500,000 evacuated as Cyclone Bulbul makes landfall in Bangladesh

Bangladeshi passengers cover themselves with a plastic sheet and umbrellas as they cross the Buriganga River by boat during Cyclone Bulbul in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Saturday. Photo by Monirul Alam/EPA-EFE Nov. 9 (UPI) — Bangladeshi authorities ordered about 500,000 people to … Read More

Pope Francis: reaching out to Muslims

Pope Francis met mufti Rahmi Yaran at Istanbul’s Blue Mosque in November 2014 Pope Francis has made dialogue with Islam a cornerstone of his papacy, which began in 2013, and visited several countries with large Muslim populations. In February he … Read More

United Nations calls Myanmar crisis ‘the most urgent refugee emergency in the world’

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said Sunday that the exodus of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar to Bangladesh is “the most urgent refugee emergency in the world” right now. Filippo Grandi told reporters in the Bangladeshi town of Cox’s … Read More

Deadly South Asia floods affect 16 millon people

More than 16 million people have now been affected by seasonal flooding across a swathe of South Asia, say aid officials. The floods in Nepal, Bangladesh and India are thought to have killed about 500 people and are expected to … Read More