Medics at a Glasgow hospital were terrorised by a colleague who threatened to bomb the building when told there was no prayer room for him to practise his faith. Police were called to the Southern General in Govan when he became abusive and threatened to blow up the hospital. It is understood that the man is a temporary porter at the five-storey laboratory building, part of the new £842m South Glasgow University Hospital. The incident sparked fears that the new 1,365-bed, 14-floor, South Glasgow University Hospital could be a target for terrorists. Medics told the Evening Times that they fear for their safety after details of the incident on 10 April emerged this week. One doctor, who asked to remain anonymous, said, ‘There are no security staff on site. The new building is due to open soon and could potentially be a target.’

Democratic Unionist Party MP Jeffrey Donaldson, who is a Stormont Junior Minister,  said the Department of Health has - for the first time - published guidance to health professionals in Northern Ireland on terminating pregnancy. Such guidelines have not been previously in place as abortion remains illegal in NI, except when the mother's life is at risk. He said, ‘We will not be liberalising the law on abortion here.’ The Royal College of Midwives has said they will bring greater clarity to the legal position of staff who take part in terminations. Although the move will not change the law, and the guidelines will merely make clear what is and is not permitted, Jeffrey Donaldson has already said he and his party colleagues were unhappy with some of the guidelines. ‘We had a number of concerns that we raised with the Health Minister,’ he said.

Police figures have revealed that hundreds of children have been caught with drugs at school, including cannabis, cocaine and even heroin. The figures, released under the Freedom of Information Act, reveal that there have been more than 2,000 drug incidents on school premises over the last four years. Four incidents involved children under the age of eleven, and one included an eight-year-old child. The figures were obtained from information provided by 34 police forces across England and Wales. Cannabis was involved in 625 incidents, while 27 cases were of children being caught with cocaine. Other types of drugs listed included LSD, amphetamines and ecstasy and seven instances of heroin possession on school premises. The incidents involving children under the age of eleven included an eight-year-old and a nine-year-old who were each caught with cannabis. Chris Keates, the General Secretary of teacher’s union NASUWT, described the evidence as ‘worrying’.

More minority ethnic Anglicans are needed for ordained ministry in the Church of England, the Archbishop of York said last week. In a foreword to a new booklet on minority ethnic vocations, Dr John Sentamu said there has never been a better time for Christians from minority ethnic backgrounds to respond to God's call to ordained ministry in the Church of England. ‘There is a greater need than ever for minority ethnic Anglicans to respond to God's call to ministry and servant leadership - we need people who are equipped for cross-ultural ministry in our increasingly diverse society,’ Dr Sentamu said. ‘We need more minority ethnic clergy as deacons, priests and bishops. We need ethnic diversity at all levels in the Church's ministry. This booklet shows how crucial it is for our ongoing vocations work in the Church of England.

Britain needs leaders who will look on asylum seekers from Africa with 'compassion', the Bishop of Manchester has said. Rt Revd David Walker said there was a ‘political rhetoric that characterises them as wilful criminals rather than helpless victims’. Writing for the Observer newspaper the bishop said migrants are attempting to come to Europe through desperation and not want. ‘They are pushed, not pulled, towards the EU, forced out of their homelands by war, terrorism and the persecution of minorities,’ he wrote. Bishop David said: ‘Twenty-first-century Britain still aspires to be an international player. The moral cost of our continual overseas interventions has to include accepting a fair share of the victims of the wars to which we have contributed as legitimate refugees in our own land,’ he urged. Just days away from the General Election Bishop David said he wanted a government that looked upon refugees with compassion.

A Presbyterian church minister has issued a warning following the first legal recognition of a Pagan 'church' in Northern Ireland. Minister of Magheramason Presbyterian Church in Londonderry, Rev Graeme Orr, told the Irish News Letter: ‘There is a dark spiritual side involved with paganism that I would like people to be wary about. I would invite people to come and speak to me and find their answers through God.’ While most religions go back hundreds, even thousands of years, The Order of the Golden River – Northern Ireland's first official Pagan church – was established just six years ago, in 2009. Led by Patrick Cranberry, now legally recognised as a Pagan priest in the country, the group's members have remained anonymous since its founding. Though Cranberry says he has recieved a lot of support in the last few weeks, Orr says he is worried for the people of Londonderry, where The Order has been offered a building.

Children struggle to read emotions and are less empathetic than a generation ago because they spend too much time using tablets and smartphones, a leading psychiatrist has warned. Iain McGilchrist said children as young as five were less able to read facial expressions because of too much interaction with technology. He added that he had evidence that more pupils were displaying borderline ‘autistic’ behaviour. Dr McGilchrist, a former Oxford literary scholar who retrained in medicine, said he had heard of increasing numbers of teachers who had to explain to their pupils how to make sense of human faces.  He said ‘plausible’ theories as to why children are less empathetic are to do with the disruptive effects of technology in the family unit. ‘Children spend more time engaging with machines and with virtual reality than they used to in the past,’

Christians across Britain are being invited to join an ‘election prayer surge’ on the eve of the general election in a bid to pray in ‘God's will’ for the nation. In a pastoral letter, Dr Jonathan Oloyede, convenor of the National Day of Prayer and Worship, has issued a prayer summons to evangelical, charismatic and any other committed Christians to gather outside Parliament on the evening of Wednesday 6 May between 7.14 and 8.14, or those who cannot travel down to London are encouraged to meet where they live in small and large groups. Thursday 7 May 2015 will be a significant day in the life of this nation as we head to the polling stations to vote for the next government, our local councillors and in some places for mayoral candidates,’ he writes. ‘I urge you to renew the call to prayer for the UK and the government. I know many of you are already praying, but I believe we need to raise the bar in praying for God's Kingdom to come and His will to be done.’ If you want to organise an event where you are, Jonathan invites you to email him directly at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.