Extreme heat shuts schools for millions, widening learning gaps worldwide
Reuters Hena Khan, a grade nine student in Dhaka, has struggled to focus on her studies this week as temperatures surpassed 43 degrees Celsius in the Bangladesh capital. “There is no real education in schools in this punishing heat,” she said. “Teachers can’t teach, students can’t concentrate. Rather, our lives are at risk.” Sheikh Tamim […]
Essay: Understanding America’s overlooked religious middle
ROBERT P JONES, CEO and founder of the Public Religion Research Institute, says, in an article first published by Religion News Service, that the overlooked religious middle is poised to play an outsized role in the 2024 presidential contest…
Conversations: Mercy Aiken, co-author of ‘Yet In The Dark Streets Shining’
DAVID ADAMS speaks to Mercy Aiken, recently on tour in Australia to talk about her book on the life of Bethlehem Bible College founder, Bishara Awad…
Evacuation continues following Indonesia’s Ruang volcano eruption
Jakarta, Indonesia Reuters Hundreds residents of Indonesia’s Tagulandang Island were waiting at the island’s port to be evacuated on Wednesday, footage from National Search and Rescue Agency showed, while grey smoke continued to erupt from Ruang volcano. Indonesia’s Ruang volcano erupted on Tuesday, spewing lava that prompted authorities to evacuate more than 12,000 people from […]
Seventy-five Christian leaders urge US President, Congress, churches to act on racism, poverty
United States RNS Seventy-five leaders of national Christian organisations and prominent churches have sent a statement to the White House, Congress and congregational leaders calling for greater action to address racism and poverty. “People of color continue to suffer problems related to race – high rates of death during childbirth, for example, and fear of […]
Heavy rains kill at least 10 in southern Brazil, governor warns of historic disaster
Reuters Ten people died and 21 are missing due to heavy rains this week in Brazil’s southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, with the local government warning that the situation is critical and could deteriorate further. During a press conference on Wednesday, State Governor Eduardo Leite said he had spoken with President Luiz Inacio […]
Blinken says US cannot support Rafah assault without humanitarian plan
Ashdod, Israel Reuters US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday he has still not seen a plan for Israel’s planned offensive on the southern Gaza city of Rafah that would protect civilians, repeating that Washington could not support such an assault. Blinken and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in Jerusalem for two-and-a-half […]
Russia breached global chemical weapons ban in Ukraine war, US says
Washington DC, US Reuters The United States on Wednesday accused Russia of violating the international chemical weapons ban by deploying the choking agent chloropicrin against Ukrainian troops and using riot control agents “as a method of warfare” in Ukraine. “The use of such chemicals is not an isolated incident and is probably driven by Russian […]
Kenya flood toll rises to 181 as homes and roads are destroyed
Nairobi, Kenya Reuters Floods and landslides across Kenya have killed 181 people since March, with hundreds of thousands forced to leave their homes, the government and Red Cross said on Wednesday, as dozens more were killed in neighbouring Tanzania and Burundi. Torrential rain and floods have destroyed homes, roads, bridges and other infrastructure across the […]