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New analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies shows that the coalition's budget has hit the poorest families the hardest, especially those with children.

Research commissioned by the Institute for Fiscal Studies shows that the coalition government’s emergency budget has hit families with children the hardest. Poorest families are set to lose most.

The research, published this morning (25 August) calls into question the government's repeated commitments to “fairness”. The End Child Poverty campaign described the findings as “shocking”.

It contradicts the claim of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne that “the people at the bottom of the income scale will pay proportionately less than the people at the top”.

The research differs from the Treasury’s own modelling in several ways. It takes into account the impact of all the budget’s changes up to 2014. It analyses the June 2010 budget changes separately from those announced previously. And it includes changes to Housing Benefit and Disability Living Allowance.

The researchers, James Browne and Peter Levell, conclude that “the measures announced in the June 2010 budget are regressive as they hit the poorest more than the seventh, eighth and ninth deciles in cash, let alone percentage, terms”.

They say that families with children lose more than pensioners or other household types in all except the top three income groups. In addition, the poorest families with children lose more than any other group.

The Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, claimed last month that the budget would have “no negative impact on measured child poverty”.

But the new analysis suggests that as a result of the changes announced in the June budget, families in the bottom income decile are set to lose over five per cent of their income, compared to less than one per cent for non-pensioner households without children in the top decile.

“The coalition has committed to ending child poverty by 2020, but its cuts are hitting the poorest families hardest,” said Fiona Weir of the End Child Poverty campaign, “It’s not fair that children should have to pay for the cuts and shocking that the poorest families are bearing the brunt of them”.

She added, “The coalition must re-consider its cuts, including changes to Housing Benefit and uprating benefits. The spending review will need to show clearly how the government will deliver on the commitment to ending child poverty, ensuring that cuts fall on those most able to pay”.

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The United Nations (UN) has been urged by Amnesty International not to reply on data supplied by oil companies when assessing the causes of oil spills.

The United Nations (UN) has been urged not to reply on data supplied by oil companies when assessing the causes of oil spills.

Amnesty International expressed concern today (24 August) after comments by a senior UN official investigating oil-impacted sites in Ogoniland in the Niger Delta.
 
A United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) official is reported to have said that 90 per cent of oil spills in Ogoniland were due to sabotage and criminal activity, and just 10 per cent due to equipment failure and negligence by companies such as Shell.

Amnesty International questioned the credibility of these figures, saying they are produced by Nigerian regulatory agencies that are known to depend heavily on the oil companies themselves when it comes to spill investigations.

“Relying on these figures would be a serious misjudgement, with potentially significant ramifications for those living in the Niger Delta,” said Audrey Gaughran, Director of Amnesty International’s Global Thematic Issues Programme.

She added, “UNEP must be aware that the figures have been strongly challenged for years by environmental groups and communities. They are totally lacking in credibility.”

Between 1989 and 1994, Shell estimated that only 28 per cent of oil spilt in the Niger Delta was caused by sabotage. In 2007, Shell's estimate had risen to 70 per cent and the figure now given by Shell has increased to more than 90 per cent.

Amnesty International say that they have repeatedly asked Shell to produce evidence to support these figures, but the company has failed to do so.
 
“The people of the Niger Delta have been lied to and denied justice for decades,” said Gaughran, “The issue of oil spill causation is sensitive. If UNEP is going to comment on the cause of oil spills it should do so only on the basis of hard and credible evidence, not figures that are a source of conflict.”

In June 2009, an Amnesty International report on the impacts of oil pollution on human rights concluded that the oil spill investigation system in the Niger Delta was totally lacking in independence, and was inadequate to determine the proportion of oil spills caused by sabotage, as opposed to equipment failure. Amnesty found that in many cases oil companies have significant influence on determining the cause of a spill.

The report documented examples of cases in which Shell claimed the cause of a spill was sabotage, but the claim was subsequently questioned by other investigations or the courts.
 
Amnesty International has called for independent oversight of the oil industry in the Niger Delta, including disclosure of all relevant information on the causes of oil pollution.

“While sabotage and vandalism are serious problems, there is no evidence to support the figures offered by oil companies and the Nigerian government agencies,” said Gaughran.

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Micah Challenge UK is encouraging Christians in Britian to get on board with an anti-poverty action pledge, following the example of public figures.

Micah Challenge UK is encouraging Christians in Britian to get on board with an anti-poverty action pledge, following the example of public figures.

The Archbishop of York has promised to launch a global charity for those in need, the Chief Executive of aid agency Tearfund has promised to inspire his children afresh about world poverty and Andy Flannagan, songwriter and Director of the Christian Socialist Movement, has promised to be part of changing the global economic system.

These are just a few of the promises being made at the request of Micah Challenge to help end world poverty and "to remind our leaders that, ten years into a fifteen year commitment to halve global poverty, it’s time to act," says the campaign.

‘What’s Your Promise?’ is part of the Micah 2010 campaign being mobilised by Micah Challenge around the world. The promises of Christians, around the globe, will be brought together on Sunday 10th October (10.10.10) when over 100 million people worldwide will stand united in prayer and commitment to a life that remembers those in poverty.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has spoken out strongly in support of the Micah 2010 campaign.

