South Sudan progress ‘slow’ despite Churches’ efforts

THE general secretary of the All Africa Conference of Churches, the Revd Fidon Mwombeki, has expressed concern at the slow pace of the South Sudanese peace process. Despite the signing of a peace agreement last summer (News, 14 September 2018), millions of civilians are affected by the civil conflict, which is estimated to have killed nearly 190,000. The fighting has created more than 2.2 million refugees since 2013. “I am not satisfied,” Mr Mwombeki told journalists in Nairobi last week. “I am very disappointed by lack of progress in South Sudan. The AACC has invested a lot for many years to bring peace together and bring the country together.”

Man held after Mexican pastor shot dead in pulpit

A PASTOR, Alfrery Líctor Cruz Canseco, of the Fraternidad Cristiana Church in Oaxaca, south-west Mexico, has been shot dead while preaching, Christian Solidarity Worldwide reports. Mr Canseco was in the pulpit when he was shot at point-blank range, and he died on the way to hospital. A man was detained by the congregation and handed over to the police. The motive for the murder is not yet known, but CSW said that it occurred after a series of attacks targeting religious leaders, including the enforced disappearance of another pastor this month.

Polluted water threatens economy, says World Bank

THE “invisible crisis” of poor water quality worldwide is cutting the economic potential of heavily polluted areas by one third, and threatening human and environmental well-being, a report published by the World Bank on Tuesday says. In some regions, rivers and lakes, including the Bellandur Lake in Bangalore, India, are catching fire, while others are polluted by bacteria, sewage, chemicals, and plastics that deplete the oxygen in water supplies. The use of nitrogen as a fertiliser in agriculture is particularly problematic, the report says.