BBC Religion

'No easy answer' to gang problems

There is no simple answer to solving the problems of controlling gangs, the Bishop of Liverpool has said.

The Right Rev Dr James Jones spoke after Sean Mercer, 18, was jailed for the murder of schoolboy Rhys Jones.

Eni.ch

S. African anti-apartheid cleric Boesak joins ANC breakaway

The former head of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and prominent anti-apartheid activist, Allan Boesak, has joined the newly-launched Congress of the People, South Africa's newest political party.

Boesak, who once led the South Africa's ruling African National Congress in the Western Cape province, announced his decision to join the party at the final session of Cope's 14-16 December founding conference in Bloemfontein, the capital of the Orange Free State province.

"Cope must be the new vision for South Africans to build a new home for all," Boesak told supporters at the Bloemfontein conference, the Mail and Guardian newspaper reported on its Web site (www.mg.co.za).

AP

For inauguration prayer, Obama splits ticket

The clergy chosen by President-elect Barack Obama to pray at his inauguration fill separate symbolic roles: One is a nod to the civil rights activists who made Obama's election possible. The other is an overture to conservative Christians who rankles some Obama supporters.