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Essay: Tony Campolo – evangelist to the evangelicals

JIM WALLIS says, in an article first published on Religion News Service, that as a sociologist, writer and preacher, he touched legions of people in his classrooms and millions in countless venues around the world…

Pope Francis, avoiding pomp, asks to be buried in simple wooden casket

Vatican City Reuters Pope Francis, who has shunned much of the pomp and privilege of leading the global Catholic Church, has decided that a simple wooden casket will suffice when the time comes for his funeral. In a new formal rite published on Wednesday, the Vatican said Francis will forego a centuries-old practice of burying […]

Tony Campolo, sociologist and famed Red Letter Christian, has died

RNS Tony Campolo, an American Baptist minister and sociologist who spent decades trying to convince evangelicals and other Christians that their faith should motivate them to address social ills like poverty and racism, has died. He was 89. Tony Campolo in 2013. PICTURE: Bradley Siefert/Flickr (licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0). A native of Philadelphia, Campolo […]

Climate finance talks face “hardest” stage as COP29 nears end-game

Baku, Azerbaijan Reuters Countries at the COP29 climate summit were warned on Wednesday that the “hardest part” was about to start in talks over how much money should be provided to developing countries to help them cope with climate change. Figuring out what form that funding takes, who pays and how much is the main […]

Archbishop of Canterbury will end official duties in early January amid sex abuse scandal

London, UK AP Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, spiritual leader of the global Anglican Communion, will wrap up his official duties in early in January amid an abuse scandal in the Church of England, his office said Wednesday. Welby resigned last week after an investigation found that he failed to tell police about serial physical and sexual […]

Ukraine launches UK cruise missiles into Russia, a day after using US ATACMS

Updated: 11:30am (AEDT) Kyiv, Ukraine Reuters Ukraine fired a volley of British Storm Shadow cruise missiles into Russia on Wednesday, the latest new Western weapon it has been permitted to use on Russian targets a day after it fired US ATACMS missiles. The strikes were widely reported by Russian war correspondents on Telegram and confirmed […]

Israel unleashes strikes on homes in north Gaza as it extends onslaught

Updated: 11:30am (AEDT) Cairo, Egypt Reuters The Israeli military bombed at least five crowded homes in northern Gaza early on Thursday with many casualties, health officials said, as troops deepened an incursion along the territory’s northern edge. Rescue operations were under way as many people remained missing or trapped under the rubble, medics said. Hamas […]

Hamas: No hostages-for-prisoners swap deal with Israel unless Gaza war ends

Cairo, Egypt Reuters Hamas’ acting Gaza chief Khalil al-Hayya said in remarks broadcast on Wednesday that there would be no hostages-for-prisoners swap deal with Israel unless the war in the Palestinian enclave ended.  “Without an end to the war, there can be no prisoner swap,” Hayya said in a televised interview with the group’s Al-Aqsa […]