Christian leaders call for prayer as death toll from Sulawesi disaster expected to rise
Christian leaders have called for prayer as the death toll continues to climb from the 7.5 magnitude earthquake and tsunami which struck central Sulawesi late last week. Rev Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, head of the World Council of Churches, urged all people of good will to reach out in support and prayer to the thousands […]
Call for global action as journalists are being jailed in record numbers
Journalists are being imprisoned in record numbers around the world with 262 jailed at the end of last year – the highest number ever recorded by the Committee to Protect Journalists. In an event held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York last Friday, Joel Simon, the CPJ’s executive director, said that […]
Stigma, poverty leave ‘cursed’ disabled children neglected in Kenya’s orphanages
Thomson Reuters Foundation At a dilapidated orphanage on the outskirts of eastern Nairobi, children with twisted limbs and clawed hands are slumped in wheelchairs, lie foetal-like on mattresses on the floor, or sit in chairs rocking back and forth repeatedly. The children – ranging from 3 to 19 years old – are devoid of attention […]
A third of UK Christians say they’ve never prayed for a miracle, poll finds
A third of UK adult Christians say they have “never prayed for a miracle”, according to a new survey. The ComRes poll, commissioned by BBC Local Radio, found that 37 per cent of people who identified as Christians said they had never prayed for a miracle while 59 per cent said they had. Of those […]
COLOMBIA: CITY HELPS YOUNG SHUN ‘LIFE CHOICE’ OF GANG VIOLENCE
ANASTASIA MOLONEY, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on how a local government led program is changing lives for the better in Cali, Colombia…
Philippines priest celebrates first year of “second life” after escape
World Watch Monitor On the anniversary of his escape last week, the Catholic priest held hostage for four months by an Islamist group in the southern Philippines city of Marawi says he has since found a new lease of life, reports Catholic news agency UCAN. Fr Teresito Suganob was one of around 200 people taken hostage when Islamists stormed the city […]
ESSAY: “GREENWASHING” – CORPORATE TREE PLANTING GENERATES GOODWILL BUT MAY SOMETIMES HARM THE PLANET
In an article first published on The Conversation, BENJAMIN NEIMARK, of Lancaster University in the UK, takes a look at why corporate tree planting schemes could “cause more harm than good”…
THIS LIFE: EXPERIENCING JOY SURPASSING YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES
US columnist CAROL ROUND, in an article first published on ASSIST News Service, on the importance of finding joy – even in difficult circumstances…
Coptic Christians nominated for Nobel Peace Prize, says US group
Coptic Christians have been nominated for the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize for their refusal to retaliate against persecution from government and terrorist groups in Egypt and elsewhere, according to US-based development organisation Coptic Orphans. In a statement, Coptic Orphans said it had confirmed the nomination which it said may be the first time such a […]