Bishop calls for betting ban in Australian sport

A MORATORIUM on betting on sports, including cricket, should be considered as a response to the Australian Crime Commission's "devastating" report on sport in the country, the Bishop of Melbourne, the Rt Revd Philip Huggins, said last Friday. The report identified "widespread use" of illegal drugs, and evidence of links between professional athletes and organised criminal groups, which "may have resulted in match-fixing and the fraudulent manipulation of betting markets".

Tsunami hits Solomon Islands

A TSUNAMI in the Solomon Islands on Wednesday of last week left at least 13 people dead. Triggered by an 8.0-magnitude undersea earthquake, it flattened several villages, and as many as 3500 people could be affected. World Vision, which has 20 staff in the province, is assisting with the emergency response.

Ethiopian Christians arrested in Saudi Arabia

THE Saudi authorities arrested 53 Ethiopian Christians who were attending a service at the home of an Ethiopian in the city of Dammam last Friday, the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) reports. A relative of one of those arrested told the WEA that they had been accused of converting Muslims to Christianity. In January last year, Human Rights Watch reported that 35 Ethiopian Christians had been arrested and charged with "illicit mingling".