News
Knives 'stop and search' could antagonise youths
New laws that allow police to search people for knives, even if they have no grounds to suspect weapons are being carried, may cause hostility among youths, the Children's Commissioner for England said on Saturday.
Nazi church seeks future as bulwark against fascism
A rundown Protestant church built to glorify Hitler's Third Reich is hoping for a new lease of life as a memorial against Nazi oppression.
Belarus: 'We are reclaiming our history as a land of religious freedom'
Belarus has been renowned [for its] freedom of conscience for centuries. This is why religious freedom, which the current state authorities have been trying to restrict for the past decade, remains a key concern for Belarusian citizens.
China's Catholics visit shrine under watchful eyes
Bells clanged, children played and police kept watch as pilgrims clutching rosary beads flocked to one of China's most revered Catholic shrines on Saturday, the day Pope Benedict XVI designated World Day of Prayer for China.
Burma rulers denying aid to Christians
Persecution watchdog Release International has launched an urgent appeal to help Burma's Christians reach out to survivors of Cyclone Nargis within their community amid reports that the military regime is withholding aid from Christians.
Premier boosts church engagement with media
Premier Christian Media are to launch a series of media training seminars tailored for church leaders and members of the Christian community.
Hillsong plants new church in Cape Town
Hillsong Church, known affectionately as the church that never sleeps, and also the bedrock from which the well known music ministry Hillsong and Hillsong United springs, is in the process of planting a brand new church in the city of Cape Town.
Congregational confirms arrival of new board members
Bradford-based national church and home insurance company Congregational & General has announced the appointment of two new board members - Judith Cork and Martin Clarke.
Tackling the elephant in the room: doctrine
Whilst some church leaders like to avoid doctrine, pastor Mark Driscoll of US mega-church Mars Hill believes in tackling it head on, even if that means not everyone joins his church.
'No time to lose' after Burma deal for storm aid
Disaster relief officials said there was "no time to lose" to help Burma's cyclone survivors after the secretive military government promised the United Nations it would allow in more aid workers.
Quake survivors keep vigil over town of death
Among the ruins of Yingxiu at the epicentre of China's calamitous earthquake, survivors remain, defying the pall of death to keep vigil over lost loved ones or even now looking to rebuild homes amid the devastation.
Clinton draws rebuke over RFK remark
Hillary Clinton mentioned the June 1968 assassination of Robert Kennedy in explaining on Friday why she had resisted calls to end her White House bid, drawing a rebuke from Democratic front-runner Barack Obama's campaign.
Police clash with protesters over Naples trash law
Police clashed with demonstrators in Naples on Friday night after the Italian government vowed to force open rubbish dumps against locals' wishes in a determined effort to end the city's chronic trash problem.
Floods displace 15,000 in Chile
Heavy rains and flooding that killed five people and displaced thousands in south-central Chile have collapsed road and rail bridges, closed the world's largest underground copper mine and left many in the capital without drinking water, the government said on Friday.
Armed men ambush peacekeepers in Darfur
Up to 60 heavily armed men on horseback ambushed a patrol of peacekeepers in Darfur, in a new attack on international forces in Sudan's strife-torn west, the United Nations said on Friday.
No love for NATO in Ukraine's pro-Russian enclave
Ukraine's pro-Western leaders hope to join NATO but the people of this Black Sea port, where Russian warships are moored at the quayside, want no part of it.