He declared: “When God tells us to remember the poor he is not simply asking us to give them a thought from time to time. Remembrance in the Bible is a very real and active thing… So in this crucial year when the Millennium Development Goals are very much on our minds, when we need to think and pray harder than ever to see what can be achieved by 2015, our remembrance must be a renewal of relationship.”

The UK Director of Micah Challenge, Andy Clasper, said, “We are asking people to make a promise to live in a way that remembers those in poverty and to start by making a promise in one area of their life. I have been encouraged that even those who have been involved with these issues for many years are thinking and living differently as a result of making their promise.”

So far hundreds of people have promised to waste less, to shop with the poor in mind, to campaign and speak out, to educate and influence others, to give more of their time and their money, to reduce their carbon footprint and to pray diligently for those in need.

Christians in the public eye have made their own very personal promises as part of the campaign and to set the ball rolling. The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, has promised to make a difference to those in poverty by launching his charity ACTS435 around the world. He said, “It is important churches help those in need in practical ways.”

The Anglican Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Rev John Pritchard, has promised to keep the Millennium Development Goals as the touchstone of his concern for those trapped in poverty. He said, “I hope many in the Diocese of Oxford will join me in making this promise and then keeping it.”

Andy Flannagan has made the bold promise to be part of changing the global economic system. He commented, “I feel it is easy to just hand over cash to mend what is broken, but what is more important is tracking back to improve the structures so that new victims don’t go on being made.”

Matthew Frost, Chief Executive of Christian relief and development agency Tearfund, has promised to encourage his children, as they grow up, to have a greater hunger to act justly and love mercy in the context of world poverty.

Many Christians are already seeing their lives changed as a result of their promise, says Micah Challenge UK. Caroline Williams promised to alter the way she shops so that she now always asks the question, “Does this item help or hurt the poor?” The 40-year-old from St Albans commented, “I’ve started to put this into action. During a cycle ride from Whitehaven to Tynemouth in July I bought fair-trade coffee and orange juice along the way. I celebrated in Tynemouth with a bar of Cadbury’s fair-trade chocolate and then bought a fair-trade latte from Starbucks at Newcastle station.”

The campaign has been welcomed by Stephen Timms, MP for East Ham and Labour’s Vice Chair for Faith Groups. He commented: “ UK churches have consistently – and successfully – campaigned for Britain to be at the forefront of tackling poverty around the world. Government has been profoundly influenced – in fact, Britain ’s whole political culture has been uplifted because so many individual Christians have gone out of their way to take part in campaigning.”

Micah Challenge is a global movement reminding political leaders of 189 nations about the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) crucial promises made to halve extreme poverty by 2015.

More information at: www.micahchallenge.org.uk

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Churches’ attitudes and responses to racism today will come under scrutiny at a conference organized by global church groups this week.

Churches’ attitudes and responses to racism today will come under scrutiny at a conference, organised by the World Council of Churches (WCC) in partnership with the United Church of Christ (UCC) and the Dutch missionary and diaconal agency, Kerk in Actie, in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, 26-29 August 2010.

While the struggle against racism has been a formative and highly visible priority for the ecumenical movement, beginning with the US Civil Rights movement and then South African apartheid, there are now diverging views as to the role churches should play in combating racism that operates in many subtle ways.

While some say the work on racism is mostly done, others say it is time for the churches and ecumenical organisations to re-engage with racism and other forms of discrimination and exclusion.

Increasing tensions and fragmentation caused by large scale migration, economic disempowerment of many marginalised communities and the continued practice of caste-based discrimination that involves about 250 million Dalits in South Asia and elsewhere, all point to the fact that the instruments of discrimination are not the same as they were 40 years ago.

Today racism is a global phenomenon touching the lives of many vulnerable communities with the combined challenges of poverty, injustice, violation of human rights and violence, both direct and structural.

“Exposing and challenging racism is a way of affirming human dignity, striving for social justice and celebrating diversity,” said the Rev Dr Deenabandhu Manchala, WCC programme executive for Justice and Inclusive Communities and one of the organisers of the conference.

The Cleveland conference, which is a follow-up to a 2009 conference, commemorating 40 years of WCC work under the Programme to Combat Racism, has two foci, he said.

First, the theological basis for churches’ continued engagement with initiatives and struggles that confront racism and related forms of discrimination will be explored. The conference will ask why the churches should be involved and what they would lose if they gave up on their involvement.

The second focus is to reflect on the concept of just peace from the perspective of those struggling against the violent cultures of racism and casteism. This reflection will contribute to the drafting of the Declaration on Just Peace that the WCC sponsored International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC), in Kingston, Jamaica, in May 2011, is expected to issue.

“The ultimate objective of this theological reflection is to see how best the churches can be, and promote, just and inclusive communities in a world that is increasingly disempowering and excluding many,” Manchala said.

Participants in the conference will be coming from most WCC member churches in the United States and Canada, from churches in Brazil, Peru, Nicaragua, Europe, Africa and India.

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Cairn Energy has announced the first discovery of oil in Arctic waters. Environmental commentators have warned of an "Arctic oil rush".

