SNAPSHOT: SHANGHAI SKYLINE, CHINA
See SEAN LIM’s image…
Grain banks in India open their doors as a ‘stop gap’ to combat slavery
Thomson Reuters Foundation People who risk being enslaved after taking out loans to buy food during the monsoon, when casual work is scarce, will be able to help themselves to grain in 100 villages across northern India from this month. Tens of thousands across India are duped into working without wages to pay off debts, […]
ON THE SCREEN: CHRISTOPHER ROBIN GROWS UP BUT WINNIE’S STILL A “SILLY OLD BEAR”
MARCUS CHEONG watches Winnie-the-Pooh’s latest cinematic outing…
Nepal’s criminalisation of conversion a ‘direct infringement’ of religious freedom
World Watch Monitor The clause in Nepal’s constitution that prohibits religious conversions was added to “protect Hinduism at the expense of other religions”, says advocacy group CSW, on the third anniversary of the amended constitution. As World Watch Monitor reported, Nepal’s Christian minority feared that the so-called “anti-conversion” measure, which came into force in August, would be […]
279 Chinese church leaders sign petition urging government to stop its “violent actions”
World Watch Monitor A public letter urging the Chinese government to stop its “violent actions” against Christians has been signed by some 279 church leaders in the country, reports the St Charles Institute. In central Henan province alone, two-thirds of churches have closed and more than 7,000 crosses have been demolished after pressure from authorities. “Christians are an enigma to the […]
CHURCH OF ENGLAND: NO LONGER THE DEFAULT, BATTLE HEADS TO THE MARKETPLACE
For the past two years the Church of England has committed itself to developing a strong presence online, with a particular target of attracting people who do not regularly go to church. CATHERINE PEPINSTER, of Religion News Service, reports…
Malnutrition, child deaths plague India’s tribal people, says government
Thomson Reuters Foundation India’s indigenous children are far more likely to die or suffer from malnutrition than those from other communities, according to the first government study on health among tribal groups. Among indigenous communities, 57 out of every 1,000 children die before age five, compared to 37 deaths in other social groups, according to […]
ESSAY: PUERTO RICO HAS NOT RECOVERED FROM HURRICANE MARIA
A year after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, LAUREN LLUVERAS, of the University of Texas, writes about how, in an article first published on The Conversation, the US territory remains devastated…
OPEN BOOK: PROVERBS FOR A NEW COVENANT – NEW AND FRESH EACH DAY AGAIN
Coming to the end of his series on the Epistle of James, BRUCE C WEARNE says the letter is a “decisive and emphatic reminder” about the restoration of the path of wisdom opened to us through Jesus Christ…
Abduction of Italian priest shocks Niger
World Watch Monitor In Niger, the abduction of an Italian priest in the southwest of the country has left the communities he served for 11 years in shock and sorrow. Fr Pier Luigi Maccalli, 57, was kidnapped by unknown armed men on Monday night in his parish of Bamoanga, about 125 kilometres from the capital […]