Vatican bans investments porn, gambling, weapons and defence industries, pro-abortion facilities
The Vatican on Tuesday issued an overarching investments policy to ensure they are ethical, green, low-risk and avoid weapons industries or health sectors involved in abortion, contraception or embryonic stem cells. The guidelines order Vatican departments to close their investment accounts or stock holdings in foreign banks, including in Italy,...
Atletico Madrid want Cristiano Ronaldo, but doubts remain if they’ll prise him away from Old Trafford
Just when it was starting to look like Cristiano Ronaldo was all out of options and a return to the Manchester United fold was inevitable, along came Diego Simeone! Atletico Madrid are keen to give the 37-year-old the Old Trafford exit he wants this summer, despite the United board’s insistence...
Bird’s code: Just as with humans, songbirds have dialects that’re learned and passed down generations
In our quest to find what makes humans unique, we often compare ourselves with our closest relatives: the great apes. But when it comes to understanding the quintessentially human capacity for language, scientists are finding that the most tantalising clues lay farther afield. An explosion of research is finding that...
How Uganda’s despised ‘mini-Musevenis’ are the ‘eyes and ears’ that sustain ruling clique in power
Kampala, Uganda – When Ugandans next head to the polls in 2026, President Yoweri Museveni will have been at the helm for exactly 40 years. In the capital Kampala, renewed talk of a political transition is a now trending. For years, there have even been multiple reports about a succession...
South Sudan crisis: Kiir remains deeply suspicious of his deputy, even refusing to allow him to leave the country
In April, President Salva Kiir Mayardit and Vice President Riek Machar re-committed to the peace deal they signed in 2018 that ended five years of civil war. For that deal to work, efforts must be speeded up to unify the country’s security forces. Unfortunately, the political dynamics that stalled security...
Technology: Double-edged knife that’s depriving workers of rights, pumping pork to others
Rarely has such a robust labour market been so thoroughly scoured for signs of impending doom. Many workers landed their dream situation in the exceptionally tight labour market, which gave them uncommon leverage to gain flexibility, seniority and higher wages. Unemployment remains just above the half-century low reached in early...
Waves of near-daily inter-ethnic killings in South Sudan threaten 2018 truce and planned elections
An explosion of violence in South Sudan is raising fears that the country’s fragile peace agreement will unravel before elections the international community hopes can be held next year. The wave of near-daily killings across this East African country is often blamed on marauding militias whose attacks threaten the 2018...
Kenyan sexist bullies running short of ammo as number of women seeking elective seats soar
Wavinya Ndeti has defied bullying, attempts to discredit her academic achievements and xenophobic slurs over her marriage to emerge as a front-runner for the powerful post of governor of a key county in Kenya’s forthcoming general election. The 54-year old mother of four says she has had to “toughen up”...
Nowhere left to turn: Hit hard by Covid, South American countries no longer welcome Venezuelan migrants
The vast majority of the six million Venezuelans who have escaped poverty, insecurity, and economic collapse in their homeland since 2015 have tried to start new lives in South America. But two years after Covid-19 led governments to close borders and enforce quarantines, many are discovering that the region is...
America will never forsake you, President Biden assures Arab leaders as he ends Middle East tour
President Joe Biden laid out his vision for the United States’ role in the Middle East at a summit in Saudi Arabia with Gulf state leaders on Saturday, the final day of his four-day trip through the region. The vision includes increasing regional food security, addressing the effect of the...
