Pak court acquits 10 Muslim men in church arson case due to lack of evidence
The verdict, comes nearly two years after the August 2023 incident, where mobs vandalised and set ablaze over 20 churches and more than 80 Christian residences in Jaranwala.
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The Age
39 minutes ago
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If you dream it, you can be it: The Katy Perry ethos takes flight in Melbourne
MUSIC Katy Perry | The Lifetimes Tour ★★★★ Rod Laver Arena, until June 14 Katy Perry is pure pop. Her songs promise, and mostly deliver, a good time. And her Lifetimes concert does the same, across two and a half hours, five acts, multiple costume changes and more than 20 songs from a back catalogue stretching to 2008 (the pre-Perry Christian singer Katy Hudson gets a brief acknowledgement but no stage time). But this big, spectacular, noisy and surprisingly intimate show also has grander ambitions, in which it has mixed success. It's all there in the framing device: a video game in which KP143, an 'enhanced' version of Katy Perry, attempts to unseat Mainframe, the AI that has come to rule humanity rather than serve it. To do so, she must free the butterflies that have been captured to power the AI, and to do that she needs to collect love, in the form of glowing hearts that descend from the arena rafters. The 143, of course, refers to the title of her latest and much-criticised album, and is tech speak for 'I love you' (with its origins in pager messaging from the 1990s). Phew. That's a lot of freight to load onto the shoulders of a bunch of pop songs, even a set as hook-heavy as Perry's. And at times, the strain shows. The stage is set in what looks like a figure eight, though it's actually the infinity symbol; later on, while singing E.T., a lightsaber-wielding Perry does battle with a lengthy bit of heating duct that is meant to represent the 'infinite worm' spewed out by Mainframe. It's the weakest moment in a show that has plenty of goof and lots of camp and heaps of flying on wires, and mostly manages to deploy them to great effect. The backdrop is a wall of screens, suggestive of the importance of video to Perry's success, but also integral to the narrative; it's up here, in lengthy clips, that the framing story unfolds, while Perry is offstage changing costumes.
Sydney Morning Herald
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- Sydney Morning Herald
If you dream it, you can be it: The Katy Perry ethos takes flight in Melbourne
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South Wales Argus
43 minutes ago
- South Wales Argus
Faith matters: Heartfelt prayers make a difference
The words are so familiar that it is easy to say them without really pausing for thought, asking ourselves 'what is it we are actually praying for?' and 'do our prayers really make a difference?' Let me be up front: I do think prayers, heartfelt prayers, make a difference. They make a difference to us, and they make a difference to the world around us. Occasionally, the difference is dramatic, miraculous even, but more frequently, the difference takes place slowly and imperceptibly. Every year a period of nine days, running from Ascension Day to the feast of Pentecost, is set aside for reflection on the Lord's Prayer which includes the phrase 'Thy Kingdom come thy will be done, on Earth as in heaven.' If we are going to pray these words, from the heart, it strikes me that we need to understand the attributes or virtues that characterise God's Kingdom and will. In understanding these terms, we are given a glimpse into what heaven may be like, and what earth could be like. When we pray, one of the hoped-for outcomes is therefore that the gap between heaven and earth shrinks. In the words of the 1980's rock ballet singer Belinda Carlisle, heaven' becomes 'a place on Earth.' Fantasy? Possibly. Worth praying for? Definitely. So, what is God's will? Well, it's simple really: that our lives are characterised by love, love of God, and love of neighbour (see Matthew Chapter 22 verses 37-40). The Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10, 25-37), however, makes it clear that Jesus' definition of neighbour extends way beyond those just like us, members of our natural affinity groups. Christian love should be both expansive and lavish. Christian love does not, or should not, discriminate. St, Paul wrote this in his letter to the Romans (chapter 14 verse 17): 'for the Kingdom of God is not food and drink but justice and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.' When we pray the Lord's Prayer, from the heart, we make a series of commitments. We commit to love God and neighbour and, we commit to pursue justice and peace. We make these commitments in the belief that in their enactment we will come to experience a deep sense of spiritual joy. Does prayer make a difference? Yes, I believe it does, both within and beyond ourselves. 'Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as in heaven.' Andrew Lightbown is chaplain to the City of Newport, St Woolos Cathedral.
