Displaying items by tag: Europe

The EU’s environment commissioner, Virginijus Sinkevičius, said he was deeply concerned by the threats facing the Great Barrier Reef. ‘As long as we do not change our behaviours, things will not improve,’ he said. He hopes Australia will sign up to the 84-country Leaders’ Pledge for Nature - a document that calls for a ‘green and just’ recovery from the Covid-19 crisis and stronger political will to act against the ‘crises of biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation and climate change’. The leaders’ pledge backs the objective of achieving net zero emissions by 2050. The Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, has said this is his preference, but he has resisted making a formal commitment amid divisions within his government over climate policy. Coral reefs are threatened because of human activity - unsustainable ways of living, producing, and consuming.

The UK has joined other European countries and donated €500,000 to a human rights project investigating the Lukashenko regime in Belarus. The longtime dictator denies human rights abuses in his country despite overwhelming evidence gathered by journalists and NGOs. The project will collect, store, and build evidence of human rights violations and torture against the people which may in future be used in independent criminal proceedings. The initiative is led by a coalition of expert NGOs and supported by the UK, Denmark, Germany, and other international partners to hold Lukashenko’s regime to account for violations following the rigged Presidential election in 2020. This independent initiative, free from political interference, will help defend democracy, media freedom and human rights. It will help the Belarusian people take a vital step further towards securing justice.

So far Moldova has only received 36,000 doses of the Covid vaccine, barely enough for 1% of its population of 2.6 million. This stock isn't even enough to cover the country’s primary target - its 60,000 medical staff. A coordinator from the National Vaccine Program said a three-stage rollout is ready, but the doses are not. He explains that to keep to their target of immunising 70% of their population, ‘we need to have more negotiations with manufacturers. But we are a small country, with a small population; we are not as interesting for manufacturers as other countries. The consequences of the lack of doses are dire, especially for the most fragile’. An NGO distributing lunch boxes to elderly and isolated populations in a poor neighbourhood said, ‘The week we went there, the death rate had almost doubled compared to the previous week. Yet despite this, there is still no sign of more vaccines.’

In recent years, Algeria, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, among others, have distributed hundreds of millions of euros to finance the spread of Islam in Europe. On March 9, the Danish Parliament voted 79 to 7 to approve a new law banning foreign governments from financing mosques in Denmark. The measure is aimed at preventing Muslim countries from promoting Islamic extremism in Danish mosques and prayer facilities. Denmark joins a growing list of European countries including Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Switzerland - which have taken varying degrees of action to prevent foreign governments from financing the construction and upkeep of mosques on their territories. Denmark's legislation, sponsored by the ministry of foreign affairs, came into force on 15 March.

New research raises the alarm for ecosystems and agriculture. Samples from 2015 to 2018 showed that summer droughts were the most severe Europe has seen in 2,110 years as climate change stokes punishing heat waves. Using data from tree rings in living and dead European oaks going back to the time of the Romans, scientists identified a long-term drying trend that suddenly intensified in 2015 beyond anything seen in two millennia. The researchers said that this cluster of abnormally dry summers was likely caused by human-driven climate warming and changes to the circulation of the jet stream. ‘Climate change does not mean that it will get drier everywhere. Some places may get wetter or colder, but extreme conditions will become more frequent, which could be devastating for agriculture, ecosystems and societies as a whole,’ said lead author Ulf Buntgen, professor of environmental systems analysis of Cambridge University.

Concerns have been raised over new laws being proposed in Denmark to monitor all foreign- language sermons. Under the draft legislation, all sermons in languages other than Danish will have to be translated and submitted to the authorities for inspection. The Danish government says it wants to curb Islamic extremism, but a number of Christian denominations have warned that it poses a threat to religious freedom. Dr Albert Mohler, president of one of the largest evangelical Bible colleges in the USA, described the proposed law as something that was almost ‘unprecedented in modern church history’.

With his life and freedom on the line as he challenged Russia's dictatorial regime, opposition leader Alexei Navalny reached out to Christian leaders in a search for ‘eternal values’. Sergey Rakhuba of Mission Eurasia says Navalny found God as he was facing great challenges and ‘fighting for his life’. Navalny proclaimed that he abandoned atheism and professed faith in God at a court hearing in January. ‘I believe he pronounced the most powerful sermon out of that cage in the courtroom,’ Rakhuba said. ‘He referred to the Bible as an ancient book that the world should adopt and build their rules on for daily living. I think it was the most powerful presentation of the Gospel.’ Navalny quoted Matthew, ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled’.

The following is from Prayer Canopy over Europe: ‘Pray for more Christians to serve the world of politics as advocates and lobbyists in a holistic way. In the past British lobbyists have been the backbone of the profession in Brussels and highly sought after. Pray that Brexit will not diminish the Christian voice in Brussels, but that Christians from other countries will step into the breach. Please pray for Christian politicians to see clearly when their Christian calling needs them to depart from their party line, and for God to send them people to give godly unbiased counsel and to pray for them. Pray that they may be given the strength to resist the temptations which come to those who have an onerous and influential job to do whilst living a private lonely existence away from home and family.

A March prayer letter for Germany addresses intercessors everywhere to view our identity. Does it come from what we achieve (outwardly) or from our relationship with God (inwardly)? May our identity lie in being sons and daughters of God, hidden with Christ. The significance that He attributes to us could not be greater: chosen by him, created for good works, partakers of his divine nature, raised with him from the dead, seated in the heavenly realms. We are also challenged to consider how we prepare ourselves for the future, especially as we continue to live under the restrictions of the pandemic. Pray and care for those in special need; pray for the kingdom of God to be established within Germany and also in your country.

On 21 February WHO confirmed that Russian authorities had reported what is believed to be ‘human infection with avian influenza H5N8’. A WHO Europe spokesperson said. ‘If confirmed, this would be the first time H5N8 has infected people,’. The reported cases were seven workers exposed to bird flocks, according to preliminary information. The statement added, ‘No onward human to human transmission was reported.’