Priest
Sri Lanka launches probe after burning ship pollutes beaches
Sri Lanka launched a criminal probe on Sunday into a huge container ship fire that has swamped the island nation’s coast with plastic pollution causing probably one of its worst marine disasters in history. Tonnes of microplastic granules have inundated the South Asian country’s famed beaches in Negombo, a popular tourist destination, forcing a fishing ban and prompting fears of ecological damage. The Singapore-registered MV X-Press Pearl has been smoldering on the horizon for 11 days after a blaze broke out as it was heading to Colombo from the Indian state of Gujarat. The 25-member crew, who have already been evacuated from the ship, will be questioned on Monday after a complaint was lodged by Sri Lanka’s Marine Environment Protection Authority, police said. Last week, authorities said t...
Catholic priest shot dead in Benue
A Catholic Priest, Reverend Father Ferdinand Fanen Ngugban, has been shot dead in Katsina-Ala Local Government Area of Benue State. Newsmen gathered that Fr. Ferdinand Ngugban of St. Augustine Aye Twar parish in Katsina Ala LGA was killed by bandits who raided the community and set many houses on fire. The Council Chairman of Kastina-Ala, Joseph Atera, told our correspondent by telephone that the bandits, who attacked the priest at the church premises, also killed three others. But Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of Benue Command, DSP Catherine Anene, confirmed only the killing of the priest. “Attack on St. Paul’s Catholic Church, Aye-Twar village, Agu centre in Kastina-Ala LGA by bandits is confirmed. Rev. Fr. Nguban Fanen lost his life during the attack. “The corpse has been depos...
Italian priest recalls coronavirus ‘nightmare’ of coffin-filled church
On the wall of St. Joseph’s Church hangs a black-and-white photograph with a caption remembering when the Italian parish of Seriate gave 270 people emergency “hospitality” last year – coffins of the dead from COVID-19, sometimes up to 40 at a time. The hosts were Father Mario Carminati, 65, and Marcello Crotti, 46, who opened up the church to give the deceased a dignified temporary place of rest so they would not have to wait in a warehouse for burial or cremation. “For me it was a nightmare, but I didn’t have the opportunity to think about it a lot because when you find yourself in the middle of an emergency you have to rush and act according to your instinct,” Carminati, the senior priest in Seriate, said. A year ago, the COVID-19 pandemic in northern Italy was spiralling and the provinc...
Catholic priest kidnapped, murdered in Niger
A Catholic priest of the Diocese of Minna, Niger State, Rev. Father John Gbakaan Yaji, has been abducted and murdered by gunmen suspected to be armed bandits in the state. The incident was said to have happened on Friday night in Tufa village along Lambata-Lapai road axis of the state. The late clergyman was said to be returning from Lambata in Gurara local government area of the state where he had attended a religious meeting in conjunction with his colleagues when he was attacked. Newsmen gathered that the deceased was kidnapped along with his younger brother but as at the time of filing this report on Sunday, the whereabouts of the brother was yet unknown. Concerted efforts by our reporter to speak with the image-maker of the Niger State Police Command, ASP Wasiu Abiodun for confirmatio...
Christmas celebrated under pandemic’s shadow
Hundreds of millions across the world celebrated pared-down Christmas festivities on Friday due to coronavirus restrictions, as Pope Francis called for vaccines for everyone, describing them as “glimmers of hope in this period of darkness and uncertainty”. The pandemic has claimed more than 1.7 million lives and is still running rampant in much of the world, but the recent launching of mass vaccine campaigns has boosted hopes that 2021 could bring a respite. Like so many across the globe, the pope was forced to break with normal Christmas tradition, holding his annual “Urbi et Orbi” speech by video from the apostolic palace, to prevent a crowd from gathering in St Peter’s Square. “I call on everyone, on leaders of states, on businesses, on international organisations, to promote cooperatio...
‘Away’ canceled at Netflix after one season
Netflix seems to be on a cancelation streak as of late, and the science fiction space drama Away is the streaming service’s latest victim. In the wake of cancelations handed down to Netflix shows like Glow, I Am Not Okay with This, Teenage Bounty Hunters, The Society, Altered Carbon, and The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, Away has been canceled after one season. You can read star Hilary Swank‘s response to the news below. [embedded content] Away is going away. Variety reports that six weeks after the series made its debut on September 4, 2020, Netflix has decided to not renew it for a second season. The series, which starred Oscar-winning actress Hilary Swank as the commander of the first-ever manned expedition to Mars, has come to an end after ten total episodes. Josh Charles (The Good ...
Blumhouse’s ‘The Craft’ remake heading straight to VOD on Amazon
School may be out for a theatrical release of Blumhouse’s remake of The Craft. The teen horror fantasy remake written, directed, and produced by Zoe Lister Jonesis headed straight to video-on-demand on Amazon this October, according to a new press release of incoming Prime Video titles. Just in time for Halloween. The Craft remake release has been set for Amazon Prime Video on October 27, 2020, four days before Halloween. An Amazon Prime Video press release reveals that The Craft will make its VOD premiere on the platform for rental or purchase. Here is the description of The Craft‘s Amazon premiere date: The Craft (2020), a remake of the 1996 film of the same name, follows a group of high school students that form a coven of witches. Available to buy or rent October 27. We haven’t heard m...
US Republican senators confront Netflix over Chinese sci-fi show
Five Republican US senators have confronted Netflix over the streaming giant’s plan to adapt a Chinese sci-fi book trilogy, expressing concern over the original author’s comments about claims of forced labor in Xinjiang. Liu Cixin’s bestselling “The Three-Body Problem,” which tells the story of humanity’s first contact with aliens, is set to become a major Netflix series co-written by the creators of “Game of Thrones.” In a letter to content boss Ted Sarandos, the senators accused Liu of “parroting dangerous [Communist Party] propaganda” and suggested Netflix was “providing a platform to Mr Liu in producing this project.” They highlighted a New Yorker article from last year in which Liu is quoted defending mass internment in China’s northwestern Xinjiang region, where activists say more th...