Environmental commentators have reacted with alarm to the news that Cairn Energy has made the first discovery of oil in Arctic waters. Greenpeace have warned of the danger of an “Arctic oil rush”.

Cairn Energy, based in Edinburgh, made the announcement this morning (24 August), although rumours have been circulating for several days.

The Greenpeace protest ship Esperanza has arrived at the scene of the find yesterday. It is reported to be positioned within sight of the two rigs that Cairn is operating in the area.

Cairn Chief Executive Bill Gammell said, "I am encouraged that we have early indications of a working hydrocarbon system with our first well in Greenland, confirming our belief in the exploration potential”.

But Greenpeace activist Leila Deen described the report as “grave news”.

Speaking from the Esperanza, she said “An oil strike off the coast of Greenland would spark an Arctic oil rush, threatening this fragile environment and our chances of beating climate change”.

The area to the west of Disko Island, where the find was made, is known as “Iceberg Alley” due to the plentiful icebergs and tough conditions. This has deterred oil companies from attempting exploration there in recent years, but the world's oil giants are watching the Cairn project with great interest.

If the Edinburgh-based company has struck oil, analysts expect a new Arctic oil rush, with Exxon, Chevron and other energy giants already buying up licenses to drill in the area and making preparations to move in.

The wells being drilled by Cairn are at a depth of 300-500 metres, while the moratorium introduced by US President Barak Obama after the Deepwater Horizon disaster applies to wells deeper than 152 metres.

Greenpeace says that Cairn has refused to publish a comprehensive plan for how it would deal with a spill from the platform, and has just 14 vessels capable of reacting to a spill. BP's response in the Gulf of Mexico required more than 6,500 vessels.

The environmental NGO adds that a blowout in a scenario where a relief well cannot be completed in the same drilling season could lead to oil gushing until at least next spring, with spilt oil becoming trapped under sheets of thick ice.

"By drilling for oil in ever more dangerous, difficult-to-reach places the oil companies are taking us in the wrong direction,” insisted Deen, “If a spill happened here this pristine area would face an environmental catastrophe. The BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico showed what can happen when they drill in deep and remote places."

She insisted, “We have to go beyond oil by investing in clean technologies and deploying them as soon as possible”.

Cairn Energy's headquarters were yesterday targeted by activists from the Camp for Climate Action, who staged an imitation “oil spill” outside the company's offices as one of a series of peaceful protests in Edinburgh.

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The annual Greenbelt festival of arts, debate and social justice is showing the institutional churches the way forward in a post-Christendom era, says the religion and society think-tank Ekklesia.

India’s Environment Minister has blocked Vedanta Resources’ controversial plan to mine bauxite on the sacred hills of the Dongria Kondh tribe.

A tribe in India has won a stunning victory over one of the world’s biggest mining companies. In an extraordinary move, India’s Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh has blocked Vedanta Resources’ controversial plan to mine bauxite on the sacred hills of the Dongria Kondh tribe.

Mr Ramesh said Vedanta has shown a ’shocking’ and ‘blatant disregard for the rights of the tribal groups’. The Minister has also questioned the legality of the massive refinery Vedanta has already built below the hills.

The news is a crushing defeat for Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal , Vedanta’s majority owner and founder.

In recent years, the project has come under unprecedented attack. The Norwegian and British governments, the Church of England, organisations such as Survival, and even the insurance giant Aviva, have all criticised the company and its ethics.

Survival has been in the forefront of a global campaign against the mine for several years. Survival recruited celebrities such as Michael Palin and Joanna Lumley to champion the tribe’s cause; its supporters have written over 10,000 protest letters to the Indian government, and more than 600,000 people have watched Survival’s film ‘Mine’. The tribe’s plight even came to the attention of ‘Avatar’ director James Cameron, and the Dongria became known as the ‘real Avatar tribe’.

The struggle has pitted the 8,000-strong tribe, nearly all of them illiterate, against the might of an $8 billion company and its founder, himself worth some $6 billion. The Dongria Kondh have mounted numerous protests, and two of their leaders were abducted and beaten before being released, in an atmosphere of increasing violence.

In recent days, an inquiry panel set up by Minister Ramesh recommended the mine be blocked, saying that Vedanta had acted illegally and with ‘total contempt for the law’.

Survival campaigner Dr Jo Woodman, who experienced first-hand the atmosphere of intimidation in the Dongria’s hills, said today, ‘This is a victory nobody would have believed possible. The Dongria’s campaign became a litmus test of whether a small, marginalised tribe could stand up to a massive multinational company with an army of lobbyists and PR firms and the ear of government. Incredibly, the Dongria’s courage and tenacity, allied with the support of many people in India, and Survival’s supporters around the world, have triumphed.’

Survival’s Director Stephen Corry said today, ‘The era when mining companies could get away with destroying those in their path with impunity is thankfully drawing to a close, though it remains significant that Vedanta fought for its plans to the end, repeatedly denying everything the tribespeople said. The concerned public must remain vigilant about these so-called development projects – companies simply cannot be trusted voluntarily to abide by human rights standards, particularly when dealing with tribal peoples who can’t know what they’re up against.’

