Worldwide
Afghanistan: destabilising and displaced people
09 Jul 2021
Afghanistan and its neighbours have spent decades relying on the US and NATO to resolve the country's problems. Wikipedia reports there are up to 18,000 Afghan Christians (3,300 from a Muslim background) practising their faith secretly…
USA: gun violence a health emergency
09 Jul 2021
New York, which saw 51 shootings over the 4 July holiday weekend, has become the first US state to declare a disaster emergency order to address rising gun violence. It comes amid reports of a rise…
On 6 July Tehran informed the International Atomic Energy Agency that it was enriching uranium to 20% at its research reactor. Uranium metal is used to make a nuclear warhead core. The development immediately prompted Berlin,…
USA: a lost Jewish community in Champlain Tower
02 Jul 2021
Brad Cohen and his brother-in-law died in the collapsed apartment building. Soraya Cohen said, ‘The hardest thing has been seeing my 12-year-old daughter’s devastation, she was very close to her father.’ Harry Rosenberg, 52, also missing,…
Members of the Early Rain Church in Chengdu continue to face harassment as authorities attempt to shut down their unregistered congregation. While Wang Yi, the head pastor, is serving a nine-year prison sentence, other members of…
North America: dozens die in heatwave
02 Jul 2021
250 deaths have been reported across the Pacific northwest. Unprecedented numbers have died in Canada from unbearable heat that has smashed temperature records. Vancouver police responded to over 130 sudden deaths. Casualties were mostly elderly or…