A report has claimed that residents in Oregon are only now finding out that the state
allows teenagers as young as 15 to get state-subsidised sex-change operations without
parental notification. ‘It is trespassing on the hearts, the minds, the bodies of our
children,’ Lori Porter of Parents' Rights in Education told Fox News on Thursday.
‘They're our children. And for a decision, a life-altering decision like that to be done
without the knowledge of a parent or guardian, it's mind-boggling .’ The executive
director of the Trans-Active Gender Centre in Portland, said the Fox News report is
‘irrational’ and the policy does not mean that 15-year-olds can simply walk into a
doctor's office and get sex-change surgery. The facts are: The age of consent has been
15 since 1971. Youth in Oregon can access all healthcare at the age of 15. For sex-change
operations they do not have to be older than 15.
Between 21 June and 1 July, four Christians were abducted in Baghdad. One was released
following police intervention. Ransoms were paid for the others’ release. However, two
were murdered even though ransoms had been paid and one was released. Imad Youkhana, an
Iraqi Christian member of parliament, issued a statement decrying this violence and urged
Iraqi authorities to provide greater protection for Iraq's Christians. He said the
violence is part of an intimidation campaign to force Christians to emigrate and
undermines the unity of Iraqi society. An Iraqi NGO, the Hammurabi Human Rights
Organisation , today (13 July) issued a similar appeal for the protection of Christians
in Iraq.
China: Police, politics and human rights
15 Jul 2015
There was widespread detention of human rights lawyers last weekend after more than 100
lawyers across the mainland issued a joint statement protesting against the disappearance
of crusading lawyer Wang Yu. Mainland police detained lawyers and law firm staff and
searched some of their homes and offices. Three human rights groups say that other people
have disappeared. Across 15 cities 57 people were taken away, summoned or detained by
police. One of them, Guangzhou-based lawyer Sui Muqing, was placed under ‘residential
surveillance at a designated location’ - a form of detention - for alleged ‘incitement to
subvert state power’ according to a police document given to his family. Some have since
been released but were warned by police to refrain from publicly voicing their support
for Wang Yu. Since lawyers started openly identifying with human rights causes and
coordinating their advocacy campaigns, they have become the closest thing China has to a
political opposition.
Yemen: UN cease-fire fails to take hold
15 Jul 2015
A cease-fire brokered by the United Nations that was to allow the delivery of relief supplies failed to
materialise in Yemen on Saturday, as a Saudi-led military coalition carried out
airstrikes and fighting continued between the Houthi rebels and rival militias in several
cities. Many are saying the international community urgently needs to revisit its posture
on Yemen’s war and put pressure on all parties to end the conflict and address the
humanitarian catastrophe. The UN has designated Yemen a level-three humanitarian crisis,
the highest level in the UN's ranking system. 21 out of 25 million Yemenis are in urgent
need of humanitarian assistance, of which 20 million need immediate access to water and
hygiene and 13 million need food. Relief workers report the situation is deteriorating
rapidly. They cannot get sufficient aid into the country to stop the downward spiral.
Yemeni children are at particular risk. See also: http://www.al-
monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/07/yemen-houthi-saleh-saudi-arabia-humanitarian-
relief.html
Canada: Church’s pastor missing in North Korea
15 Jul 2015
The Light Presbyterian Church continue praying for their founding pastor, detained in
North Korea since early March. Despite the lack of information, they remain hopeful that
God will bring Revd. Hyeon Soo Lim home. A member of the church said, ‘This is taking
longer than we would like, but we remind ourselves that God’s will trumps our desires, He
hears our prayers and He is good.’ Lim disappeared while visiting humanitarian facilities
in North Korea. Under his leadership, the missions-centred church regularly sends small
teams to oversee agricultural projects, food factories, schools, orphanages, and a
nursing home they founded. Those who know Lim well, say he has a long-term vision and
wouldn’t have risked the opportunities they have in North Korea by overtly sharing the
gospel. When they pray many members feel that God has a purpose, - God will use him to
work in the hearts of the people who are around him and bring him home in His timing.
When a Nigerian pastor learned that his daughter, kidnapped by Boko Haram, refused to
convert to Islam he said, ‘To die for the sake of Christ, that's the happiest thing for
me. I'm grateful that she didn't change her religion. She trusted in God’. He was told
that the terrorists dug a hole, buried her up to her neck, and stoned her to death. His
wife added, ‘I believe she died with dignity. Monica is now in heaven because she
refused to convert.’ The widow of one of the 21 Egyptian Christians beheaded by IS last
February has made a similar statement, testifying that she ‘was very proud’ her husband
‘stood firm in his faith and that he didn't deny Jesus.’ Many believe that Christians in
the West will face increasing persecution in coming years. In January Britain's security
chief warned that al-Qaeda is planning ‘mass casualty attacks against the West.’
While the US and world powers voice optimism about the historic nuclear deal with Iran
that was signed in Vienna, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is furious that the
world is giving in, warning of a major global threat. Israel’s PM believes the P5+1
Powers have completely capitulated to Iranian demands, while Iran touts its hatred for
Israel and support for global terror. ‘Many concessions were given to Iran on issues that
had been marked as red lines in the Lausanne package’. See also
http://unitedwithisrael.org/netanyahu-warns-that-world-is-caving-to-iranian-demands/
More than 3,000 police officers were on duty at Orange Order parades across Northern
Ireland on Monday. Nearly half of them were members of public order units, commonly
referred to as riot police, and deployed to combat violence. The greatest concentration
was in Belfast (1,800 officers). The Orange lodges and accompanying bands were returning
from parades across Belfast to commemorate the victory of the Protestant King William III
at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. Then trouble erupted at 19:30 and escalated after a
car struck several pedestrians. Nine police officers were hurt and a 16-year-old girl was
struck by an out-of-control car at Belfast parade flashpoints. The violence followed a
day of largely peaceful 12 July loyal order parades. First Minister Peter Robinson said,
‘It is vital that those involved in such riotous activity cease and are held accountable.
They do a massive disservice to the wider cause they claim to support.’