China unofficial Christian churches petition ministers

The leaders of 17 unofficial Christian churches in China have appealed to political leaders to protect their right to worship.

A petition was delivered to parliament demanding an investigation into the treatment of Shouwang church members.

China's constitution guarantees freedom of worship but dozens of church members have been arrested in recent months.

Of China's estimated 70m Christians, about 50m worship with unregistered groups known as "house" churches.

The rest attend government-approved churches.

(Read the rest at the BBC online.)

If you look at the related news stories you'll see this kind of thing isn't new news. PBS also looked at Christians in China, at the official vs. unofficial churches, and the persecution of the latter.

Spain earthquake: Lorca residents assess damage

Residents in the Spanish town of Lorca are assessing the damage from quakes that killed nine people and forced thousands to spend the night outdoors.

The mayor of the historic town, with a population of 90,000, said: "Almost no-one slept in their homes".

Some 20,000 buildings are believed to have been damaged in what was Spain's worst earthquake for 50 years.

The magnitude 5.2 tremor hit early on Wednesday evening, around two hours after a quake measuring 4.4.

Those who died - including at least one pregnant woman and a child - were killed by falling masonry in the second tremor.

Regional officials say at least 130 people have been injured, with several in a serious condition.

( Read the rest at the BBC News online. )

( Also, pictures post-quake. )

Mom was telling me about this last night. I didn't realize it had basically just happened. What with everything going on in the world right now it seems to have been semi-buried. I'm glad I saw it on the BBC site.