The Sakyadhita International Association of Buddhist Women hosted its 16th conference in late June, gathering over 800 Buddhist nuns and laywomen from 29 countries in the city of Blue Mountains, Australia. They were returning for the first time since the #MeToo movement started making headlines and marking the first time the event was held outside Read more
When Irish-born England captain Eoin Morgan was asked by a reporter whether the ‘luck of the Irish’ had helped the team win the World Cup, he responded: “We had Allah with us. I spoke to Aadil he said Allah is definitely with us.” Adil Rashid is one of two Muslims in the team. The world Read more
Farid Ahmed, a survivor of an attack on his mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand spoke at the opening of the US State Department’s second Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom on Tuesday (July 16). He emotionally recalled having to go home after the March 15 mass shooting and tell his daughter that her mother would no Read more
Twitter is moving to filter out inappropriate content based on religion as part of its effort to curb hate speech. In a policy update on Tuesday, Twitter said it would take down “dehumanising language” that targets specific religious groups. Examples of the type of language that would be removed would be the description of a Read more
The government is investing $3 million in the creation of New Zealand’s first 100 percent recycled plastic food packaging range. Ms Sage said recycling plastics for food containers was part of an effective response to China’s National Sword policy that restricted the amount of waste imports it accepted. Read more
In order to begin to reverse the dramatic situation in which Venezuela finds itself, the Venezuelan bishops claim a political change of direction is urgently needed. “Faced with the reality of an illegitimate and bankrupt government,” Venezuela is crying for “a change of direction, a return to the Constitution,” they say. A message issued at Read more
Educators need to throw out a “broken system” that has repeatedly been shown to fail Māori learners, a former principal says. Keri Milne-Ihimaera was the principal of Moerewa School in Northland for 10 years. For two of those years, the school was under statutory intervention, governed by a commissioner brought in by the Ministry of Read more
The archbishop of Canterbury has thrown his weight behind calls for the government to make the reporting of sexual abuse of children and vulnerable adults mandatory. Justin Welby told the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse (IICSA): “I am convinced that we need to move to mandatory reporting for regulated activities.” Regulated activities cover areas Read more
Members of a Taranaki church are devastated after thieves stole a quarter of the iron they fundraised $28,000 for, before it could be used to fix the leaking roof of their rural church. Continue reading
The Cleveland Clinic in Ohio says it has delivered the first baby in North America from a womb transplanted from a dead donor. Uterine transplants have enabled more than a dozen women to give birth, usually with wombs donated from a living donor such as a friend or a relative. In December, doctors in Brazil Read more