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Debt activists have said that they fear the aid to Pakistan will be dwarfed by its debt repayments and issued a warning over new loans.

Debt activists have said that they fear the aid to Pakistan will be dwarfed by its debt repayments and issued a warning over new loans.

Anti-poverty campaigners yesterday called on governments and international institutions to effect an immediate freeze on Pakistan's debt repayments, expressing fears that the country's annual $3 billion repayments would dwarf current levels of emergency aid. In addition they urged a debt audit followed by a cancellation of some of the debts.

They also expressed concern that international institutions like the World Bank had promised nearly $3 billion in new loans to Pakistan to withstand the disaster, rather than giving grant-aid. Jubilee Debt Campaign says this will only add to Pakistan's enormous and unsustainable $49 billion debt.

Pakistan's debt repayments already amount to three times what the government spends on healthcare - in a country where 38 per cent of under five-year-olds are underweight, only 54 per cent of people are literate, and 60 per cent live below the poverty line. The United Nations says it has only raised 70 per cent of the $460 million called for in emergency aid by the institution. But even this amount will be dwarfed by debt repayments unless serious relief is instituted.

Longer term, the World Bank and Asian Development Bank recently announced loans of $900 million and $2 billion respectively. Campaigners say grants, rather than loans, are essential if countries like Pakistan are ever to develop the means to withstand such disasters in future.

Pakistan's debt rose rapidly under the military regime of General Musharraf (2001-8) from $32 to nearly $50 billion. Campaigners point out that the vast majority of Pakistan's loans were run up under military governments, many offering little benefit to ordinary people.

Pakistani groups like CADTM-Pakistan have long called for an audit of the debts, saying it is unjust for the poor of Pakistan to repay reckless loans that borrowers should never have lent. The group is currently calling on their government to repudiate its debts on the basis of a 'state of necessity'.

Nick Dearden, Director of Jubilee Debt Campaign said: "It is nothing short of criminal that a country as poor as Pakistan is bled of resources every year to repay borrowers who extended unjust loans to that country over decades. It is vital that desperately needed emergency aid is not effectively swallowed up in debt repayments and a freeze on such payments must be called immediately.

"But the international community also needs to accept responsibility for the poverty of Pakistan. If Pakistan is to build up the infrastructure to withstand such appalling disasters in future, it must be freed from its debt trap. A debt audit is needed - and those debts found to be unjust and unbeneficial must be cancelled immediately to give the country a fresh start. Most certainly supposedly anti-poverty institutions like the World Bank should not be making Pakistan’s debts even worse."

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The Church of England has praised the religious programming offered by some of the BBC’s radio stations, while calling for a Religion Editor.

The Church of England has praised the religious programming offered by some of the BBC’s radio stations, while calling for a Religion Editor to work across the corporation’s news and current affairs output "to strengthen further its role in boosting religious literacy as a key tool for understanding today’s world."

In a response to a consultation being held by the BBC Trust as part of its review of Radio 3, Radio 4 and Radio 7, the Rt Rev Nigel McCulloch, Bishop of Manchester and the Church of England’s lead spokesman on communications, says that Radio 4 transmits more than the required number of hours of religious programming, and warmly welcomes the Corporation’s commitment to high quality radio that explores ethical and religious themes.

“The BBC stations under review broadcast an unparalleled range and depth of religious programming which deserves grateful acknowledgement by all those concerned with increasing mutual understanding between people of all faiths and none,” argues the submission.

Programmes such as Daily Service, Choral Evensong, Sunday, Moral Maze and Something Understood, and award-winning one-off documentaries like Twin Sisters, Two Faiths are all highlighted as helping present “an authentic portrayal of Christian worship [alongside] in-depth discussions and explorations of religious and ethical themes”.

To build on this through the breadth of the stations’ output and beyond, the response calls for the creation of the post of BBC Religion Editor to cover radio, TV and online news output, arguing that there is “no logical distinction between the genre of arts, science and business and that of religion, the landscape of which likewise demands a ‘trusted guide’ for both internal and external stakeholders”.

The response continues: “We urge the Trust and Executive to give serious consideration to this proposal; one that is intended as much for the benefit of people of no particular faith as for those of faith.”

The Church’s submission also suggests that the future for a rebranded BBC Radio 7 relies on a clear identity as an enhancement of Radio 4’s output: “We could envisage, and we would welcome, a station that included extended interviews with key public figures, and that had more freedom to experiment with the opportunities for interaction with audiences afforded by new media. Religious content would form a natural ingredient in a fresh station devoted to ‘going deeper’ into the nation’s psyche.”

The response reflects the tone of ‘critical friendship’ towards mainstream broadcasters set by the General Synod’s debate on the subject of religious broadcasting in February this year. Following its debate, the Synod resolved to “express its deep concern about the overall reduction in religious broadcasting across British television in recent years, and call upon mainstream broadcasters to nurture and develop the expertise to create and commission high quality religious content across the full range of their output, particularly material that imaginatively marks major festivals and portrays acts of worship”.

