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.
Yarl's Wood removal centre of 'national concern'
13 Aug 2015
The Prisons’ Watchdog says, ‘Conditions have deteriorated at Yarl's Wood, an immigration removal centre, to such an extent that it is a place of national concern. Yarl's Wood, in Bedfordshire, was failing vulnerable and pregnant women. It holds 350+ women waiting for their immigration status to be resolved. The report suggests that conditions have worsened since being inspected two years ago. More than half of the detainees said they felt unsafe. Of the 99 pregnant women who were held there last year only nine were removed. Fifteen detainees had been held for between six months and a year. Four were detained for more than a year. The report called for a ‘strict time limit’ on how long anyone can be detained. Jerome Phelps, of Detention Action, said ‘It is time for the Government to step away from the routine detention of migrants, and instead to work with them to resolve their immigration cases in the community wherever possible.’
Twelve children were shot by the paramilitary between 2009 and last year in Northern Ireland and the Human Rights Commission have called on the UK Government to take immediate action to stop violent attacks on children. As well as twelve youngsters being shot, twenty seven were assaulted, the organisation said in a report to an influential UN committee investigating children’s rights. The report asked the state party to address the issue of paramilitary-style attacks on children in Northern Ireland through measures relating to both transitional justice and child protection. Figures for the number of attacks may be under-reported since fear of paramilitary violence and self-reported experiences of attacks on children are much higher, the Commission said. It has contacted the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. Research published late last year from Queen’s University Belfast said more than 500 children were shot or beaten by loyalist and republican paramilitaries over the past two decades.
Christian Labour MP Dawn Butler told Premier Radio that she's standing by her decision to nominate leadership contender Jeremy Corbyn, despite backing rival Andy Burnham. The left-winger now has the support of more than half of those with a vote in the Labour leadership contest. ‘If Jeremy's got a momentum behind him that's a good thing for our party and it's a good thing for the debate, but I still think overall that Andy is the candidate that will unite the party and bring the party forward,’ said Dawn Butler. She said Corbyn's participation in the leadership race had engaged more young people in politics, and praised Corbyn for encouraging what critics argue is an idealistic agenda. ‘As a young person you're supposed to be uncompromising and you're supposed to want to see a different world and want to change the world, so it's great to see that,’ added Butler.