Enough talk, time for action, CARICOM official says on slavery reparations
Reuters The push for slavery reparations is at a defining moment, a Caribbean Community official said on the second day of a United Nations forum, adding it was time to step up actions to hold former colonial powers to account for past wrongs. “Enough talk, time for concrete results,” said Hilary Brown on Tuesday, representative […]
Egypt’s tourism push puts pristine Red Sea beach at risk, say environmentalists
Ras Hankorab, Egypt Reuters Ras Hankorab Beach, a pristine spot on southern Egypt’s Red Sea coast with crystal clear waters and flat white sands, is the jewel of Egypt’s Wadi el-Gemal National Park, home to one of the country’s last untouched marine ecosystems. Today, the beach, a 90-minute drive from Marsa Alam international airport, and […]
Ecuador’s Noboa faces tough future with the legislature. Can his mom help?
Quito, Ecuador Reuters Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa – a millennial business heir who won a new term on Sunday by an unexpectedly wide margin – may struggle to push bills through the country’s divided legislature, where his election rival’s coalition is close to a majority. His mother – doctor and lawmaker Annabella Azin – might […]
Trump administration proposes scrapping UN peacekeeping funding
Washington DC, US Reuters The White House budget office has proposed eliminating funding for United Nations peacekeeping missions, citing failures by operations in Mali, Lebanon and Democratic Republic of Congo, according to internal planning documents seen by Reuters. Washington is the UN’s largest contributor – with China second – accounting for 22 per cent of […]
Russian journalists jailed for five-and-a-half years for alleged extremist ties to Navalny
Moscow, Russia Reuters Four Russian journalists were sentenced by a Moscow court to five-and-a-half years each in prison on Tuesday after being found guilty of working for the banned organisation of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Antonina Favorskaya, Sergei Karelin, Konstantin Gabov and Artem Kriger have been on trial behind closed doors since October […]
NATO’s Rutte, in Odesa, declares “unwavering” support for Ukraine
Reuters NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte visited the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Tuesday and declared “unwavering” support for Ukraine in the aftermath of a deadly Russian attack in the north of the country. Rutte’s visit came two days after Russian ballistic missile strikes on the city of Sumy on […]
UN human rights office concerned about Israeli strikes on civilians in Lebanon
Geneva, Switzerland Reuters The UN human rights office voiced concern on Tuesday about the protection of civilians in Lebanon as Israeli military operations have continued to kill civilians there since a ceasefire in November. “Israeli military operations in Lebanon continue to kill and injure civilians, and destroy civilian infrastructure, raising concerns regarding the protection of […]
‘The First Hymn’: Chris Tomlin’s new song resurrects the world’s oldest known hymn
A new documentary details a project to revamp an 1,800-year-old hymn for a modern audience. The ‘Oxyrhynchus Hymn’ is the oldest surviving Christian hymn with musical notation – and was rewritten by Chris Tomlin and Ben Fielding just in time for Easter. BOB SMIETANA, of Religion News Service, reports…
In Australian state of New South Wales, new Ecumenical Council general secretary eyes greater church unity
Sydney, Australia “At its heart, the ecumenical community is a community of prayer – for one another, for all who seek to follow Christ, for people everywhere of all faiths or none, and for our world. As theologian Karl Barth said, ‘Prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world’. And […]
Essay: It’s Easter in Gaza, where Christians are praying for a miracle
GREGORY KHALIL, in an article first published on Religion News Service, says the war in Gaza has put Palestinian Christians – whose numbers have dwindled to less than one per cent of the population in Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip – on the precipice…