31st December, 2007

    Former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in Pakistan last week. DAVID ADAMS speaks to international aid consultant CHRIS PIPER about the implications for the Asian nation, and its impact on what's been happening in Afghanistan as well as the third anniversary of the Asian tsunami... | more... | (15 mins/3.5MB)

21st December, 2007

GLOBAL CHURCH GROUPS URGE REPARATIONS TO ATONE FOR SLAVE TRADE

Many churches were actively involved in the transatlantic slave trade and they need to offer reparation to descendants of those enslaved, tortured and murdered by the trade, an international church conference has demanded.

     An Ecumenical News International report on the recent conference in Jamaica...   | more... |

31st October, 2007

Amid ongoing political turmoil and violence, tens of thousands of people in Somalia are once more in desperate need of humanitarian assistance.

    DAVID ADAMS speaks to international aid consultant CHRIS PIPER about the current crisis in the African nation... | more... | (15 mins/3.4MB)

CHINESE BIBLES ROLL OF PRESS AT RECORD RATES

For decades, Chinese Communist authorities have tried to stamp it out completely. Yet the 50 millionth Bible rolled off the presses of China’s only officially sanctioned Bible-printer on Saturday, accompanied by public fanfare.

     Of course, this number of Bibles doesn’t take into account the many thousands of copies carried into the country by passionate smugglers over the years.

MAL FLETCHER writes about the growth in popularity of the Bible in China - despite official wariness...  | more... |

CHURCHES BUILD PEACE IN THE PHILIPPINES

Face-to-face with violence and death, Philippine churches help building peace in their Southeast Asian nation where an armed conflict continues to rage, especially in the countryside. Fuelling an intensified militarisation, the fight often takes a heavy toll on innocent civilians, including women and children.
      Along with human rights groups, the churches in the country have raised their voices against the violence and rampage of a four decades-long armed conflict. They also criticise the lack of access to land suffered by legions of farmers, in spite of a supposedly “comprehensive” government agrarian programme.

     MAURICE MALENES reports...  | more... |

MISSING UK CHILD BENEFITS DATA - AN ABUSE OF TRUST

Trust: how would we survive without it?

  Trust is central to every level of human relationships - from the most intimate personal relationships, to the more tenuous links between governments and their citizens.

     As the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh celebrated their sixtieth wedding anniversary, the story of their long marriage provided a powerful testimony to the benefits of trust. They must have worked hard to build the trusting commitment they now enjoy, and their example feels inspirational in a world of so much divorce.

     MAL FLETCHER on what it means to lose trust...  | more... |

ESSAY: FINNISH SCHOOL SHOOTING - HELPING THE YOUNG FIND A 'FIRST LIFE' BECAUSE THEY LOSE THEMSELVES IN SECOND LIFE

The chilling murder last week of five students, a nurse and a volunteer teacher in a Finnish school should give us pause to think about the challenges facing Europe's young people.

     I have visited Finland many times over the past decade, meeting with church and community leaders and speaking to crowds, large and small, which included many teenagers.

     Violence, of course, is a very real possibility in any community, but having written about school shootings in the US, I never thought I’d be writing about such a thing in rural Finland.

     MAL FLETCHER reflects on the Finnish school shootings...  | more... |

MILLIONS TO JOIN IN PRAYER FOR PERSECUTED CHURCH

Millions of Christians from across the globe will pause this weekend to pray for an estimated 200 million persecuted believers across the globe as part of the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.

     The day is one of the largest prayer events in the world and this year is expected to involve people from 130 different countries.

     The event was first held in 1996 and is coordinated internationally by the World Evangelical Fellowship which works in conjunction with a broad spectrum of churches and numerous other faith-based organisations including Open Doors, Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Christian Freedom International, The Voice of the Martyrs and the World Evangelical Alliance.

     DAVID ADAMS reports...  | more... |

TORTURED ERITREAN GOSPEL SINGER GRANTED ASYLUM IN DENMARK

An Eritrean Christian Gospel singer who was tortured and detained without charge for two years in Eritrea has received asylum in Denmark.

     Helen Berhane, 32, was imprisoned for extended periods inside a metal shipping container and beaten in an effort to make her recant her faith in Jesus Christ, the singer and other Christians said.

     A report from Bosnewslife...  | more... |

'APPALLING' COST OF CONFLICT IN AFRICA EXPOSED IN OXFAM REPORT

The African economy is drained of as much as $US18 billion very year thanks to armed conflicts with as much as $US284 billion lost over the 15 years to 2005, according to new research released by Oxfam this week.

     The report - Africa’s Missing Billions - found that, on average, a war, civil war or insurgency shrinks an African economy by 15 per cent.

     “Armed violence is one of the greatest threats to development in Africa,” said Irungu Houghton, African policy advisor at Oxfam, who conducted the research with the backing of non-government organisations International Action Network on Small Arms and Saferworld. “The costs are shocking”.

