Bomb attack outside cathedral in Zanzibar
A HOMEMADE bomb exploded outside the historic Christ Church
Cathedral in Stone Town, the capital of Zanzibar, on Monday. There
were no injuries, and only slight damage to a car near by. A second
bomb was detonated close to a restaurant popular with tourists.
Violence by Islamists on the island, a semi-autonomous part of
Tanzania, has increased in recent years.
Kentucky pastor's son carries on rattlesnake
tradition
THE snake that killed the snake-handling pastor Jamie Coots in
the United States on 15 February was at the front of a service
again on Sunday, in the hands of Mr Coots's son Cody. At the fringe
Pentecostal church in Kentucky, Mr Coots regularly involved snakes
in services, following a literal interpretation of Mark 16.18:
"They shall take up serpents." Cody Coots told a radio station that
it was his father's dying wish that his church should continue to
handle the snakes.
South Korean convicted of tax fraud
THE Revd David Yong-gi Cho, the pastor and founder of one of the
largest churches in the world, the Yoido Full Gospel Church, in
Seoul, South Korea, has been found guilty of embezzling church
funds. A court in Seoul convicted him of causing losses worth more
than £7 million to the Church through fraudulent stock deals, and
of tax evasion worth almost £2 million (News,
29 November 2013). He was sentenced to three years in prison,
and fined £2.8 million. His son Cho Hee-jun was also found guilty,
and sentenced to three years' imprisonment.