The construction of a Catholic religious centre in Saint-Pierre-de-Colombier, Ardèche, France, has caused controversy. Earlier this week, nuns from the missionary group formed a human chain around a digger to prevent the activists from chaining themselves to it. However, the clash turned physical when an unnamed nun from the Notre Dame Missionary Family sprinted across Read more
An Australian teen who has come to be known as ‘egg boy’ after he”egged” a far-right senator over his offensive comments about the Christchurch mosque attacks says he has donated almost Aus$100,000 (US$69,000) raised for his legal defence, to the victims of the shootings. William Connolly, nicknamed “Eggboy”, made international headlines when he cracked an Read more
The symbolic image of defiant Sudanese protesters is empowering young Muslim women in New Zealand. Salma Abdalla and her friend Zoha Shuaib say the images of women protesting in Sudan, are a welcome counter to a frustrating stereotype – that Muslim women are submissive and oppressed by their faith. Continue reading
On Anzac Day a group small elderly Whanganui women took part in a peace vigil. They were Quakers, members of the Religious Society of Friends, who strive to “bring about God’s will without the use of force or violence.” Quakers refuse to take part in war and preparation for war; and oppose the culture of militarism. Read more
Police in West Papua arrested eight seminarians, six Franciscans and two Augustinians, who were participating in a peaceful rally in front of Abepura‘s Good Shepherd Catholic Church on 8 October. They were released after being held and interrogated for 90 minutes. The demonstrators were calling on Indonesian President Joko Widodo to investigate the unresolved December Read more
Mass arrests are reported to have been carried out in West Papua on the anniversary of Indonesia’s annexation of the province. In the provincial capital, Jayapura, 30 people were arrested at a rally against Indonesian rule. A person who was at the rally, Rosa, says there was a heavy security presence in the city, and as soon Read more
Human rights campaigner and pacifist Rosa Oliver, 91, died in Blenheim last Wednesday. Miss Oliver was active in the anti-nuclear movement, advocated for homosexual rights and protested against the Waihopai spy base in the Waihopai Valley, Mr Wood said. She corresponded with people in prison, including two men on death row in the United States, Read more
Christian groups in England have vowed to protect the Occupy London tent-city in front of St Paul’s Cathedral by surrounding it with a “circle of prayer”. The plan has been hatched in the event that the Cathedral attempts to evict the protesters. Christian activists say that in the absence of support from St Paul’s they Read more