News Shorts

MPs weigh in on New Zealand abortion laws

Monday, July 16th, 2018

Waiariki MP Tamati Coffey supports a review of New Zealand’s abortion laws while National MP Todd McClay said he would seek views from the Rotorua electorate before casting his vote. Continue reading.

Relax ban on contraception UK cabinet minister tells Vatican

Monday, July 16th, 2018

The Church’s ban on contraception should be relaxed, UK cabinet minister Penny Mordaunt says. Mordaunt, who is the International Development secretary, made her views known in a meeting with senior aides to Pope Francis last week. Young girls should have access to contraception, she told the aides. Read more

Malaysia gets Catholic as top judge

Monday, July 16th, 2018

Richard Malanjum, a Catholic, has become Muslim-majority Malaysia’s chief justice, the nation’s highest judicial position. Continue reading

Vatican drops criminal charges against former auditor general

Thursday, July 12th, 2018

Criminal charges against former Vatican Auditor General Libero Milone have been dropped. The Vatican has told him he won’t be “subject to any criminal proceedings or convictions,”. Milone says he was the victim of falsified evidence because he was investigating financial misconduct in the Vatican hierarchy. Read more

Custodial parents fare worse after breakups

Thursday, July 12th, 2018

The parent who takes primary responsibility for the children after a breakup should get a better deal under property relationship laws, the Children’s Commissioner says. Commissioner Andrew Becroft said the Property Relationships Act has failed to put the interests of children first. Read more

British doctor sacked because he says gender’s determined at birth

Thursday, July 12th, 2018

A British doctor lost his National Health Service job because he refused to renounce his belief that gender is determined at birth. When his instructor said reports must only refer to the patient – or “client” – by the sex that person identified themselves as, the doctor says a discussion took place among the medics Read more

Secondhand clothes raising money for India

Thursday, July 12th, 2018

Ten years ago Kāpiti women Kate Douglas and Natalie Griffen spent three weeks helping in the slums of India and, on their return to New Zealand, kept on helping. The Waikanae women started Sari Saturday, an annual secondhand clothing sale that has raised about $40,000 over the last decade. Read more

Buddhist meditation kept the Thai boys calm in cave

Thursday, July 12th, 2018

Buddhist meditation helped the 12 twelve members of a junior football team keep calm and survive their ordeal. Their 25-year old coach, Ekapol Chanthawong, who led them on a hike into the cave when it flooded on 23 June, trained in meditation as a Buddhist monk for a ten years. He taught the boy to Read more

400-year-old bible found in Palmerston North

Thursday, July 12th, 2018

How a 1616 edition of the Bible ever got into the cupboard of a Palmerston North church is a mystery that may never be solved. It was unearthed once again this week after a Feilding priest called for old bibles to share with her congregation at St John’s Church. Read more

Cardinal says priests lack experience to prepare couples for marriage

Monday, July 9th, 2018

Priests lack the necessary experience to offer marriage preparation programmes for engaged couples, says Cardinal Kevin Farrell. Farrell is the head of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life. Read more