Colombia’s Petro visits southern Haiti as violence spikes in both countries
Reuters Colombian President Gustavo Petro arrived in Haiti’s south-eastern city of Jacmel on Wednesday afternoon in a rare visit by a foreign head of state to the Caribbean nation, as Haiti endures an extended conflict with armed gangs. Colombia has also faced a surge in violence from rebel factions that have brought peace talks to […]
Trump steps up immigration crackdown, warns city, state officials against interference
Washington DC, US Reuters President Donald Trump’s administration has directed US prosecutors to criminally probe local officials who resist immigration enforcement efforts, intensifying a sweeping crackdown that Trump launched the day he took office. In a memo seen by Reuters, Trump’s acting Deputy Attorney General, Emil Bove, told Justice Department staff that state and local […]
Significant Sights: Their kinship sealed by fire, St John the Divine brings Notre Dame to life in exhibition
FIONA ANDRÉ, of Religion News Service, reports on an exhibition at the Episcopal Cathedral of St John the Divine in Manhattan…
Bereaved Gazans dig out bodies from city ruins, give them graves
Cairo, Egypt/Gaza Reuters Guns may have fallen silent in Gaza, but for Mahmoud Abu Dalfa, the agony is not over. He is desperately searching for the bodies of his wife and five children trapped under the rubble of his house since the early months of the war. Palestinian man Atef Jundiya searches for the graves […]
Nashville school shooting leaves two dead, including shooter
Reuters A teenage boy on Wednesday opened fire inside a Tennessee high school, killing one student and wounding another before taking his own life, police said. Nashville police said in a statement on social media that a 17-year-old male student fired multiple shots using a pistol inside the cafeteria at Antioch High School. A girl, […]
Colombia reissues rebel arrest warrants, displacement rises to 32,000 amid fighting
Bogota, Colombia Reuters Colombia’s AttorneyGgeneral’s office on Wednesday reissued arrest warrants for leaders of the National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels, who had been participating in peace talks, as forced displacement caused by ELN attacks rose to 32,000 people. A sharp uptick in violence over the past week in the Catatumbo region, an area along the […]
Israeli minister says army applying lessons from Gaza in West Bank operation
Jerusalem/Jenin, West Bank Reuters Israel’s defence minister said on Wednesday forces were applying lessons learned in Gaza as a major operation continued in Jenin, which the military said was aimed at countering Iranian-backed militant groups in the volatile West Bank city. A military spokesperson declined to give details but said the operation was “relatively similar” […]
New wildfire near Los Angeles explodes, forces evacuations
Reuters A new wildfire that broke out north of Los Angeles on Wednesday rapidly spread to more than 32 square kilometres, fuelled by strong winds and dry brush, forcing mandatory evacuation orders for more than 19,000 people. The Hughes fire about 80 kilometres north of Los Angeles further taxed firefighters in the region who have […]
A “nuanced” celebration: Anabaptists commemorate 500 years with new study Bible and more
ALEJA HERTZLER-MCCAIN, of Religion News Service, reports on plans to commemorate the anniversary in North America and beyond…
New book offers insights on the quirks and mysteries of the Catholic faith
Vatican City RNS In the late 1100s, an Irish priest and his assistant traveling south from Ulster stopped for the night. As they sat by their campfire, a wolf approached and spoke, telling the astonished travellers not to be afraid. Every seven years, he explained, he and his wife were damned to “quit entirely the […]