On Tuesday 47 traders were killed and at least 50 others injured when terrorists invaded the Sabon Gari community market of Damboa, 85 miles south of Maiduguri, during peak trading. The injuries from the blast are mostly ‘severe’ and the death toll is expected to rise. Borno State Police Command has said that Boko Haram is not winning the war and insurgents are fleeing to neighbouring Niger, Cameroon and Chad in order to attack soft targets in the sub-region. Meanwhile on Wednesday, Chad's President Idriss Deby said that Boko Haram has a new leader. He said Abubakar Shekau had been replaced by Mahamat Daoud - who has not been heard of before. Mr Shekau has not featured in the group's recent videos, leading to speculation that he has been killed. Mr Deby, whose troops have been involved in battling Boko Haram, said Mr Daoud was open to dialogue. See: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-33889378
Iraq: School for refugees
13 Aug 2015
Christian children forced to flee after the IS invasion, began school recently for the first time in a year. After fleeing their homes, families left everything behind, including access to schooling. In Iraq a local church leader and a mission agency partner noticed this need in their community, and because they believe education is important to the child, they began to dream of opening a school. Their goal was to begin with approximately 25 students. Church leaders prayed for a suitable location near a refugee camp and God showed them a nearby house with a big back-yard. Though it would need many renovations before it was safe, church leaders discovered that it would accommodate four classrooms with enough space for at least 20 students in each classroom, and a school was born. Across the Middle East most countries do not have the capacity to provide schooling for a sudden influx of thousands of children. Pray for more schools for refugees.
When the animated series The Legend of Korra ended its three-season run with the two heroines holding hands and dissolving into a mist – thus making explicit a lesbian love interest that hitherto had only been hinted at – children’s TV may have been changed forever. So claimed Vanity Fair arts writer Joanna Robinson, who enthusiastically lauded the finale of the show as the ‘most subversive television event of the year.’ But for Christian media watchers that lesbian fairytale ending was just the inevitable next step in a clearly discernible trend in America where there are more gay and transgender characters and stories in children’s television. Other examples include the Australian ‘gender-bending’ cartoon series SheZow featuring a 12-year-old boy who finds a ‘power ring’ that turns him into a girl, and an episode in Good Luck Charlie in which a lesbian couple bring their child over for a play date. Christian media watchers predict it will get worse because children’s TV is a reflection of what’s already in our culture.
Wildfires are charging through the parched West and forcing people to flee. Some residents had to evacuate their homes twice in recent weeks after blazes exploded in size and changed direction. In Northern California a blaze is only 5% contained by 1,100 firefighters, and firefighters have nearly surrounded a larger nearby blaze that started two weeks ago across 109 square miles. In Southern California four separate blazes are being contained. In Montana 18 square miles of heavy timber in Glacier National Park are ablaze, prompting trail and campsite closures. Firefighting efforts could escalate with temperatures between 95 and 100 degrees expected until Thursday and strong winds on Friday. In Arizona fires are 40% contained. Elsewhere in the west a wildfire along the shore of Lake Chelan in Washington State covers 54 square miles, firefighters are keeping it away from communities. Alaska’s fire season has officially become the second biggest on record. 7,940 square miles have burned this year.
Syria: IS seize key Christian town
13 Aug 2015
Suicide bombers stormed Qaryatain, paving the way for overnight clashes resulting in IS jihadists finally overwhelming al-Assad regime soldiers on Wednesday morning. Capture of the town allows IS to unify several key areas under its control. Qaryatain is home to 40,000 people - many of them members of Syria's ancient Christian community. It is the site of towering Roman ruins, and is located some 50 miles from the al-Assad regime-held city of Homs. When the terrorists took full control they released a series of gloating images of militants posing with captured tanks on affiliated Facebook pages. As well as Sunni Muslims and Christians the town has thousands of internally displaced people who had fled from Homs. This Syrian news comes as a Kurdish official reported that IS executed 19 women for refusing to have sex with its fighters in Iraq. He claimed the women were being held hostage in Mosul.
Songs of Praise in Calais migrant camp
13 Aug 2015
The crew of the BBC's flagship religious show Songs of Praise has arrived in the Calais migrant camp to shoot one of its most controversial episodes yet. They’re to film at a makeshift Ethiopian Orthodox Church in the centre of the Calais migrant camp. The decision to film there has provoked a mixed reaction from the public and the migrants. The Eritrean priest who runs the chapel feared that filming would endanger his family’s life if the images were seen in his home country, adding that the producers did not have permission to film in the camp. The BBC was accused of wading into a politically-sensitive issue. Meanwhile a blog by the so-called “Archbishop Cranmer” said that this is Christ’s church for the poor, weak, lonely, dispossessed, hurting, grieving and broken. It’s for the desperate and oppressed; destitute and dying. Hold your nose and avert your eyes: it’s the swarm of humanity in the cesspit of life. Songs of praise are to be sung to the Lord in the cardboard church of Calais. The Lord is there. His Spirit is with them. Glory to God in the lowest places. See: http://archbishopcranmer.com/songs-of-praise-and-the-cardboard-church-of-calais/
Fracking: councils told to fast-track decisions
13 Aug 2015
Fracking has transformed the energy market in the US but has caused untold damage through fracking-related earthquakes. In the UK the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) is to issue a first wave of licences for fracking. They will grant exclusive rights to explore for gas in a number of less controversial areas across the UK. A second wave relating to regions close to national parks or areas of outstanding natural beauty will come later this year. Once licences have been granted, planning permission is still required from local authorities for specific sites, and this week councils were told they must meet targets to fast-track 'fracking' applications through the planning system or face decisions being taken out of their hands. The Government is now poised to issue a swathe of licences in hope of a shale energy boom across the United Kingdom.
Schoolteacher Vincent Uzomah was attacked by a 14-year-old boy at Dixons Kings Academy in Bradford last June. After the assault the boy bragged about the stabbing on Facebook. A judge ordered him to be imprisoned for up to six years. Mr Uzomah said, ‘As a Christian, I have forgiven this boy who has inflicted trauma and pain on my family and myself. It was, however, important for the law to run its course and for a strong message to be sent out, especially to kids of similar tendencies, that violence is never acceptable. Our prayer for him is that he will make use of the opportunities and support provided for him to become a changed person, making positive contributions to society. ’ The court was told the boy was described by others as ‘disruptive and a bully’ and had always disliked the teacher.