Archbishop Moxon to retire next year

THE Archbishop of Canterbury has announced that his representative to the Holy See, and director of the Anglican Centre in Rome (ACR), Archbishop David Moxon, is to retire in June next year, after four years in the post. Archbishop Welby said on Tuesday that Archbishop Moxon had “pioneered joint work on practical social ethical issues”, and strengthened the Anglican and Roman Catholic relationship. The ACR is now looking for a “theologically able and linguistic” Anglican bishop to take over the combined post, which is based in Rome. Applications close on 31 December.

War in Yemen affects millions

THE war in Yemen, now in its second year, has resulted in the deaths of more than 7000 people, and about 37,000 wounded, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported this week. The UN agency said in a statement that a further 21 million people in the country were in need of urgent health services, since more than half of the 3507 health facilities in the country had been closed or were only partially functioning. Fighting broke out in Yemen between rebels and forces supported by the Saudi-led coalition, after insurgents stormed the city of Saana, in March last year. The WHO said that 2.1 million people had been internally displaced by the conflict.

Myanmar state accepts food aid after four-week lockdown

MYANMAR is accepting the first food deliveries for more than four weeks in the north of Rakhine State, where a military lockdown is ongoing, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported on Monday. The humanitarian agency said in a statement that the World Food Programme had been given permission to deliver aid to four villages, but warned that access restrictions continued to cut off tens of thousands of people. It comes after nine police officers were killed in Maungdaw, on the border with Bangladesh, in a series of attacks thought to involve minority Rohingya Muslims, last month. The State Counsellor of Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi, has refrained from apportioning blame until more evidence has been gathered.