Displaced Gazan mothers struggle to care for their newborns
Deir al-Balah, Gaza Reuters Gazan mother Rana Salah cradles her one-month-old daughter Milana in her arms in a sweltering tent for the displaced, and speaks of the guilt she feels for bringing her child into a world of war and suffering. “If it were up to me, I wouldn’t have gotten pregnant or given birth […]
Books: A parable on the costliness of compassion
JO KADLECEK reads Claire Keegan’s ‘Small Things Like These’, due to be released as a film in November…
Nobel prize for medicine goes to US duo who discovered microRNA
Stockholm, Sweden Reuters US scientists Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Medicine on Monday for the discovery of microRNA and its crucial role in how multicellular organisms grow and live. Their work helped explain how cells specialise and develop into different types, such as muscle and nerve cells, even though […]
US rules on conflict minerals have not reduced violence in Congo, GAO says
Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo Reuters A US congressional watchdog has found no evidence that a 2012 Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) conflict minerals disclosure rule has reduced violence in Democratic Republic of Congo, it said in a report on Monday. Armed groups continue to fight for control of gold mines in the east of […]
Haiti’s divided transition council picks new president
Port-au-Prince, Haiti Reuters Haiti’s transitional presidential council transferred the rotating presidency on Monday to architect Leslie Voltaire despite opposition from outgoing president Edgard Leblanc Fils, who refused to sign a decree ratifying the move. Leblanc Fils had opposed the move citing unresolved corruption accusations against three other councillors who remain voting members and signed off […]
Debt burden threatens poor countries’ development goals, UN official says
Hamburg, Germany Reuters The world’s poorest countries are having to prioritise debt service over investments, United Nations Development Programme administrator Achim Steiner said on Monday, scuppering progress towards their Sustainable Development Goals. Speaking at an event in Hamburg, Steiner said the financial crunch meant countries worldwide were struggling to meet the goals – a set […]
‘Are Women Human?’
Dorothy Sayers asked the question in an address in 1938 (the address was later published in a collection of essays). PICTURE: Mark Kassinos/Unsplash Frustrated with public discourse where ‘male’ was default, her question called out the gender bias of her world. She had completed Oxford with first class honours, but never graduated as degrees were […]
Rescuers, villagers search for missing after Bosnia devastating floods
Buturovic Polje, Bosnia and Herzegovina Reuters Rescuers found another body on Monday in their search for survivors of devastating floods and landslides that swept across Bosnia three days ago, taking the death toll to at least 20. Authorities in the south-western Herzegovina-Neretva canton, which was hit hardest during the country’s deadliest floods in years, confirmed […]
The Doukhobors: A faith is on the edge of vanishing in Georgia after being exiled from Russia centuries ago
KOSTYA MANENKOV, of Associated Press, reports on the challenges facing a pacifist Christian sect which first emerged in Russia in the 18th century…
Trauma of 7th October attack still hangs over Israel as war spreads
Jerusalem Reuters While much of the world has focused on Israel’s military response to the 7th October Hamas attacks, and the devastation it has caused, Israelis’ lives in the past year have been overshadowed by the trauma of that day. The attack was the worst disaster in Israel’s history, leaving the country reeling from the […]