South Africa’s President signs major health bill just before election
Pretoria, South Africa Reuters South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law on Wednesday a bill that aims to provide universal health coverage, hailing it as a major step towards a more just society two weeks before an election that is expected to be fiercely competitive. The National Health Insurance (NHI) Act takes aim at […]
Hundreds arrested, roads barricaded in New Caledonia as riots continue
Sydney, Australia Reuters Armed forces were protecting New Caledonia’s two airports and port after a third night of violent riots that have killed four people, the Pacific Island’s top French official said on Thursday morning, adding at least four alleged instigators were under house arrest. In three municipalities on the French-ruled island, gendarmes faced about […]
Great Works: Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo’s ‘Mary Magdalene’ is a powerful piece of storytelling
GABRIELE NEHER, in an article written for The Conversation to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Britain’s National Gallery, looks at one of the key work’s on show – Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo’s ‘Mary Magdalene’…
Palestinians mark 1948 Nakba in the shadow of war in Gaza
Gaza/Jerusalem Reuters Palestinians commemorated the 1948 “Nakba” or catastrophe, on Wednesday, marking the time when hundreds of thousands were dispossessed of their homes in the war at the birth of the state of Israel, as fighting raged amid the rubble in Gaza. The Nakba has been one of the defining experiences for Palestinians for more […]
Bishop TD Jakes subject of AI-generated misinformation, says fact-finding website
United States RNS Since late last year, Bishop TD Jakes, a Dallas megachurch pastor, has largely ignored social media posts linking him to Sean “Diddy” Combs, the hip-hop mogul who is the subject of several lawsuits alleging abusive behaviour. A rare public response came in a sermon Jakes gave Christmas Eve, when he said, “I […]
UN sees number of young migrants crossing the dangerous Darien Gap up by a third
Panama City, Panama Reuters The number of minors crossing the treacherous jungle between Colombia and Panama known as the Darien Gap is on pace to rise by 34 per cent to reach 160,000 this year, the United Nations’ Children Fund (UNICEF) said on Wednesday. The migration of mostly US-bound kids through the Darien Gap represents […]
Updated: Slovak PM Fico no longer in life-threatening condition after being shot, minister says
Updated: 12:30pm (AEST) Banksa Bystrica, Slovakia Reuters lovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is no longer in a life-threatening condition after he was shot in an assassination attempt when leaving a government meeting on Wednesday, a government minister said. The gunman shot Fico, 59, five times, initially leaving the Prime Minister in critical condition and undergoing […]
Zelenskiy postpones travel abroad as Russian troops enter Ukraine border town
Kyiv, Ukraine Reuters President Volodymyr Zelenskiy postponed all his foreign trips as Ukraine’s battlefield situation continued to deteriorate on Wednesday and Kyiv said fighting raged in the north-eastern border town of Vovchansk in Kharkiv region. The capture of the town, five kilometres from the border, would be Russia’s most significant gain since it launched an […]
Chile’s capital faces fiercest cold snap in decades
Santiago, Chile Reuters Chileans are bundling up with more clothes and clutching cups of hot coffee as the country faces the most intense cold snap in nearly 70 years, bringing winter weather in the middle of autumn. “Since 1950, that is, in the last 74 years, we had not had a cold wave as intense […]
The Interview: Former Trump official Elizabeth Neumann wants to combat Christian extremism
JACK JENKINS, of Religion News Service, talks to extremism expert Elizabeth Neumann about her latest book – ‘Kingdom of Rage: The Rise of Christian Extremism and the Path Back to Peace’…