Worldwide
USA: new wildfires as crews brace for winds
31 Oct 2019
The US national weather service has issued an ‘extreme red flag’ warning for wildfires in Los Angeles county, Ventura county and the Simi valley. ‘I don't know if I've ever seen us use this warning,’ forecaster…
Syria: al-Baghdadi’s ugly legacy
31 Oct 2019
In 2014 Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared the establishment of an Islamic caliphate and that the world’s Muslims owed him their allegiance as ‘Caliph Ibrahim.’ It was an attempt to establish Islamic sovereignty across the Earth much…
DRC: Justin Welby visits Ebola zone
31 Oct 2019
The Archbishop of Canterbury has visited areas affected by the Ebola crisis in the DRC, which surfaced in August 2018 and has killed 2,169 people so far. Following strict anti-contamination procedures he toured hospitals transformed into…
Lebanon: demonstrations - PM resigns
31 Oct 2019
Protesters have paralysed Lebanon, blocking roadways, closing schools and shutting banks nationwide. Emergency reform measures and an offer of dialogue with protest representatives by the president failed to defuse anger or move the cross-communal demonstrations of…
Pray for Somalia
31 Oct 2019
Somalia, located on the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, has summer droughts and dust storms and floods during the rainy season. It has the seventh-highest birth rate in the world, the second-highest maternal mortality…
Global: polio in 2019
31 Oct 2019
World Polio Day was on 24 October. Global polio numbers have fallen over decades, but new outbreaks continue to raise questions about eradication efforts in countries where humanitarian access is a problem. The recent surge in…