News Shorts

Mission Concert close to sold out in 7 days

Thursday, August 30th, 2018

The Mission Concert is close to a full house just seven days after announcing Phil Collins as its top billing. Promoters said the tickets have all sold bar a “small allocation” of extra tickets that will go on sale next week. continue reading

Australia’s new Pentecostal Prime Minister

Thursday, August 30th, 2018

Australia’s first Pentecostal prime minister Scott Morrison and his family are members of the Sutherland Shire’s Horizon Church in Sydney. Housed in a 1200-seat auditorium, Horizon is a Pentecostal Christian church where pastors give rousing sermons, and followers can sometimes speak in tongues and engage in “divine healing”. Read more

Northland Church items now in Whangārei Museum

Thursday, August 30th, 2018

Items from the original church in a remote Northland valley have been gifted to the Whangārei Museum They are treasured relics, saved from a disastrous fire which took place more than 100 years ago. Continue reading

2 Charter Schools to become designated character schools

Thursday, August 30th, 2018

Two Auckland schools that didn’t know if they would be allowed to open next year have been given a reprieve. Middle School West Auckland and South Auckland Middle School, which are both charter schools, were left in the dark about whether they’d be granted ‘special character’ status to remain open, after the deadline for a Read more

Pope Francis and the Skoda

Thursday, August 30th, 2018

A Skoda was the car of choice used to transport Pope Francis when he visited Ireland for the World Meeting of Families last weekend. Not even a posh Skoda: a humble Rapid hatchback, with a 1.0-litre engine. Four Rapid 1.0 TSI petrol models were supplied by Skoda as part of the Papal fleet. The primary Read more

Beatification process for St John Paul’s parents underway

Monday, August 27th, 2018

Plans to launch a beatification process for Emilia and Karol Wojtyla, the parents of Pope St John Paul II, are underway because of their contribution to his spiritual growth. Read more

TVNZ ditches documentary claiming Celts were here before Māori

Monday, August 27th, 2018

TVNZ has removed a documentary that claims Celts settled in New Zealand thousands of years before the arrival of Māori from its on-demand service following a query from RNZ’s Media Watch Read more

Woman jailed for complaining adzan call to prayer is too loud

Monday, August 27th, 2018

A Buddhist woman in Sumatra has been jailed after she complained the adzan, or call to prayer, from her local mosque is too loud. Indonesia’s largest Islamic bodies have denounced the jailing, with senior figures from Indonesia’s two largest Islamic bodies backing them. “I do not see how saying ‘adzan is too loud’ is an Read more

Values that can help vulnerable youth

Monday, August 27th, 2018

At a recent Hastings District Council meeting, a councillor said kindness, empathy and compassion were among the values needed to help prevent youth suicides. Cr Henare O’Keefe made the comments during a council committee meeting to discuss an update of a suicide prevention plan written by the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board. Read more

Irish victims of clergy abuse meet Pope

Monday, August 27th, 2018

Irish victims of clergy abuse met with Pope Francis over the weekend during his visit to Ireland for the World Meeting of Families. His meetings met with a mixed response, with disappointment expressed by some of victims while others left heartened that he would respond to their plight. Read more