The Church of England’s full submission to the BBC Trust review of BBC Radio 3, 4 and 7 can be found here: http://www.cofe.anglican.org/info/papers/bbctrustradio.rtf

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A UN human rights team has confirmed that two armed groups in the volatile east of the Democratic Republic of Congo raped more than 150 women.

A United Nations human rights team has confirmed that members of two armed groups in the volatile east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) raped more than 150 women during an attack on a village in North Kivu province last month, a UN spokesperson said today.

Victims of the attack, which occurred on 30 July 2010 in the village of Bunangiri, which is situated in the Banamukira area of North Kivu, are receiving medical treatment and have also been provided with psycho-social care, the spokesperson of the UN Secretary-General told reporters in New York.

Perpetrators of the attack are said to be insurgents loyal to the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a group of ethnic Hutu fighters linked to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, and their accomplices, believed to be members of a local militia known as the Mai-Mai Cheka.

The UN mission in the DRC, MONUSCO, has a military company based at Kibua, some 30 kilometres east of the scene of the attack, but the assailants blocked the road and prevented villagers from reaching the nearest communication point at the time the crimes were committed.

According to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), more than 8,000 women were raped by warring factions last year in the provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu.

Although members of the FDLR, which who have been active in eastern DRC since 1994, are thought to be responsible for most of the rapes, soldiers serving in the national army have also been implicated in sexual abuse in North and South Kivu provinces, according to UN experts.

In many cases, women are raped when they leave their villages or camps to collect firewood, water and other essentials, reports the UN News Service.

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Young Christians from around the world are invited to apply to the World Council of Churches stewards programme for one of two hands-on learning experiences at major ecumenical meetings in 2011, the W

Concerns have been expressed that proposed reforms to China’s application of the death penalty may not result in significantly fewer executions.

Concerns have been expressed by opponents of capital punishment that proposed reforms of China’s application of the death penalty may not result in significantly fewer executions.

The Chinese government news agency, Xinhua, reported today that proposed amendments to China’s criminal code may see the death penalty removed from 13 out of 68 crimes that currently carry the punishment.

The draft amendments are working their way through numerous readings in China’s legislative chamber.

“Although we would welcome any reform that would in practice decrease executions in China, we are not yet convinced that these legal revisions will have a significant impact” said Catherine Baber, Amnesty International’s Deputy-Director for the Asia-Pacific.

As part of its campaigning against the death penalty, the respected international NGO has called on China to reduce the number of capital crimes.

“We are still waiting for the Chinese government to release the data that shows these proposed revisions are more than just legal housekeeping, removing crimes which have seldom been punished with the death penalty in recent years” said Catherine Baber.

The draft amendment to China’s criminal code would, if passed, reportedly remove the death penalty as a punishment for white collar crimes such as tax fraud, and for smuggling valuables and cultural relics. It would also remove the death penalty as a punishment for those over 75 years of age.

The ultimate impact of any reforms to China's use of the death penalty cannot be publicly known and evaluated due to classification of execution figures as state secrets.

Amnesty (http://www.amnesty.org/) is calling on the Chinese government to make the draft legislation and the national execution figures public, so that there can be transparent analysis and debate on the death penalty.

In a challenge to China’s lack of transparency, Amnesty also declined to publish its own minimum figures for Chinese executions and death sentences in its worldwide annual report this year on the death penalty. China is estimated to be the world’s biggest executor.

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The Disasters Emergency Committee says that for the first time in 45 years it has seen donations rise during the second week of an appeal.

The Disasters Emergency Committee says that for the first time in 45 years, it has seen donations rise rather than fall during the second week of an appeal.

DEC officials and member agencies have been telling the media today that the generosity of the British public, who have so far contributed £30 million to the Pakistan Floods Appeal, further shames governments and the international community, who have been tardy in their response to a catastrophic emergency with massive long-term implications.

The unprecedented pattern of giving, long after the Pakistan appeal broadcasts on 5 August 2010, was a reflection of growing public awareness of the full scale of the tragedy, the DEC said.

Even the extraordinary giving to the DEC Haiti Appeal saw huge initial donations decline steeply in week two.

The continuing high level of donations is critically important, says the Disasters Emergency Committee, because 20 million people in Pakistan are now affected and there is a serious threat to survivors from water-borne diseases.

DEC member agencies and their partners have so far helped over 800,000 people. The Committee consists of Action Aid, Age UK, British Red Cross, CAFOD, CARE International UK, Christian Aid, Concern Worldwide, Islamic Relief, Merlin, Oxfam, Save the Children, Tearfund, and World Vision.

Disasters Emergency Committee Chief Executive Brendan Gormley commented: “It is sometimes harder to fully appreciate the impact of disasters such as floods that take longer to develop. However, the response of UK public to the floods in Pakistan has been extraordinary. We have never seen anything like it in our 45 year history."

He continued: “This is a tragedy unfolding in slow motion with new areas still being flooded and the threat of deadly water borne disasters stalking millions of survivors."

“The full impact of the disaster will only be revealed when flood waters finally recede and the extent [of the] devastation is uncovered," said Gormley.

