Pakistan: Church destroyed; 5,000 Christian families faces eviction Posted: Wednesday, March 12, 2014 8:35 pm Email Print

A large group of Muslim extremists has destroyed a church that was under construction in Okara, Punjab Pakistan. The walls of the church had been completed, on land donated by a local Christian resident, Akber Masih. When a cross was placed in front of the main gate of the small construction yard a mob arrived with bulldozers and demolished the building.

The faithful filed a complaint to the police, but the NGO 'Sharing Life Ministries Pakistan', said the perpetrators have not been arrested - thanks to the political influence they have. Christians in the neighbourhood who have asked for protection to civil authorities, on the other hand, have received threats and have now abandoned the idea of building a church.

Elsewhere, in the capital, Islamabad, more than 5,000 Christian families who have lived for years in overcrowded slum conditions, with no piped water or sanitation now face homelessness, as a High Court judge has ordered the demolition of ten settlements.Christian leaders are asking the municipality to think about some form of accommodation for them.

Source: Fides

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Pakistan: Church destroyed; 5,000 Christian families faces eviction

Offers of help for Cathedral restoration 'resented' PHILIP BURDON

Joseph Johnson/Fairfax NZ

ICONIC HERITAGE: The Anglican Cathedral is the oldest in NZ and has the highest heritage listing possible.

Nothing would symbolise survival, rebirth and memorial so dramatically as the restoration of the Christ Church Cathedral, writes Philip Burdon

The legacy of the earthquake is a devastated and broken city that has shown a brave and determined ambition to recover and rebuild.

The Arts Centre, the Canterbury Museum and the very badly damaged Provincial Council Chambers have all committed to a restoration programme that has the support and endorsement of their governing bodies.

Of the iconic symbols of the history and heritage of the city, only the cathedral remains an issue of bitter contention and debate.

The cathedral was, and remains, the physical symbol of the deeply religious convictions and beliefs of the founding fathers of the Canterbury Settlement.

Its 40-year construction remains a permanent monument to the tenacity of the Anglican Church and the commitment of the broader community to dignify the city of Christchurch with an appropriate physical presence.

The cathedral was the first Anglican cathedral in New Zealand to be completed and it remains the oldest Anglican Cathedral in the country. In architectural terms it is distinguished as the only building in Australasia designed by Sir George Scott, the pre-eminent Victorian church architect.

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Bishop's attitude to Cathedral 'bizarre'

Extremists Demolish Church Building, Local Government Takes No Action Islamabad, March 13, 2014 (Zenit.org) | 141 hits

Pakistani Christians in Islamabad are reporting abuses against them for their faith.

According to Fides News Agency, Islamic extremists prevented the construction of a Church on land donated by a local Christian.

After the walls of the Church were completed, a cross was place on the main gate of the building. Upon seeing the Christian symbol, extremists bulldozed the construction site and demolished the building. Although a complaint was filed with the police, no arrests were made in connection to the demolition.

Several Christians have also asked for protection from authorities after receiving threats for Church project.

Christian minorities living in the poorest neighbourhoods in Pakistan are facing eviction from the local government. An estimated 5,000 Christians live in the settlements, which a High Court judge in Islamabad deemed inhospitable and abusive. The settlements lack water pipes and sewer systems.

Christian leaders have asked the municipality to help arrange accommodation for the families who have lived for years in Islamabad.

(March 13, 2014) Innovative Media Inc.

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Christians in Pakistan Continue to Be Threatened

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San Francisco --

A fast-moving fire that consumed a large apartment building under construction in San Francisco's Mission Bay neighborhood burned into the night Tuesday, but firefighters were able to keep the blaze from spreading to nearby structures.

The five-alarm fire engulfed the building on Fourth Street near China Basin Street just before 5 p.m., sending black smoke thousands of feet into the sky. Scaffolding melted as chunks of the six-story, 80-foot-tall building fell away. Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White called it the city's largest blaze in several years.

Fire officials said the structure was likely to collapse.

"The open construction of the building allowed for rapid fire spread," said fire Capt. Matthew McNaughton, adding that investigators have not determined what started the blaze.

Nearby buildings were evacuated as more than 150 firefighters battled the flames, using about 90 fire trucks and other apparatuses. The roof of UCSF's Mission Bay research building, a block away, briefly caught fire, but it was quickly put out, McNaughton said.

One firefighter suffered minor burns, he said, but there were no other injuries.

The smoke "was like a huge mushroom cloud. It was as high as a plane," said Gary "Slim" Forte, 38, who was among a large crowd of locals watching the fire. "It looked like somebody blew a nuclear weapon."

Several dozen residents were evacuated from the Strata apartment building across Fourth Street from the construction site, and about 25 were gathered late Tuesday at an American Red Cross evacuation center at Pier 54.

Firefighters still had not contained the blaze by 10:15 p.m. McNaughton said he expected crews to remain on scene until the morning. "We have a center core that looks like a volcano," he said.

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Huge San Francisco fire destroys six-story apartment ...

Firefighters worked to stamp out the remaining hot spots Wednesday at an apartment complex that was consumed by flames in San Francisco's Mission Bay neighborhood, as investigators looked into whether welding work ignited the inferno during construction of the huge project.

Hundreds of residents of homes in nearby buildings remained evacuated because the fire's intense heat blew out windows, set off sprinkler systems and caused other damage.

Water pooled at the base of the gutted structure as firefighters poured millions of gallons of water on the building throughout the day. Puffs of smoke rose periodically as onlookers gathered to take pictures. Workers with brooms swept glass, the debris from the busted windows, from the sidewalk.

Tuesday's blaze - the city's biggest in years - had advanced quickly through the six-story structure, which city officials and building experts said was particularly vulnerable to fire because materials that repel fire hadn't been added and safety systems such as sprinklers hadn't been installed.

Whatever the cause, officials said, the fire appears to have smoldered for up to an hour before crews arrived about 5 p.m., finding 40-foot walls of flames and a plume of smoke that billowed above the city and could be seen across the Bay Area.

Mayor Ed Lee, who visited the site on Fourth Street near China Basin Street on Wednesday, credited firefighters for keeping the conflagration from spreading. The fire was confined to a 172-unit portion of the apartment complex, with the exception of a roof that briefly ignited at an adjacent UCSF research facility.

The scorched building is part of an emerging Mission Bay neighborhood, just south of AT&T Park, where several developments are in the works as part of city revitalization efforts.

"People will say the city responded well, and our Fire Department deserves some kudos on this," Lee said.

The Fourth Street apartments are part of a 360-unit project known as MB360, headed by developer BRE Properties Inc. of San Francisco. A second piece of MB360, where 188 apartments are under construction nearby, did not burn. The homes were expected to be completed late this year.

Officials at BRE Properties said Wednesday that the site was insured for fire damage. However, the future of the site remained unclear as the company plans to merge with Palo Alto-based Essex Properties later this year. Essex Properties officials did not return a call seeking comment.

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San Francisco fire: Welding explored as cause of inferno