Microfinance could help African cities solve housing crisis, say experts
Thomson Reuters Foundation Granting small loans to help low earners in Africa’s rapidly growing cities build their own homes could help solve a looming housing crisis, experts said on Thursday. About 40 per cent of Africa’s one billion people already live in towns and cities and the World Bank predicts the urban population will double […]
SNAPSHOT: SOFIA, BULGARIA
See ALEXANDR BORMOTIN’s image…
ON THE SCREEN: ‘ANT-MAN AND THE WASP’ – TINY HEROES PROVE HUGELY ENTERTAINING
MARCUS CHEONG takes a look at Marvel’s ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’…
Sudan returns church building closed four years ago
Morning Star News Authorities in Khartoum, Sudan have handed back a church building that they had padlocked four years ago and threatened to seize, Christian leaders said. A Sudanese church leader involved in the return of the Khartoum Christian Center building, owned by the Sudan Pentecostal Church, told Morning Star News that national security officials […]
Rise of robots fuels slavery threat for Asian factory workers – analysts
Thomson Reuters Foundation The rise of robots in manufacturing in Southeast Asia is likely to fuel modern slavery as workers who end up unemployed due to automation face abuses competing for a shrinking pool of low-paid jobs in a “race to the bottom”, analysts said on Thursday. Drastic job losses due to the growth of […]
GERMANY: CATHOLICS’ CONFUSING ATTEMPTS TO ALLOW COMMUNION FOR PROTESTANTS
TOM HENEGAN, of Religion News Service, looks at how the Catholic Church in Germany is continuing to grapple with the issue of whether Protestants can receive communion…
Churches in China’s Henan province told to sing national anthem at services
World Watch Monitor Local authorities in China’s central Henan province have stipulated that all churches must have a Chinese flag on display and sing the national anthem at each gathering. In the “Special Emergency Notice” circulated earlier this month, they also asked clergy to collect data on their members, especially on those from poor families, reports Catholic […]
OPEN BOOK: PROVERBS FOR A NEW COVENANT – WHOSE WISDOM?
BRUCE C WEARNE looks at what James says about wisdom in chapter three of his epistle…
US faith-based film company reportedly looking to make film about Thai cave rescue
Pure Flix, the US faith-based film company behind the God’s Not Dead franchise as well as films including The Case for Christ, is reportedly seeking the movie rights to the story of the Thai cave rescue. Twelve teenage boys and their soccer coach were rescued in small groups from a cave system in Chiang Rai […]