     DAVID ADAMS reports...  | more... |

ESSAY: THE MADELEINE McCANN  STORY - CONFUSING REALITY FOR REALITY TV

The McCanns: guilty or not guilty? If ever we needed proof that our culture has blurred the lines between reality and reality TV, this is it. A little girl has been missing for 150 days, apparently snatched from her bed while she slept.     Meanwhile, some media pundits and members of an overtaxed police force feed off - or fend off - each other, trying to protect their respective reputations. We don't yet know what happened to little Madeleine on that summer's night in a quiet corner of Portugal. Indeed, we don't honestly know whether her parents are guilty of any crime or not.

     MAL FLETCHER reflects on a case that has captured world attention...  | more... |

COUNCIL OF EUROPE CONCERNED ABOUT GROWING ANTI-SEMITISM

Europe's leading human rights body is campaigning against anti-Semitism amid concerns about an increase of anti-Jewish attacks and sentiments in several European countries. The Council of Europe (COE) this week hosted day-long 'All Different – All Equal' campaign events in French capital, Paris, the Ukrainian capital, Kiev and Poland's capital, Warsaw, which it says were "dedicated to Jewish culture, inter-religious dialogue, and the fight against anti-Semitism".

     DAVID ADAMS reports...  | more... |

PERU - IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE EARTHQUAKE

The earthquake hit at 6.40pm on 15th August, just as many people were making their way home after their day’s work. In the port city of Pisco, a nurse was at home, preparing a workshop for the next day when she felt the quake.

     “I didn’t understand what was going on but we were shaken from one side to the other,” she recalls. My children came to me and we held each other. We couldn’t move forward. Then there were like waves, you couldn’t stand up straight.”

     DAVID ADAMS reports...  | more... |

CHINA URGED TO IMPROVE HUMAN RIGHTS AS OLYMPICS COUNTDOWN BEGINS

Amnesty International has urged Chinese authorities to take urgent measures to stop human rights violations or risk tarnishing the legacy of the Beijing Olympics.

     With a year to go until the Olympics, the organisation says that Beijing-based activists continue to face ‘house arrest’ while those in other parts of China are facing increased abuse. They have also expressed concern about China's use of the death penalty and an “ongoing crackdown on the media” which includes the imprisonment of journalists, forced dismissal of staff, publication closures and “pervasive internet censorship”.

     DAVID ADAMS reports ...  | more... |

Churches are the forefront of relief in Zimbabwe's spiralling decline...  | more... |

India's Dalit Christians could be granted more rights...  | more... |

Darfur and the 'responsibility to protect'...  | more... |

UN court clears Serbian Government of responsibility for "genocide"...  | more... |

Underground churches flourish in China despite "ceaseless" persecution, says watch group...  | more... |

Protestors call for freedom to express religious beliefs in Romania...  | more... |

Essay: Identifying Fiji's master of ceremonies...  | more... |

Iraq's Christians face uncertainty following Saddam's execution...  | more... |

Where to for Fiji?...  | more... |

Anti-Christian violence in Sri Lanka 'escalating' says human rights group...  | more... |

Ted Haggard - Lessons for Christian leaders... | more... |

Muslim complaints and the victim mentality... | more... |

Head of British Army questions 'multi-faith'... | more... |

Freedom or survival? The significance of the Pope's remarks for Arab Christians... | more... |

Sharing Christ through music in Belarus... | more... |

A 'total commitment' to eliminating HIV... | more... |

Groups demand release of Christians jailed for their faith in Eritrea... | more... |

"Alarming decline" in democracy in Eastern Europe's energy rich states, says study...  | more... |

The Global Day of Prayer...  | more... |

Report calls for a revamp of Australia's overseas aid priorities...  | more... |

Of course Rahman did not deserve death...  | more... |

'Usual suspects' top the list of greatest persecutors... | more... |

Danish cartoons - Abuse of two rights... | more... |

Saving Darfur from being 'the next Rwanda'... | more... |

Widespread torture in Burma documented in new report... | more... |

French riots - what can we learn?... | more... |

Asian earthquake toll continues to climb... | more... |

Fighting slavery in the new millennium... | more... |

Waking up to Zimbabwe's nightmare... | more... |

When a whisper becomes a roar... | more... |

Non means non... | more... |

Winds of change blow across Ukraine... | more... |

Of saints...and sinners... | more... |

Feeding the world... | more... |

Chaldo-Assyrian Christians' last hope in Iraq... | more... |

Why we remember Auschwitz... | more... |

Taking hold of an unprecedented global response... | more... |

Women must be at the heart of the fight against AIDS... | more... |

Reformation Day... | more... |

Coming to terms with America... | more... |

Where's the debate on addressing global poverty?... | more... |

Beslan shows once again the unacceptable face of terrorism... | more... |