Short reports with links
New Zealand remembers quake dead
BBC News – People across New Zealand hold memorial services to remember the 185 who died in the earthquake that devastated central Christchurch a year ago.
Read more – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17109288
Germany Nominates Next President
Wall Street Journal – Germany’s main political parties have reached a hard-won consensus to nominate Joachim Gauck, a theologian and former East German dissident, as the next German president, but the decision has exposed deep rifts in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ruling center-right coalition.
Read more – http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204131004577235351795939014.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Presiding Bishop tours ministries in Japan, preaches at Korean cathedral
ACNS – Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori continued her visit to churches in Asia Feb. 13 – 19, touring ministries of the Nippon Sei Ko Kai (NSKK), the Anglican Church in Japan, before proceeding to Korea, where she preached on Feb. 19 at the Cathedral of Saints Mary and Nicholas in Seoul.
Read more – http://www.aco.org/acns/digest/index.cfm/2012/2/21/Presiding-Bishop-tours-ministries-in-Japan-preaches-at-Korean-cathedral
Churches Forced to Stop Farsi Worship in Tehran, Iran
RNB – Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence has ordered the last two officially registered churches holding Friday Farsi-language services in Tehran to discontinue them. Emmanuel Protestant Church and St. Peter’s Evangelical Church were the last two official churches offering Farsi-language services on Fridays in Tehran, according to Middle East Concern (MEC). Officials issued the order on Feb. 10
Read more – http://www.religionnewsblog.com/26568/churches-forced-to-stop-farsi-worship-in-tehran-iran
Writing on the wall: Israel and its Christians
Jerusalem Post – Graffiti on Jerusalem church points to negative attitudes among many Jews.
Read more – http://www.jpost.com/Features/InThespotlight/Article.aspx?id=258788
Ministering to the marginalised in Pakistan
Christian Today
Read more – http://www.christiantoday.com/article/ministering.to.the.marginalised.in.pakistan/29358.htm