Facebook apologises after Lombok earthquake balloons blunder
Thomson Reuters Foundation Facebook apologised on Wednesday after users posting about a deadly earthquake in Indonesia on the social media platform saw their messages decorated with images of balloons and confetti. A 6.9 magnitude quake struck the tourist island of Lombok on Sunday, killing at least 347 people and leaving thousands homeless, according to the […]
Two Baptist youth pastors reportedly beaten in Myanmar
Two Baptist youth pastors were reportedly beaten by army-backed militia in Myanmar last week, according to Morning Star News sources. The news organisation reports that sources told them the two Kachin youth pastors – Mading Zaidan Bawm Ying and Lagyi Naw Awn – were beaten with rifle butts by members of the Border Guard Force and […]
Indian Christians protest after part of church demolished to make road wider
World Watch Monitor Part of a Protestant church in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, has been demolished to make way for a wider road, despite the local court being yet to announce its verdict on the proposal, AsiaNews reports. A wing of the Emmanuel Church, which belongs to the Church of South India, and some adjacent houses were […]
STRANGESIGHTS: “AMISH UBER”; SWISS DOGS URGED TO WEAR SHOES; AND, 100 GOATS HAVE A DAY OUT
DAVID ADAMS writes about the odder side of life…
Venezuelans seeking asylum tops 117,000 this year – more than for whole of 2017
Some 117,000 Venezuelans have already claimed asylum in other countries this year – more than for the whole of last year – as people in the South American nation continue to face widespread food and medical shortages, skyrocketing inflation and political unrest and violence. UN refugee agency, UNHCR, announced the figure this week as it […]
PAKISTAN: VILLAGERS “LIVING BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH” AS GLACIERS MELT
PEER MUHAMMAD, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports from Pakistan…
Could Brunson’s release ease Turkey’s diplomatic standoff with the US?
World Watch Monitor After the slipping Turkish lira nosedived dramatically on Monday, losing a record five per cent of its value in one day, unnamed Turkish diplomatic sources confirmed to CNNTURK on Tuesday that a government delegation from Ankara is heading to Washington within two days to discuss escalating tensions between Turkey and the United […]
SIGHT-SEEING: SHALOM – THE FULLNESS OF LIFE GOD INTENDS
BRENT VAN MOURIK, Queensland state representative for Baptist World Aid Australia, reflects on the meaning of ‘shalom’ in the Christian context…
Iraqi Christians commemorate moment they were forced to flee homes
Hundreds of Christians took part in a procession in the town of Karamles on the Nineveh Plain in northern Iraq on Monday evening in commemoration of the moment they were forced to flee their homes as so-called Islamic State took over their communities four years ago. Christians in a procession through Karamles. PICTURE: Via Agenzia Fides. Agenzia […]