IMMIGRATION: RESISTING TRUMP, US CHURCHES GIVE SANCTUARY TO IMMIGRANTS FACING DEPORTATION

YONAT SHIMRON, of Religion News Service, reports on how churches in the US are extending protection to immigrations facing deportation…
Essay: Sexual misconduct, non-apologies and trial by social media

Writing from London, MAL FLETCHER asks some key questions he believes aren’t being given enough of an airing in the current discussion over sexual harassment in the workplace taking place in numerous countries including the UK, US and Australia…
Peace depends on rights of all ethnic minorities being respected, Pope tells Myanmar’s leaders
The rights of all ethnic minorities should be respected in Myanmar, Pope Francis said in a speech given during his short visit to the Asian nation. In a speech attended by State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, government authorities, and the diplomatic corps in the country’s new capital, Naypyitaw, in which he didn’t mention the […]
Postcards: ‘Pope’s sociologist’ fights human trafficking from the Vatican and her own parish

CATHERINE PEPINSTER, of Religion News Service, speaks with Margaret Archer, president of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, about her passion for helping put an end to the problem of human trafficking…
BOOKS: AN INSIGHTFUL LOOK INTO THE CRISIS FACING CHRISTIANS IN THE MIDDLE EAST

DAVID ADAMS reads Elizabeth Kendal’s detailed examination of the persecution Christians in the Middle East, After Saturday Comes Sunday…
Australian humanitarian agencies call for urgent response to “mental health crisis” facing refugees and asylum seekers on Manus Island
Refugees and asylum seekers still on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea are being robbed of their freedom, denied all hope and condemned to “terrible suffering”, according to World Vision Australia’s chief advocate, Tim Costello. Mr Costello recently led a delegation representing Australian humanitarian agencies on a fact-finding mission to Papua New Guinea conducted under […]
No ‘vibe’

After watching politics for over 20 years, to borrow a line from The Castle: “Might I say, Mr Kerrigan, how disenchanted I am with the whole political system.” The Australian Parliament. PICTURE: Social Estate/Unsplash Talking to 80-year-olds, the system has never been so strained. Modern media, a critical education system and individualism have all had a […]
As the world looks for alternative food sources, Finnish bakery offers bread made of crickets

Fazer Cricket Bread. PICTURE: Supplied. A Finnish bakery announced last week that it was producing what is believed to be the world’s first insect-based bread to be offered to consumers in stores. The company, Fazer Bakery Finland, said the bread – named ‘Fazer Sirkkaleipä’ (‘Fazer Cricket Bread’) – was made from flour created using dried crickets as well […]