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Another Easter attack on Christians prevented in Pakistan, say authorities

World Watch Monitor Pakistan’s security forces say they prevented a “major” terror attack on Christians in Lahore over the Easter weekend. The city of Lahore, in Pakistan’s Punjab province, was the scene of a deadly suicide bomb attack on Easter Day last year, when 75 people were killed and 340 injured. A splinter group of the […]

Scottish church attendance drops by more than half since 1984, church census finds

Attendance at churches in Scotland has dropped by more than half over the past 30 years, according to the latest census of the church. The census of Scottish Christians, the fourth conducted since 1984, found around 390,000 people regularly attend church, down from 854,000 in 1984. Proportionally, church-goers account for 7.2 per cent of the Scottish […]

Heroes, mark II

Hero

Previously I said society’s heroes used to be marked by values like hard work, sacrifice, suffering and selflessness. HERO?. PICTURE: Ems van Goth/www.freeimages.com After a few decades of film and TV, our heroes are now known by their wealth, good looks, brand names and selfishness. Even the church hasn’t escaped this cultural shift. Once we […]

UN says volume of people fleeing Mosul in Iraq stretching resources to their limits

Almost half a million people have fled the Iraqi city of Mosul since military operations to retake it from the so-called Islamic State commenced, a figure a senior UN official has described as “staggering” amid warnings that relief efforts are being stretched to their limits. Lise Grande, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, said in […]