By comparison with the Pakistan Appeal, donations to the Haiti Earthquake Appeal declined by 28 per cent in the second week of the appeal; Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam Appeal donations by 62 per cent; Myanmar donations by 54 per cent and Tsunami donations by 24 per cent.

Donations to the Pakistan Floods Appeal increased by 18 per cent in the second week and have yet to begin dropping.

The disaster has already claimed the lives of 1,600 people and is estimated to have affected 20-25 million people, according to the United Nations and international NGOs.

The DEC Pakistan Floods Appeal is separate from the pledges being sought by the UN, which is hoping to secure funds from governments worldwide.

A summary of all other DEC Member Agency efforts can be found at: http://www.dec.org.uk/item/442

To make a donation to the DEC Pakistan Floods Appeal, call the 24 hour hotline on 0370 60 60 900, visit http://www.dec.org.uk or donate over the counter at any post office or high street bank, or send a cheque. You can also donate £5 by texting the word GIVE to 70707

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The Scottish government was right to release the Libyan man convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, an official of the Church of Scotland says.

The Scottish government was right to release the Libyan man convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing on compassionate grounds, an official of the Church of Scotland says.

"The principle behind the release of Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi a year ago was right, compassion, and my views haven't changed since I welcomed his release on 20 August last year," the Rev Ian Galloway, convener of the Presbyterian denomination's church and society council, has told ENInews.

The spiritual leader of Roman Catholics in Scotland has taken a similar stance, criticising the furore in the United States over the decision.

Cardinal Keith O'Brien said Scotland had a culture of care, while too many in the US were fixed on vengeance.

The case has been complicated by claims that BP lobbied the UK and Scottish governments over the case, in relation to Libyan oil deals. But no substantial evidence has been offered for this allegation.

Similarly, some politicians say that the release was related to attempts to cover up the failings of the UK and Scottish governments in handling the issue.

The Scottish Justice Secretary, Kenny MacAskill, released Megrahi, who has prostate cancer, after being told that three months was a "reasonable estimate" of his life expectancy.

He has now lived for much longer and subsequent medical opinion suggests that, with alleviative tretament, he may survive for up to two years.

But the Scottish Government is adamant that it made the right decision at the time.

Relatives of those killed in the Lockerbie bombing are divided on the issue, with most in the US opposing Megrahi's release, while many in Britain doubt his guilt on the evidence considered, and are much more upset that the major enquiry they have called for seems destined not to go ahead now.

Cardinal O'Brien declared: "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth - that is not our culture in Scotland and I would like to think that the US government, and these states that do still have capital punishment, would learn something from us."

He appealed to Americans to "direct their gaze inwards" instead of attacking the Scottish justice system, and said the use of the death penalty meant the USA kept "invidious company" with countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran.

"In some states it's month by month now that they are killing people who have a right to live, whatever they've done wrong," he said.

The Catholic leader also backed the Scottish government's decision not to give evidence to American senators investigating Megrahi's release.

The similar opinions of a leading Church of Scotland figure reflect an overwhelming preference for mercy over vengeance among churches in Scotland, a commentator told Ekklesia.

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The chief executive of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement is "delighted" that the Charity Commission has ruled against Catholic Care over gay adoptions.

The Rev Sharon Ferguson, chief executive of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement (LGCM), says she is "delighted" that the Charity Commission has ruled against Catholic Care in its appeal to discriminate against gay and lesbian couples who wish to provide homes for hard-to-place children.

Ferguson declared that the Commission "had sided with common sense and in support of human rights", and said that the families concerned would provide "loving and caring homes".

On Thursday 19 August 2010, the Charity Commission announced its decision to not give consent to the charity Catholic Care to amend its charitable objects to restrict its adoption services to heterosexual prospective parents only.

The independent regulator of charities in England and Wales has considered the evidence and the relevant law and concluded that it would not be justified in the circumstances for the charity to discriminate in this way.

Ms Ferguson said: “For too long public opinion has been influenced by the notion that lesbians and gay men cannot be good parents and that they would influence the child’s sexual orientation. This unfounded belief is homophobia, pure and simple, and therefore LGCM congratulates the Charities Commission in its ruling."

She added: “It is sad and regrettable that Christian adoption agencies have to be forced to enter the twenty-first century. Agencies like Catholic Care should be more concerned to place children in loving, stable, and committed homes, than with hanging on to homophobic ideas.”

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New report from the Pew Research Centre shows more than 50 per cent of Americans support same sex civil unions.

According to new national research, Americans have become more accepting of homosexuality during the past 16 years, with over half of those polled saying they support civil unions.

The Pew Research Centre's new report, released last Friday (19 Aug) and compiled from a selction of public studies done over the last 20 years, said support for same-sex civil unions had risen from 45 per cent in 2003 to 57 per cent in 2009. The increase in support for same-sex marriage was more modest, but still showed a rise in support from 30 per cent in 2003 to 38 per cent in 2010.

Among religious respondents to the recent polls, Latino Catholics showed more movement toward supporting gay marriage (at 57 per cent) than Latino Protestants (at 22 per cent).

National polls by the Pew Centre have apparently found that younger Americans are much more accepting of LGBT people, and researchers reportedly say that the generational divide over the issue will eventually bring about a collision.

