert Zollitsch has informed German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in […]
“Urban mining”: US cities see potential in building deconstruction

Local authorities increasingly require buildings to be taken apart rather than demolished, with eye to climate, sustainability and jobs impacts. CAREY L BIRON, of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports…
Sri Lankan protesters demand justice for 2019 Easter attacks

Colombo, Sri Lanka AP Thousands of Sri Lankans held a protest in the capital on Friday, demanding justice for the victims of the 2019 Easter Sunday bomb attacks that killed nearly 270 people. The protesters demanded that the government uncover who they said were the real conspirators behind the attacks on three churches – two […]
Pace of rise in global sea level has doubled – UN climate report

Geneva, Switzerland Reuters Global sea levels are rising at more than double the pace they did in the first decade of measurements in 1993-2002 and hit a new record high last year, the World Meteorological Organization said on Friday, warning that the trend would continue for millennia. Extreme glacier melt and record ocean heat levels […]
Conservative Anglican group says it has no confidence in church of England leader

Nairobi, KenyaReuters A conservative group of Anglican church leaders said on Friday that it no longer had confidence in the leader of the Church of England over his stance on same-sex unions. Earlier this year the CoE – where the Anglican tradition originated – set out proposals to allow priests to bless same-sex couples in […]