Postcards: A milestone for Notre Dame – one year until cathedral reopens to public after devastating fire
JOHN LEICESTER, of Associated Press, reports on the ongoing work to restore the Paris landmark following the devastating fire of 2019…
US to conduct flight operations in Guyana as concerns mount over border spat
Bogota, Colombia Reuters The United States on Thursday said it would conduct flight operations within Guyana that build on its routine engagement as Britain and Brazil expressed concerns about growing border tensions between Guyana and Venezuela. The long-running spat over the oil-rich Esequibo region, which is being heard by the International Court of Justice, escalated […]
Immersive exhibition centring on London cathedral prompts thinking about climate change during the season of Advent
Updated: 10:30pm (AEDT) Norwich, UK Advent is a time of new beginnings and Christians in the UK and around the world are being challenged to focus on climate change via a new immersive exhibition known as the ‘Climate Cathedral‘. ‘Gaia’ at Southwark Cathedral, London. PICTURE: Courtesy of ECLAS Exhibition curator, Rev Prof Charlotte Sleigh, explained that “during […]
Former UK PM Johnson denies he wanted to let COVID “rip”
London, UK Reuters Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson told Britain’s COVID inquiry on Thursday that any suggestion he wanted to allow the virus to “let rip” was “rubbish” and “completely wrong”. Johnson, Prime Minister between 2019 and 2022, faced a second day of questioning which examined the weeks before the country’s second national lockdown in […]
UN refugee chief urges Western states to deter migrants from dangerous routes
Geneva, Switzerland Reuters Western states should enact policies to prevent asylum seekers embarking on dangerous routes, the UN refugee chief said on Thursday, as the number of migrants through the Darien Gap this year tops half a million people. Conflicts, poverty and climate change have driven a record 114 million people from their homes around […]
Up to 600 North Korean defectors deported by China “vanish” – rights group
Seoul, South Korea Reuters Up to 600 North Koreans have “vanished” after being forcibly deported by China in October, a Seoul-based human rights group said on Thursday, warning they may face imprisonment, torture, sexual violence and execution in the isolated state. The report by the Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG) came about two months after […]
Hundreds more Palestinians killed as Israel pursues Hamas in south Gaza
Gaza/Jerusalem Reuters Israel battled Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip’s biggest cities on Thursday and said it had attacked dozens of targets, leaving 350 Palestinians dead and the rest struggling to survive in rapidly shrinking areas of refuge. Gazans crammed into Rafah on the southern border with Egypt, heeding Israeli leaflets and messages saying that […]
Child poverty levels in the UK worst among world’s richest nations, UNICEF report finds
London, UK Reuters Child income poverty rates in the United Kingdom were the highest among the world’s richest countries, a report by UN children’s agency UNICEF said, ranking bottom of the table for changes in those rates in the past decade. The UNICEF report, published on Wednesday, looked at relatively well-off countries to assess the rate of child income […]
Kyiv lights Christmas tree according to new calendar
Kyiv, Ukraine Reuters Crowds flocked to one of Kyiv’s most beloved squares on Wednesday to see the Ukraine’s main Christmas tree lit up to mark Saint Nicholas Day according to a new calendar celebrating Christmas on 25th December. With their military locked in the 21-month-old war against Russia, it was the first time many Ukrainians […]
A Sustainable Life: Real or artificial? A forestry scientist explains how to choose the most sustainable Christmas tree, no matter what it’s made of
In an article first published on The Conversation, CURTIS VANDERSCHAAF weighs up the pros and cons…