Fearful of being recruited into the Imbonerakure (the violence-prone youth wing of the ruling party who are fighting anti-government forces), many Burundian children run away and become refugees in Tanzania. There have been seven months of crisis, sparked by President Pierre Nkurunziza's controversial decision to run for a third term. Since then 240,000 people have become refugees; thousands are unaccompanied minors. The journey is dangerous, walking for days through forests. Children who travel on their own fear danger from both armed people and other refugees who try to pass them off as their own children so that they can get better housing in the refugee camps. Violence continues, and the threat of civil war looms in a country full of poverty, beauty and potential. Often referred to as ‘the Switzerland of Africa’, Burundi is covered by mountains and bush and is bordered by Lake Tanganyika. See also: http://www.greatlakesoutreach.org/burundi-page

Powerful advocates are trying to write protections into the law for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Those advocates are battling against conservative Christians who are staunch in their beliefs of right and wrong; they wonder why anyone would deny others their rights. But some Christians say they’re tired of being made into the bad guys. They’re tired of being called the bigots and haters. They feel that the bigotry, hatred and discrimination is actually against them and they are being bullied, as the cultural tide seems to be moving away from hard-and-fast biblical prohibitions. They believe the government is abandoning them. Once at the core of American politics, some evangelical Christians feel increasingly relegated to the fringe, betrayed by their own conservative lawmakers as their cultural dominance is usurped by a smaller group wielding the heft of the media and corporations.

Weapons, vehicles, employee salaries, propaganda videos, international travel - all cost money. IS's methods of financing are difficult to shut down. Terrorists use their control over a territory the size of the UK to develop revenue channels. The oil fields captured in Syria and Iraq fund the group through a black market oil trade flourishing along the porous borders of IS-controlled land. It is believed some traders have even sold oil from terrorists back to Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Because terrorists control an expansive territory, they can levy taxes on the people living there. Some of these taxes are more like extortion. The group is heavily diversified: if one funding source is shut down, they turn to others to generate revenue. A steady flow of money to IS from rich individuals in the Gulf continues, with Qataris the biggest suppliers. See http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/whos-funding-isis-wealthy-gulf-angel-investors-officials-say-n208006

A legal challenge to Northern Ireland's ban on gay marriage opened on Thursday. The landmark challenge has been launched by two couples - Grainne Close and Shannon Sickles, and Chris and Henry Flanagan-Kanem. They have been granted permission for a judicial review of the Stormont Assembly's repeated refusal to legislate for same-sex marriage. They were the first and second couples, respectively, to enter into a civil partnership in the UK after Northern Ireland made that option available in late 2005. Northern Ireland is now the only part of the British Isles which does not allow gay marriage, following the Republic of Ireland’s ‘yes’ vote in May.