Conversations: Want a better life? Spend more time thinking about sin, says Elizabeth Oldfield
In her book ‘Fully Alive’, the podcaster and author argues that admitting we aren’t as great as we think we are opens the door to a better life. Oldfield speaks with BOB SMIETANA, of Religion News Service…
Burkina Faso suspends more foreign media over killings coverage
Reuters Burkina Faso has suspended a number of Western and African media over their coverage of a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report accusing the army of extrajudicial killings, its communications authority said on Sunday. The move follows similar suspensions of BBC Africa and the US-funded Voice of America for reporting on the HRW investigation that […]
Essay: BBC at 100 – a century of informing, educating, entertaining – and trying to keep politicians honest
JEAN SEATON, professor of media history at the University of Westminster and official historian of the BBC, looks at a century of a British institution…
Taliban hard-liners turn back the clock in Afghanistan
Islamabad, Pakistan AP Taliban hard-liners are turning back the clock in Afghanistan with a flurry of repressive edicts over the past days that hark back to their harsh rule from the late 1990s. Girls have been banned from going to school beyond the sixth grade, women are barred from boarding planes if they travel unaccompanied […]
Essay: BBC Bashir saga feeds trust deficit
Writing from London, MAL FLETCHER looks at how the controversy surrounding BBC journalist Martin Bashir’s interview with Princess Diana will impact public trust…
‘Jerusalem’ UK’s favourite hymn, according to ‘Songs of Praise’ poll
Jerusalem is the UK’s favourite hymn, according to a poll by the BBC’s Songs of Praise. Results of the poll, in which members of the public could choose from the 100 hymns that have featured most on the show over the past five years, were revealed on the show on Sunday. Second place went to How […]
Trendspotter: On screen go slow
DAVID ADAMS looks at how slow TV – and its cinematic counterpart – are increasingly making an impact in the mainstream…
Archbishop of Canterbury reveals his favourite hymn
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has revealed his favourite hymn is the classic And Can It Be in an interview with BBC’s Songs of Praise. The archbishop explained that the song – full name, And Can It Be That I Should Gain An Interest In My Saviour’s Blood – was the first hymn sung at his […]
CLERGY: STRESSED OUT ANGLICAN PRIESTS TURN TO TRADE UNIONS FOR SUPPORT
CATHERINE PEPINSTER reports on how increased stresses is leading Anglican priests to turn to trade unions for support…
‘Thousands’ of Iranians claiming asylum in Europe as converts to Christianity
World Watch Monitor Thousands of Iranian asylum-seekers across Europe are turning to Christianity, though observers are not convinced that all claims of conversion are genuine. A BBC documentary, Our World: Praying for Asylum, tells the story of a number of Iranian asylum-seekers in the Netherlands who say they have become Christians and would be exposed to persecution […]