Ethiopian evangelical sent back to prison for “causing outrage to religious feeling”
World Watch Monitor An Ethiopian court of cassation has rejected an appeal by an evangelical Christian sentenced to seven months in prison for “causing outrage to religious peace and feeling”. Temesgen Mitiku Mezemir, 24, the leader of an evangelical fellowship group, was taken back to prison in the southern city of Arba Minch, after being released […]
Global initiatives failing to stop labour abuses in India, activists say
Thomson Reuters Foundation International efforts to make it easier for garment workers in India to speak out against sexual harassment, dangerous working conditions and abuses are failing, campaigners said on Tuesday. The US-based certifying agency Social Accountability International and Britain’s Ethical Trading Initiative – an alliance of unions, firms and charities – are not enforcing procedures they […]
STRANGESIGHTS: RUSSIAN BILLIONAIRE INAUGURATED AS LEADER OF “SPACE NATION”; THE “RESTORATION” OF ST GEORGE; AND A RAT’S (RATHER EXPENSIVE) LAST MEAL…
DAVID ADAMS writes about the odder side of life…
WCC joins with Methodists in calling for three mission personnel to be able to leave Philippines
The World Council of Churches has joined with the United Methodist Church in appealing for the Philippines Government to allow three young missionaries to leave the country. The WCC says the three – Zimbabwean Tawanda Chandiwana, Malawian Miracle Osmond, and US citizen Adam Shaw – have “exhausted all legal and diplomatic efforts” as they attempt […]
Nearly 500 days since his abduction, Malaysian pastor Raymond Koh’s wife renews call for action
World Watch Monitor Dozens of people came together in Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur last Sunday to call for the release of pastor Raymond Koh, social activist Amri Che Mat and Christian couple Joshua and Ruth Hilmy, and for further investigation into their disappearances. At least 60 people met with the families of those missing in […]
WOMEN: GLOBAL POLL FINDS INDIA MOST DANGEROUS COUNTRY FOR WOMEN WITH SEXUAL VIOLENCE RIFE
BELINDA GOLDSMITH and MEKA BERESFORD, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, report on the findings of a landmark survey into the safety of women around the world…
Malawians with albinism to fight elections in bid to stop killings
Thomson Reuters Foundation Six people with albinism are to contest elections in Malawi next year in a bid to tackle widespread stigma and halt relentless attacks fuelled by a trade in their body parts for witchcraft. Overstone Kondowe, head of the Association of People with Albinism in Malawi (APAM), said it was vital to get […]
POSTCARDS: IN BARCELONA, A RESTAURANT TELLS REFUGEE TALES
SOPHIE DAVIES, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports from Spain…
Report highlights “brutality against Christian clerics” in Syria, with five still missing
World Watch Monitor A report about violence against Syrian church leaders during the ongoing civil war shows that clerics have been beaten, abducted – five are still missing – and killed, and that 2013 was the worst year. In The Good Shepherd: A Report on Brutality against Christian Clerics in Syria March 25, 2011 – present’, […]