Mali talks propose junta rule for three more years
Bamako, Mali Reuters Participants in Mali’s national dialogue on Friday recommended extending the military-led transition to democracy by three years and allowing junta leader Assimi Goita to stand in the eventual election. The West African country has been under military rule since a coup in 2020, and tensions have risen over the junta’s failure to […]
School board in US state of Virginia votes to restore Confederate names
Woodstock, Virginia, US Reuters The education board for a rural Virginia county voted early on Friday to restore the names of Confederate generals stripped from two schools in 2020, making the mostly white, Republican district the first in the US to take such an action. By a five-to-one vote, the Shenandoah County board overturned its […]
South African social safety net at crossroads as ANC support wanes
Johannesburg, South Africa Reuters South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC), fighting to extend its 30-year grip on power in elections this month, would like to cast the government programs that support Dalene Raiters and her family as a success story. But the 48-year-old doesn’t see it that way. Dalene Raiters looks on as her sister […]
Pandemic treaty talks will go on after missed deadline, some progress, WHO says
London, UK Reuters Talks to draw up a global pact to help fight future pandemics have ended without a draft agreement by the expected deadline, but progress has been made, the World Health Organization said on Friday. Negotiators from the World Health Organization’s (WHO) 194 member states were hoping to have a final draft agreement […]
Billy Graham statue for US Capitol to be unveiled next week
Charlotte, North Carolina, US AP A statue of the late Rev Billy Graham set to stand inside the US Capitol to represent North Carolina will be unveiled next week in a ceremony. House Speaker Mike Johnson, other congressional members and the family of the Charlotte-born evangelist are expected to attend unveiling of the 2.1-metre tall […]
Symbols of co-existence?: After Hagia Sophia, Turkey converts a second ancient Byzantine church into a mosque
DAVID I KLEIN, of Religion News Service, reports that Muslim worshippers at the mosque on Friday said they viewed Chora Church’s rededication as an Islamic site to be a national win for Turkey…
Pope takes aim at guns and condoms at pro-birth conference
Rome, Italy Reuters Pope Francis criticised the weapons and contraceptive industries on Friday, accusing them of destroying or preventing life in his speech at a conference on the demographic crisis gripping Italy and Europe. Europe’s fertility rate has been stuck around 1.5 births per woman for the past decade. That is above lows seen in […]
US working to keep Israel, Hamas engaged in Gaza truce efforts
Cairo, Egypt Reuters Washington said it was trying to keep Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas engaged “if only virtually” in Gaza truce efforts as a UN agency warned that humanitarian aid stocks in the devastated enclave have hit “the bottom of the barrel”. Hamas said on Friday it would consult with other militant […]
Death toll from floods in Brazil hits 126 as rain returns
Canoas, Brazil Reuters Rains returned to Rio Grande do Sul on Friday as the death toll from historic floods in Brazil’s southernmost state reached 126, according to local authorities, climbing from 113 earlier in the day. Storms and floods battering the state, home to some 10.9 million people, have also displaced almost 340,000 while another […]
US says Israel’s use of weapons may have violated international law
Washington DC, US Reuters The Biden administration on Friday said Israel’s use of US-supplied weapons may have violated international humanitarian law during its military operation in Gaza, a major step up in criticism of its key ally. But the administration also said that due to the chaos of the war in Gaza it could not […]