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(SRN NEWS)-The Hartford Institute for Religion Research has released a new study that indicates the nation’s houses of worship are rebounding from the pandemic five years ago.  The survey of 24,000 churchgoers finds that most churches have maintained their attendance since covid and many are seeing it increase.  However, the Institute warns that this mild uptick has not changed the overall trend of FEWER people attending worship across the board. Brought […]

BERLIN (AP) — A barge carrying a humpback whale that’s been stranded in shallow waters near Germany since March has begun its journey toward the North Sea hundreds of kilometers (miles) away. If everything works out, the whale will eventually find its way home to the Atlantic Ocean. Nicknamed Timmy by German media, the whale was first spotted swimming near Germany’s Baltic Sea coast on March 3, far from its […]

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union countries must funnel their energy aid chiefly to vulnerable households and industries or risk wasting billions of euros as the Iran war hits oil and gas prices, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned on Wednesday. The U.S.-Israel war, combined with retaliation from Iran such as choking the Strait of Hormuz, is costing the EU almost 500 million euros ($600 million) a day, raising […]

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — An international task force formed to crack down on violence as a criminal service has led to 280 arrests in its first year, the European Union’s police agency, Europol, reported Wednesday. The arrests underscore a trend across the continent of criminals hiring people — many of them youngsters — via social media and messaging apps to carry out acts of violence ranging from assaults to […]

PUERTO TRIUNFO, Colombia (AP) — Along the Magdalena River, one of Colombia’s primary arteries, fishermen move with wary precision. From the silty, tea-colored current, hippopotamuses can surface without warning, closing the distance to a vessel in a single heartbeat. “These hippos are a true nightmare,” said fisherman Wilinton Sánchez about the semi-aquatic animals capable of charging at speeds of up to 8 kilometers (5 miles) per hour in water and […]

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s national rial currency hit a record low Wednesday of 1.8 million to $1 as a shaky ceasefire with the U.S. and Israel still holds. The rial had remained stable for weeks during the war, which began Feb. 28, in part because there was little trading or imports coming into the country. The rial began to slide two days ago, hitting the record low Wednesday. Experts […]

MILAN (AP) — Italian luxury brand Ferragamo said it can map the country of origin for much of the leather used to make its coveted footwear and handbags, which is a first step in traceability according to experts. The announcement comes during a wave of EU sustainability rules that are increasing pressure on fashion brands to account for materials in their supply chains. The family-run and publicly traded fashion house […]

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean appeals court on Wednesday sentenced ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol to seven years in prison for resisting arrest and bypassing a legitimate Cabinet meeting before his brief imposition of martial law in December 2024. The conviction for obstruction of justice and other charges comes on top of a life sentence he has already received on rebellion charges stemming from his baffling authoritarian […]

By Howard Schneider WASHINGTON, April 29 (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve is expected to hold interest rates steady on Wednesday as officials debate whether to flag risks of rising inflation in a policy statement issued after what may be Jerome Powell’s final meeting as head of the U.S. central bank. With oil prices high and rising again due to the U.S.-led war with Iran, policymakers ahead of the Fed’s latest […]