Dora Bryan dies, aged 91
THE actress Dora Bryan (pictured with a resident of the
Miles Court Church Army Home, Brighton, at an open day in
1992) died on Wednesday of last week, at the age of 91. Born
in Southport, Lancashire, she starred in Hello, Dolly in
the West End, and won an Olivier award for her portrayal of Meg in
The Birthday Party by Harold Pinter, and a BAFTA for her
performance in the film A Taste of Honey. TV roles
included Roz in Last of the Summer Wine. In a Church
Times interview she spoke of her "strong faith" (Interview,
13 January 2006).
BBC seeks infested churches
CHURCHES suffering from infestations of rats, cockroaches, bats,
or even snakes are being asked to take part in a new TV series
about female pest controllers. The production company Keo Films is
looking for churches riddled with pests to take part in the
four-part series, which will be filmed between now and September.
www.keofilms.com
Parliamentary group plans inquiry into
anti-Semitism
A PARLIAMENTARY report on anti-Semitism is planned by John Mann
MP, who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group Against
Antisemitism, it was announced on Monday. It will explore "lessons
that can be learned from the current upsurge of anti-Jewish
violence emanating from the Middle East conflict".
Government urged to change rules on civil-partnership
conversion
MORE than 4000 people have signed a petition urging the
Government to change regulations so that couples converting a civil
partnership into a marriage can have "a wedding and a marriage
certificate". Currently, the conversion has to take place in a
register office with a Superintendent Registrar present - excluding
religious venues - and a conversion certificate is issued. The
change.org petition was started by Jakki Livesey-van Dorst, who has
been in a civil partnership for eight years.
Correction: In our report last week "'Trojan
horse' letter finds claims justified", we incorrectly quoted the
leader of Birmingham City Council as saying that it had not taken
action "because of the risk of being seen as racist or homophobic".
This should have read "racist or Islamophobic".