NunTok: How religion is booming on TikTok and Instagram

NunTok: How religion is booming on TikTok and Instagram

Nuns, imams and Buddhist monks are among those sharing successful – and often fun – short-form videos on social media. On TikTok, the hashtags #ChristianTikTok, #Diwali and #Islam have been used billions of times. The “media nuns” of the Daughters of St Paul in Boston, London imam Sabah Ahmedi, and Orthodox Jewish influencer Melinda Strauss…

The drought ravaging East African wildlife and livestock

The drought ravaging East African wildlife and livestock

At least 26 million people are struggling for food following consecutive poor rainfall seasons in the Horn of Africa. Drought conditions in northern Kenya, much of Somalia and southern Ethiopia are predicted to persist until at least mid-2022, putting lives at risk. The situation is already so bad that wild animals are dying in their…

WHO: ‘Omicron is a variant of concern, not panic’

WHO: ‘Omicron is a variant of concern, not panic’

The Omicron coronavirus variant has been designated as a “variant of concern” but it was important not to panic, the spokesperson for the World Health Organization has said. The aim is to get the world alert, step-up surveillance and public health measures, but not overreact, Dr Margaret Harris told BBC World News’s Yalda Hakim. Read…

‘I will support those who choose not to be vaccinated’

‘I will support those who choose not to be vaccinated’

People need to be able to decide for themselves whether to be vaccinated against Covid-19, Colorado Republican congressman Ken Buck has said. “I don’t believe in vaccine mandates,” he told BBC News’s Hardtalk programme’s Stephen Sackur. “I don’t believe that the government should require individuals to put a foreign substance in their body for disease…

Norway oil fund: We won’t divest from fossil fuels

Norway oil fund: We won’t divest from fossil fuels

The head of Norway’s sovereign wealth fund has said it will not divest the billions of dollars invested in oil and gas companies. Selling these companies would not solve the problem of transitioning to greener energy, Nicolai Tangen told BBC News’s Hardtalk programme’s Stephen Sackur. And it was “much more powerful to be an active…