New Study:COVID Raised Economic Inequality; US, Latin America Are Most Affected by COVID

 Amnesty International said today (April 7, 2021) that COVID-19 has increased social and economic inequality in the U.S. and several Latin American countries, the UPI website reports. 

The 400-page analysis says North, South, and Central America have been worst hit by the crisis, with about 55 million cases and 1.3 million  deaths to date. 

The U.S., Brazil, and Mexico have the world's highest COVID death tolls. 

The study shows that women, refugees, migrants, underprotected health workers, indigenous, and Black people and other groups have borne the brunt of the pandemic.

Northeastern Requires All Students Be Vaccinated; Need Shots against COVID to Attend Fall Classes

Northeastern University announced today (April 6, 2021) that all of its students will be required to have the COVID vaccine by the first day of classes in the fall 2021 semester, according to the CBS website. 

"In order to get herd immunity, we need to get a maximum number of people vaccinated," Ken Henderson, chancellor and senior vice president for learning, said in a statement.

"This vaccination requirement is the next step to "Protect and Pack" so we can continue to study, learn, and research side by side," Henderson added. 

 

Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Cases of Rel.Bias; 2 Men Accused Employers of Violating Rel.Rights

 The U.S. Supreme Court today (April 5, 2021) refused to hear two cases that could have expanded religious rights, turning away cases in which employees accused companies of violating anti-discrimination law by insufficiently accommodating requests for time off to meet religious obligations, according to the Reuters website.

The justices declined to hear appeals by two men of different Christian denominations -- a Jehovah's Witness from Tennessee and a Seventh-day Adventist from Florida -- of lower court rulings that rejected their claims of illegal religious bias. 

The lower courts found that accommodations the men sought would have placed too much hardship on the employers. 

Pope Francis Celebrates Subdued Easter Mass; Mass Is Held in St. Peter's Basilica, Not Square

 Pope Francis presided over a subdued Easter Mass at the Vatican with few participants, all wearing masks and carefully spread out along the pews, the Yahoo News website reports today (April 4, 2021). 

It was the second year in a row that the coronavirus pandemic forced the Vatican to hold the Easter celebration in St. Peter's Basilica rather than in a packed St. Peter's Square overflowing with faithful and flowers. 

There were about 200 people at the Mass including cardinals, priests, nuns, the choir, and a few lay people.

NM Christian Camp Preps to House Migrant Kids; Acts to House 2400 Sole Kids from Mexico Border

 A private Christian camp in northern New Mexico is looking for volunteers and donations as it prepares for the arrival of immigrant children from the U.S.-Mexico border as federal holding facilities become more crowded, the CBN website reports today (April 3, 2021). 

The organization was asked by the White House and the  U.S. Health and Human Services Department to house and feed 2,400 unaccompanied children at its property near Santa Fe. 

Glorieta Camps executive assistant Josh Nelson said that the organization has been talking with federal officials recently and he was unsure when a contract would be finalized. He added that the camp is prepared to take children, but that it could only do so for 60 days to avoid having to cancel its own summer programs.

Pope Sees Homeless Receiving Vaccine for COVID; They Are Given Vaccine on Good Friday at Vatican

 Pope Francis visited with homeless persons and others in need at the Vatican as they received doses of COVID-19 vaccines on Good Friday (April 2, 2021), the UPI website reports. 

Wearing a mask, the pope marked Good Friday by greeting worshipers in the atrium of Paul VI Audience Hall, where physicians and volunteers gathered to administer the vaccine. 

Officials said hundreds of people have received the vaccine at the Vatican this week.

President Biden's Dog Bites 2nd Person in Month; Who Let the Dogs Out? Hoot! Hoot! Hoot! Hoot!

 President Joe Biden's dog, Major, has been involved in his second biting incident within a month, The Guardian website reports today (April 1, 2021).

The dog "nipped someone while on a walk" around the White House south lawn on March 29, according to Jill Biden's press secretary, Michael LaRosa.

The individual was seen by the White House medical unit and returned to work. 

The German shepherd only returned to the White House from Delaware last week, along with his older sibling, Champ, after biting an employee of the U.S. Secret Service on March 8.