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White poppy events in Wales

15 November 2012 | by The Friend Newsdesk | 0 comments

Poppy wreath at the base of the Celtic cross in Narberth, Pembrokeshire. | Photo: Jill Gough.

Welsh Quakers were involved in several ‘white poppy’ events over the Remembrance weekend that bore witness to the continuing need for the peaceful resolution of conflict in the world today.

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Waldo Williams

15 November 2012 | by The Friend Newsdesk | 0 comments

The distinguished Welsh Quaker poet Waldo Williams was the subject of a special Remembrance Day programme on BBC Radio Wales.  The programme used extracts from a talk given by Rowan Williams, archbishop of Canterbury, and contributions from people who knew the famous Welsh poet to paint a picture of...

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Quarterly Coup

15 November 2012 | by The Friend Newsdesk | 0 comments

The Friends Quarterly, sister publication of The Friend, has managed something of a journalistic ‘coup’ in featuring an article by Justin Welby in the current edition.  The ex-oil company executive, and present bishop of Durham, has just been announced as the successor to Rowan Williams and the 105th archbishop...

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Peace Centre demolished

FREE 08 November 2012 | by Symon Hill | 0 comments

Salim and Arabiya Shawamreh in the rubble of the building the day after the demolition. | Photo: Christian Aid/Sarah Malian.

Israeli and Palestinian peace groups expressed dismay that a Peace Centre on the edge of Jerusalem has been demolished by the Israeli army. The centre, Beit Arabiya, was destroyed in the early hours of Thursday 1 November.  It was the sixth occasion on which the building had been demolished. It...

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Concern over Cameron’s Gulf visit

08 November 2012 | by The Friend Newsdesk | 0 comments

The visit this week by David Cameron to the Gulf to promote arms sales has been criticised by pacifists and campaign organisa-tions opposed to the arms trade.  The prime minister was in Dubai in an effort to persuade the United Arab Emirates to buy sixty Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets....

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Home Office set to deport transplant patient to Nigeria

08 November 2012 | by Clare Sambrook | 0 comments

Roseline Akhalu | Photo: John McLaughlin.

Doctors, clergy and parliamentarians have called upon home secretary Theresa May to stop the removal of kidney-transplant patient Roseline Akhalu to Nigeria.  Roseline, aged forty-nine, who lives in Headingley, Leeds, came to the UK in September 2004 on a student visa, having beaten fierce competition to win a Ford Foundation...

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Circles broadcast appeal postponed

08 November 2012 | by The Friend Newsdesk | 0 comments

The charity appeal for Circles of Support and Accountability, to have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Sunday 4 November, has been postponed.  The appeal was to have been given by the distinguished barrister and human rights campaigner Helena Kennedy. It was postponed because of a ‘shared concern that, given...

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Friends support ‘fair deal’ for John Lewis cleaners

01 November 2012 | by The Friend Newsdesk | 0 comments

Some members of London Citizens outside John Lewis on Oxford Street, London | Courtesy of the Living Wage Foundation.

Quakers from across London are working with London Citizens to call for fairer treatment for cleaners who work in the John Lewis Partnership.  Friends met in mid-October at Westminster Meeting House to discuss a plan of action in support of the cleaners. They have highlighted Saturday 17 November as an â€...

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Socially useful banking

FREE 01 November 2012 | by The Friend Newsdesk | 0 comments

We need to rediscover the social usefulness of banks. This was one of the messages heard at the Occupy sponsored talk and discussion entitled Socially Useful Banking on Monday 29 October in Friends House, London.

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EU complicit

01 November 2012 | by The Friend Newsdesk | 0 comments

QPSW has joined with twenty-two other non-governmental organisations across Europe to launch a report, entitled Trading Away Peace: How Europe helps sustain illegal Israeli settlements.

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