Southern Baptist leaders expel two churches for allegedly mismanaging abuse
United States RNS Trustees of the Southern Baptist Convention voted to cut ties with four churches on Tuesday, two for alleged mismanagement of sexual abuse. One other had failed to give to the SBC’s common fund, while another hired a woman pastor. All four were designated as “being out of friendly cooperation” with the nation’s […]
StrangeSights: A stone Mercedes in Croatia; an unusual perfume; and, a recycled wood Eiffel Tower
DAVID ADAMS provides a round-up of some stories on the odder side of life…
Chile reopens inquiry into Nobel laureate Pablo Neruda’s 1973 death
Santiago, Chile Reuters A Chilean appeals court on Tuesday ordered the reopening of an investigation into the death of the leftist poet and Nobel laureate Pablo Neruda in 1973 soon after the military seized power in a coup. A picture of Chilean poet and Nobel laureate Pablo Neruda is seen inside his museum house in the […]
EU’s democratic safeguards on financial aid fall short, auditors say
Brussels, Belgium Reuters EU conditions for ensuring rule of law among member states before they can receive financial aid are not strong enough to completely rule out a backsliding in democracy, the 27-nation bloc’s auditors said on Wednesday. The European Union has tightened democratic safeguards on payouts from the bloc’s shared budget in recent years […]
“It stinks!”: Milan residents grapple with high pollution
Milan, Italy Reuters Pietro De Luca lives in Italy’s finance and fashion capital Milan but often thinks of moving to a cleaner city with his wife and three children to escape high pollution and the health risks it causes. “It stinks! I smell a constant stench of smog, I cough, I feel my throat burning,” […]
Pakistan’s largest parties strike deal on coalition government
Islamabad, Pakistan Reuters Two major Pakistan political parties said on Tuesday that they had reached a formal agreement to form a coalition government, ending ten days of intense negotiations after an inconclusive national election did not return a clear majority. The agreement between Bhutto Zardari’s Pakistan Peoples Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz of three-time Premier Nawaz Sharif ends days of […]
The suspects in a Kenyan doomsday cult are ordered to be hospitalised after a hunger strike
Nairobi, Kenya AP A Kenyan magistrate Tuesday ordered the main suspect in a doomsday starvation cult and 94 of his followers to receive emergency care after some of the suspects had to be carried into the courtroom to answer manslaughter charges, too frail and weak to “even open their eyes” after an apparent hunger strike […]
Barriers to entry: For Iranian converts claiming religious persecution, European courts require proof of faith
HANNA VIOQUE, of Religion News Service, reports how judges across Europe are having a tough time deciding whether asylum-seekers claiming religious persecution are ‘genuine’ Christians…
Palestinians describe terrifying and chaotic flight from Gaza hospital
Rafah, Gaza Strip Reuters Gunfire echoed around Palestinian medics, patients and displaced people during what they described as a terrifying and chaotic night evacuation from Gaza’s Nasser Hospital after it was stormed by Israeli forces. Survivors of last week’s assault on the second-biggest hospital in Gaza said they then faced a treacherous walk to safety […]
Essay: Cybersecurity for satellites is a growing challenge, as threats to space-based infrastructure grow
SYLVESTER KACZMAREK, chief technology officer at Imperial College London, looks at the increasingly threats to satellite security…