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A selection of stories from today's press and other media that relate to Ekklesia's work, produced daily by James Vincent and covering papers such as The Times, Daily Telegraph, Independent and Guardian.

Religion & Society

Bishops claim £136,000 in expenses from House of Lords and £1.4million from Church of England
Bishops who sit in the House of Lords are able to live both in London and their dioceses for free under a unique arrangement that saw them claim more than £1.5million in expenses last year.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/6860012/Bishops-...

Archbishops condemn attacks on Zimbabwe's Anglicans locked out of church
The Archbishops of Canterbury and York have condemned a surge in intimidation and violence against Anglican worshippers in Zimbabwe instigated by an excommunicated bishop allied to President Robert Mugabe.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/6922163/Archbishops-...

Good riddance to a gruelling decade, says Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury today writes off the Noughties as ten “terrible and gruelling years” and pleads for humankind to change its ways.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article6972895.ece

Archbishop of Westminster criticises dogmatists
The archbishop of Westminster today claimed secularists were "just as dogmatic as the worst religious believer and sometimes more stridently so".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/03/archbishop-of-westminster-cr...

Pope Benedict XVI's aide visits his Christmas Eve attacker to show the pontiff's 'benevolence'
The female attacker who knocked down the Pope in St Peter's Basilica on Christmas Eve has been visited by Benedict XVI's secretary.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1240294/Pope-Benedict-...

Malaysia will fight Christians' right to call God 'Allah'
The Malaysian government is to challenge a court ruling which decreed that Christians have a constitutional right to use the word Allah to refer to God.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/malaysia-will-fight-christi...

Vatican defends sainthood moves for controversial wartime pope
The Vatican has sought to defuse a growing row with the Jewish community after an outcry over its decision to move the controversial wartime Pope, Pius XII, a step closer to sainthood.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article6966350.ece

Comment: Blasphemy laws can only invite trouble
None of us likes being insulted, but only a priest seeks to pass a law against it.
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/philip-hensher/philip-...

Comment: Africa's apocalyptic mood
Religious fervour and the effects of climate change may combine with explosive effect over the coming months and years.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2009/dec/31/africa-climat...

Comment: I've changed my mind about religion
September 11 changed my belief that religion was a harmless anachronism. Now I see it is at the heart of modern political life.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2009/dec/26/goodbye-nough...

Comment: Islam's decade
An appalling event launched Islam into the spotlight. But amid the trauma, there are things to be thankful for.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2010/jan/01/islam-noughti...

Comment: Religion, no longer under the carpet
This was the decade in which, partly as a result of violent extremism, religion returned to the public square.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2009/dec/28/religion-extr...

Sex & Gender

Argentine couple take part in Latin America's first gay wedding
Two Argentine men have tied the knot in Latin America's first same-sex marriage.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/argentina/6902727...

We have been beaten in jail, say first openly gay couple in Malawi
Since they became the first openly gay couple in Malawi to be engaged, Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza have been arrested, put in prison and charged with offences that could lead to a 14-year jail sentence.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article6974678.ece

Comment: Polygamy for all
A Saudi journalist is demanding that women be given the right to four husbands. Maybe she has a point.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2010/jan/02/polygamy-poly...

Comment: Monjeza and Chimbalanga: a passion that divides Africa and the West
Few issues crystallise the differences between European and African cultures as much as the continents’ diverging attitudes toward homosexuality.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article6974769.ece

Economy & Politics

MPs invoke 1689 Bill to avoid prosecution
Three labour MPs are arguing they cannot be prosecuted over expenses claims because they are protected by parliamentary privilege.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/mps-invoke-1689-bill-to-av...

400 MPs told to hand back their dodgy expenses
More than 400 MPs have received demands to repay excessive expenses claims, it emerged yesterday.
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/149548/400-MPs-told-to-hand-back-the...

Comment: In the next decade, I hope for a new politics
From a hung parliament to more experienced and older people in office, I can dream of better government, can't I?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jan/03/goodbye-noughties-ne...

Ecology & Environment

Sun, wind and wave-powered: Europe unites to build renewable energy 'supergrid'
North Sea countries plan €30bn clean energy project for continuous, weather-proof electricity supply.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/03/european-unites-renewa...

Plane hypocrisy
Officials in the Government's green quango took 120 short-haul flights last year while telling others not to fly.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2792820/Governments-green-quan...

Education & Culture

Hundreds of thousands leave teaching profession
More than 400,000 qualified teachers are no longer working in the classroom, according to new figures published today.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/hundreds-of-t...

Catholic church defends decision to complain about top comprehensive
The Catholic church has defended a decision to complain about its best comprehensive to the schools adjudicator, Alan Parker, over a points-based admissions policy that penalised the less devout.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/jan/01/catholic-church-vaughan-...

Life & Death

Four more face execution in China for alleged heroin smuggling
Four more foreigners face the death penalty in China for drug smuggling, days after a diplomatic row over the execution of a British national.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1239786/Four-face-exec...

Inquest plea from executed Briton's family
The family of executed Briton Akmal Shaikh today called for the Government to order an immediate inquest into his death in China.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/inquest-plea-from-execute...

Peace & War

US wants new UN sanctions against Iran's 'continuing' nuclear ambitions
The US believes the official intelligence assessment of Iran's nuclear programme is wrong and Tehran is working on the design of a nuclear weapon, it was reported today.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/03/us-intelligence-iran-nuclear...

North Korea's message of peace to US
North Korea has called for an end to hostile relations with the United States, official news agency KCNA reported.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/north-koreas-message-of...

Race & Identity

120,000 sign up to Facebook protest to stop Islamic extremist march through Wootton Bassett
More than 120,000 people had last night signed an internet petition protesting about plans by Islamic extremists to march through Wootton Bassett.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1240318/100-000-people-Facebook-...

Axe-wielding man charged with attempted murder after breaking into home of Danish 'Mohammed' cartoonist
A Somali man was charged yesterday with attempting to kill a Danish cartoonist whose depiction of the Prophet Mohammed wearing a bomb-shaped turban sparked riots across the Muslim world in 2005.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1240003/Axe-wielding-m...

Community & Family

New Year sees record number of divorces
Today is D-Day – Divorce Day – when more petitions for break ups are begun than at any other time of the year.
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/149551/New-Year-sees-record-number-o...

Crime & Justice

Iraq will help Blackwater victims sue
Iraq will help victims of the 2007 shooting of civilians in Baghdad to file a lawsuit in the US against employees of security firm Blackwater, an incident that turned a spotlight on the United States' use of private contractors in war zones.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/03/iraq-blackwater-victims-sue-...

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