World News
George Pell: The backlash to cardinal’s sexual abuse conviction
September 11, 2019 · By Sharon Verghis for www.bbc.com
Cardinal George Pell is awaiting sentencing for sexually abusing two boys in 1996. The verdict, which he is appealing against, has stunned and divided Australia in the past week. It has sparked strong reactions from the cardinal’s most prominent supporters, some of whom have cast doubt on his conviction in a wider attack on Australia’s […]
Read More...Charity and police break up UK’s largest modern slavery ring
September 10, 2019 · By Ben Quinn for www.theguardian.com
The largest-ever modern slavery ring uncovered in the UK has been broken up after a three-year investigation into its activities. Some of its 400 victims worked for as little as 50p a day. Their labour earned millions for members of a criminal gang led by a Polish criminal family, which preyed on the homeless, ex-prisoners […]
Read More...US woman who hid baby in bag charged with human trafficking
September 10, 2019 · By BBC News for www.bbc.com
A US woman has been charged with human trafficking in the Philippines after she allegedly attempted to smuggle a newborn baby out of the country. Jennifer Talbot, 43, was arrested at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila on Wednesday. A six-day-old boy was reportedly found in her carry-on bag as she attempted to board a […]
Read More...Pope Francis calls it an an ‘honor’ to be attacked by church conservatives
September 10, 2019 · By Louis Casiano | Fox News for www.foxnews.com
Pope Francis told a reporter on Wednesday it was an “honor” to be the subject of attacks from American religious conservatives and their Catholic allies. The pope was speaking with French journalist Nicholas Seneze, the author of “How America Wants to Change Popes,” when he responded to his American critics while heading to Mozambique for a three-day tour […]
Read More...Amazon fires increase by 84% in one year – space agency
September 6, 2019 · By BBC News for www.bbc.com
Brazil’s Amazon rainforest has seen a huge jump in the number of fires this year, new space agency data suggests. The National Institute for Space Research (Inpe) said its satellite data showed an 84% increase on the same period in 2018. It comes weeks after President Jair Bolsonaro sacked the head of the agency amid rows […]
Read More...Cardinal George Pell loses appeal against conviction for child sex abuse
September 6, 2019 · By Hilary Whiteman, CNN for edition.cnn.com
Melbourne (CNN) – Former Vatican treasurer George Pell will remain in prison after an Australian appeals court rejected the disgraced cardinal’s appeal against his conviction for sexually assaulting two 13-year-old choirboys in the mid-1990s. The most senior Catholic official to be convicted of child sexual assault, Pell was sentenced in March to six years in […]
Read More...Fall in rape charges despite rise in reports is ‘creating new victims’
September 5, 2019 · By PA Media for www.theguardian.com
The criminal justice system is putting more people at risk by failing to tackle potential serial rapists, the victims’ commissioner has warned. Dame Vera Baird expressed the concerns as official figures showed that reports of rape are rising but the number of charges being brought has fallen. Rapes reported to police rose by almost 13,000 […]
Read More...South Africa gets go-ahead to increase black rhino trophy hunting
September 4, 2019 · By Damian Carrington in Geneva for www.theguardian.com
South Africa has won permission to almost double the number of black rhinos that can be killed as trophies after arguing the money raised will support conservation of the critically endangered species. The decision was made at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) after receiving support from some African nations and opposition from […]
Read More...We ‘eat a credit-card worth of plastic’ a week. Do water filters help?
September 2, 2019 · By Sarah Berry for www.smh.com.au
A new review by the World Health Organisation (WHO) has found that the potential health risks from consuming microplastics in our drinking water are not yet known. Microplastics are “ubiquitous” in the food we eat and in drinking water, both bottled and tap, the report said. Australian research revealed in June that, on average, we could ingest about five grams […]
Read More...Mother Teresa’s birthday not forgotten in Kolkata
August 30, 2019 · By Anne Nigli, Kolkata for www.ucanews.com
Missionaries of Charity nuns celebrated the birthday of their founder St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta three years after her canonization, breaking a Catholic convention. Archbishop Thomas D’Souza of Calcutta led a Mass on Aug. 26 marking the nun’s 109th birth anniversary in the headquarters of Missionaries of Charity in the eastern city of Kolkata, formerly called Calcutta. […]
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