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".