Daniel Cox, director of research for Public Religion Research Institute and co-author of the report said, "The clergy risk alienating a significant number of young folks if they take a real hard line approach on same-sex marriage".

Despite such encouraging statistics, in the Proposition 8 issue, 52 per cent of Californians voted for the constitutional amendment which bars gay men and lesbians from marrying. When District Judge Vaughn Walker recently ruled that the ban was unconstitutional, it was expected that same-sex couples would be able to resume wedding plans last week, but opponents were successful in their plea that the ban should remain in place until they have appealed.

The ruling is currently being challenged in federal court, and the ban will remain until December when further proceedings against its lifting are to take place.

Experts believe it wil be another two years before the case comes before the Supreme Court.

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People opposed to Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) investments in oil tar sands have super-glued themselves to a branch in Edinburgh as part of a day of protest.

People opposed to Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) investments in oil tar sands have super-glued themselves to its Nicholson Street branch in the heart of Edinburgh. They have been joined by performers angry about RBS’ sponsorship of the Edinburgh Fringe.

Campaigners point out that taxpayers now own a majority stake in RBS, but the bank is still investing heavily in activities that contribute to climate change.

Nonviolent protests are taking place around Edinburgh today (23 August) under the umbrella of the Camp for Climate Action, which has been camped opposite RBS’ global headquarters in Gogarburn for the last week.

“Climate change kills 400,000 people every year,” said one participant, Jenny South, “RBS invests in oil from Canadian tar sands – the most climate-busting fuel on the planet, and one which is devastating local indigenous communities”.

She added, “We are standing together with those communities to resist this 21st century atrocity, to make a passionate call for climate justice, and to hasten a much-needed fossil fuel-free future”.

At 8.00am, other activists targeted the headquarters of Forth Energy in Leith in response to the company’s plans for four new power stations in Scotland which campaigners describe as “environmentally destructive”. Two climbed onto the roof and displayed banners, while others chained themselves to railings or entered the building. It is not yet clear whether they have been removed.

Campaigners have also spread fake oil outside the offices of Cairn Energy, causing an 'oil spill' in protest against the company’s recent drilling off the coast of Greenland. It was revealed yesterday that the project was helped by loans of £117 million which Cairn Energy received from RBS last year.

“Risky drilling in the Arctic by Cairn Energy has only been made possible by financial involvement by RBS,” said activist Alex Wilson, “This is an outrageous use of over a hundred million pounds of public money given the economic and climate crises that we are facing”.

Lesley Clark of Lothian and Borders Police said that she supported the right to lawful protest but accused the direct activists of not respecting the city. She said there is now likely to be a “more robust response” from the police.

The protests are particularly embarrassing for RBS, coming at a time when the city is full of visitors to the Edinburgh Fringe, which they have sponsored.

“RBS doesn't just sponsor the Edinburgh Fringe, it sponsors the oil companies who destroy the lives of hundreds of millions of people around the world through oil spills, war, drought and floods,” said Wilson.

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A leading Rabbi who heads up an inclusive schools campaign says religious people should stop opposing quality RE in publicly-funded schools.

A leading Rabbi who heads up an inclusive schools campaign says religious people should stop opposing quality RE in publicly-funded schools.

At present, Religious Education (RE) in schools is not part of the National Curriculum, meaning that its provision varies greatly in quality, and in some cases can be hijacked by particular interests groups or be taught in a way which does not give a balanced or comprehensive account of the variety of beliefs that shape the modern world, both religious and non-religious.

But faith schools in England continue to avoid proper accountability and supervision through the national Curriculum in order to be able to teach the subject from a selective, exclusive or confessional viewpoint.

Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain, writing to the Times newspaper on Saturday 21 August 2010 in response to a report about the recent More4 television programme highlighting faith schools concerns, says it is ironic that while atheists such as the programme's presenter Richard Dawkins want Religious Education to be on the National Curriculum, "there are many religious people who oppose it to safeguard their own particular interests."

He declared: "It is vital that all children should know about the history, beliefs and traditions of the many different belief systems (including Humanism) that make up multi-faith Britain today, whatever their own personal religious orientation. It is a matter both of general knowledge and social cohesion."

Dr Romain is chair of the Accord Coalition, which brings a wide variety of organisations and individuals together to call for the reform of publicly-funded religious foundation ('faith') schools, seeking an end to current discriminatory practices in admissions, employment, assemblies and curricula.

The Christian think-tank Ekklesia is among the founding members of the Accord Coalition.

The Times letter in full:

Dear Sir:

It is ironic that while atheists such as Richard Dawkins want Religious Education to be on the National Currriculum (Times report, Aug 18), there are many religious people who oppose it to safeguard their own particular interests.

At the moment RE is in the anomalous position of being the only subject that is a statutary subject - ie it must be taught - but it is not on the National Curriculum - ie there is no set syllabus for it, just non-compulsory guidelines. This had led to wide variations according to local agreements or the category of schools, with many instances of only one faith being taught.

