Sailors remain trapped in 'Kafkaesque
nightmare'
SIX British sailors trapped in India since 2013 will have to
wait until July to find out if they can come home. They were among
35 seamen on the anti-piracy ship MV Seaman Guard Ohio arrested by
Indian police and charged with illegally possessing firearms in
international waters. After six months in prison in Chennai, the
charges were quashed last year, but they have not been able to
leave India while an appeal is ongoing. The result of the appeal
will be heard in July. The Mission to Seafarers, which has been
supporting the men, said that being trapped in a "Kafkaesque
nightmare" had taken its toll on the men, but they prayed that the
matter would be resolved soon.
Drink-driving US bishop replaced
A RECOVERING alcoholic who is an expert on addiction has been
named as the temporary replacement for the former Episcopalian
suffragan bishop Heather Cook, who has been charged with
drink-driving and manslaughter after she was involved in a
collision in which a cyclist was killed (News, 16 January). Ms
Cook resigned from her post in the diocese of Maryland, in the
United States, earlier this month. The former Bishop of Maine, the
Rt Revd Chilton Knudsen, will take over her functions. Bishop
Knudsen went into rehab in 1985 to deal with her alcoholism, and
has since become well known as an author on addiction, and for
counselling clergy who are suffering from alcoholism.
Case filed in Turkish court over Armenian Church
HQ
THE Armenian Church has begun legal action in an attempt to
recover its historic headquarters, which were seized by the Turkish
government during the period of the Armenian genocide at the start
of the 20th century, the anniversary of which is being marked this
year. In April, lawyers filed a case with the Constitutional Court
in Turkey, alleging that the site in the Turkish town of Sis, which
includes a cathedral and monastery, belong to the Church and should
be returned, the New York Times reported. The Catholicos of the
Holy See of Cilicia and spiritual leader of the Armenian disapora,
Aram I, told the newspaper that the lawsuit was the first step in a
campaign to recover all property taken from Armenians during the
genocide.