It is vital that all children should know about the history, beliefs and traditions of the many different belief systems (including Humanism) that make up multi-faith Britain today, whatever their own personal religious orientation. It is a matter both of general knowledge and social cohesion.

The Accord Coalition - which unites those of faith and no faith concerned about religious education - urges the government to take this step during its review of the curriculum next month, and thereby ensure that the next generation can be not only diverse, but also informed and at ease with itself.

Rabbi Dr JONATHAN ROMAIN
Chair, Accord Coalition
1 Gower Street
London
WC1E 6HD

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Two Lutherans left the Augustinian priory in Erfurt, Germany, on 22 August, to walk one thousand miles retracing the footsteps of Martin Luther.

Two Lutherans left the Augustinian priory in Erfurt, Germany, on Sunday 22 August, to walk one thousand miles retracing the footsteps of Martin Luther on his fateful journey to Rome.

For the Rev Sarah Hinlicky Wilson and her husband, Dr Andrew Lars Wilson, it is much more than a long hike to Italy - it is a chance to meet people face-to-face and to discuss the importance of inter-Christian cooperation with those who follow their journey online.

Luther, an Augustinian friar and Reformation pioneer in Europe, created controversy with his 95 Theses. His statement, which he nailed to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany in 1517, raised tough questions about practices in the Western Church.

The Wilsons' pilgrimage takes place exactly 500 years after Luther himself left Erfurt in 1510 for Rome. They will follow a route through Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Italy, arriving in Rome in about 70 days.

The journey also coincides with the 100th anniversary of the 1910 Edinburgh Missionary Conference in Scotland, often cited as the birth of the ecumenical movement - and already marked by a centenary conference in Scotland and a forthcoming one in South Africa.

The notion of retracing Luther's footsteps was an idea that the Wilsons discussed during their days in graduate school at Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey, USA.

"The journey had a big impact on Luther," said Sarah Wilson, research professor at the Institute for Ecumenical Research in Strasbourg, France, in an interview with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) News Service. Wilson is a pastor of the ELCA and editor of Lutheran Forum.

When she began her work in Strasbourg, Wilson said she did not know much about ecumenism. But she said she has since gained a passion for it during her time with the Institute, which is among several organisations sponsoring the journey.

Wilson explained that she and her husband are posting daily updates at http://www.hereiwalk.org on the web. "During the Reformation it was pamphlets; for us it's blogs," she added. The couple will also post updates using social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter, and post photos and video taken during their journey.

Writing in The Wall Street Journal last week, Wilson commented that during the pilgrimage "our hope is that, through the use of these new media, the controversial figure of Martin Luther and the current relationship between the Catholic and Lutheran churches will appear in a new light."

"Most Lutherans and Catholics remain unaware of the remarkable ways that their churches have drawn together over the past 50 years," she wrote. "Differences and disputes still compel greater interest than convergence and agreement. So we two pilgrims invite Catholics, Lutherans and all other Christians concerned for the unity of the church to join us on this pilgrimage."

The Wilsons will use their website to engage followers about Reformation history, Luther's journey and discuss ecumenical concepts and spirituality, Wilson commented. She said they will also discuss the 1999 Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, a significant milestone in Lutheran-Catholic relations, reflect on Vatican II and other significant topics for Protestants and Catholics. "We will try to draw some connections between Catholics and Lutherans," she said.

"I think the most significant piece is that the ecumenical movement invites us to see each other in the light of God, overlooking neither our failures (nor our) virtues," Wilson said. She added that by taking the journey and engaging Lutherans and others, she and her husband hope people see Luther as a teacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Andrew Lars Wilson, a post-doctoral fellow at the Foundation for Interreligious and Intercultural Research and Dialogue, Geneva, has also done a lot of hiking in his lifetime. He determined the route the two will take, making adjustments to it based on the advice of friends and followers.

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Seven people who say they were abused as children by a Roman Catholic priest in California are taking legal action against the Catholic Diocese of Oakland.

Seven people who say they were abused as children by a Roman Catholic priest in California are taking legal action against the Catholic Church.

They are suing the diocese of Oakland, where the abuse is alleged to have taken place. They accuse the diocese of hiring the priest, Stephen Kiesle, despite knowing that there were several allegations of abuse against him.

Kiesle was removed from the priesthood in 1987. Nine years earlier, he had been convicted of “lewd conduct” with two boys.

The six women and one man who are bringing the case allege that the Diocese did nothing effective to safeguard children. One of their lawyers has said that the Church was more concerned with its own reputation.

In response, a spokesperson for the diocese of Oakland told the BBC that they have not yet seen the details of the legal challenge filed against them.

The case has drawn attention partly because of the involvement of the current Pope, then Cardinal Ratzinger, who discussed Kiesle's potential defrocking with the diocese in the 1980s. He wrote that the allegations against Kiesle were of “grave significance” and that the question of removing him from the priesthood required “careful review”.

However, neither the Pope nor Vatican officials are named in the current lawsuit.

The Roman Catholic Church has faced thousands of allegations of child sexual abuse in various parts of the world in recent years. Grassroots Catholic groups have urged the Vatican to respond more meaningfully to the crisis and to address the power structures and culture that encouraged the cover-up of abuse.

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