The USS Theodore Roosevelt and her escort ship, a guided-missile cruiser, are sailing towards the Arabian Sea. This massive ship carries F/A-18 fighter jets and will be a show of force in the region amid reports that a convoy of eight Iranian ships, possibly carrying arms for the Houthis, is heading toward Yemen. Western governments and Sunni Arab countries believe Houthis get their arms from Iran. Officials said it's too soon to speculate on what the Navy ships may do as the Iranian convoy approaches, including whether Iran would consent to a boarding request and what actions the Navy would take if its request was refused. The month-long Saudi air strikes targeting Houthi rebels stopped on Tuesday night and a new Saudi operation will focus on, initially, a political solution in Yemen and on counter-terrorism at home. See also the article below and click on  

Tunnels are gates for terrorism and facilitate external terrorist support between Gaza and Sinai. On April 12 an Egyptian law was issued, maximising the penalty of digging tunnels linking Egypt’s border to any other state to 25 years. Also, using such tunnels or being aware of their existence without reporting them is punishable. The recent discovery of a 2.8 kilometre-long tunnel between Sinai and Gaza raised questions about the parties supporting digging operations, as such work requires expensive and advanced modern equipment, as well as an extensive labour force to dig either in rocks or loose land. The process takes four to five months, while the average cost of the required equipment would be 10 million Egyptian pounds. Most of the manufacturers of such equipment do not authorise sales except to states and major engineering and construction companies

South African President Jacob Zuma called churches to lead the nation in praying for peace and friendship following xenophobic violence in Durban, Johannesburg and other parts of the country. ‘The majority of South Africans believe in peace, unity and friendship and have nothing to do with the sporadic incidents of violence that have taken place,’ Zuma said. South Africa has faced a backlash from the rest of the continent over the violence against immigrants. SA vehicles were pelted with stones in Mozambique, SA companies are being threatened with closure in Nigeria, there have been protests at various SA embassies across the continent and several SA musicians have been forced to cancel concerts abroad. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees said the immigrants are asylum seekers forced to leave their countries due to war and persecution. President Zuma will travel across the country next week to preach anti-xenophobia messages as he attempts to bring an end to attacks against foreign nationals

This week is the fiftieth anniversary of the Joint Working Group between the Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches. It is an occasion of thanksgiving to Almighty God for the meaningful ecumenical relationship which we enjoy today. It is also  a moment to thank the Lord for all that the ecumenical movement has achieved since its beginning over one hundred years ago, inspired by a longing for the unity which Christ intended for his body, the Church, and by an emerging sense of sorrow for the scandal of division between Christians. Since its inauguration in 1965, the Joint Working Group has fostered the necessary conditions for a greater common witness of the Catholic Church and the Churches and Ecclesial Communities of the World Council of Churches. Reflecting on these past fifty years, we should be encouraged by the collaboration which the Joint Working Group has promoted and

The Greek constitution says that while Orthodox Christianity is the ‘prevailing’ religion of Greece, the state guarantees freedom of worship for all faiths. But it doesn’t look that way to many who aren’t Orthodox Christians, including Muslims who are forced to worship in an unofficial basement mosque in Athens. A government plan to build an official mosque has been stalled for more than a decade. At a nearby cafe, some local residents say they’re unhappy about their Muslim neighbours . ‘If they build the mosque here in the neighbourhood I would oppose it along with many others,’ a resident said. ‘But if they want to build it on the top of a mountain I would have no problem.’ The battle over the Athens mosque has been complicated by Greece’s problem with illegal immigration. ‘I don’t want to send the message to illegal immigrants that Greece is a friendly place for illegal immigrations.’

Cross-border cooperation involving the Royal Gibraltar Police, Borders & Coastguard Agency and the Policía Nacional has led to the arrest of a people-trafficking gang operating in the Costa del Sol. They employed fraudulent methods to mislead immigration officials in Spain, Gibraltar and the United Kingdom. Last month two Albanian men flew from Gibraltar to Luton and attempted to enter Britain using forged Italian ID cards, but Aurelt Kasa and Eltjon Islami - both in their early 20s - were sent back to the Rock after UK Border Force Immigration detected that they were using forged ID cards. They were arrested on arrival and are currently being held on remand at HMP Windmill Hill awaiting deportation. These arrests sparked off an investigation which led to the identification of a third individual suspected to be a facilitator and important member of the criminal group. A process of information exchange, surveillance and close liaison then began with Spain’s national police with responsibility for Immigration – the ‘Cuerpo Nacional de Policia, Seccion de Extrangeria’. Another two Albanian subjects were detected in separate instances by RGP/BCA officers a few days later, carrying similar false identification documents and trying to use Gibraltar as a platform to reach the UK. On Wednesday 17 June , following a lengthy and co-ordinated surveillance operation, a further two Albanian nationals were intercepted and arrested by the Spanish Police, foiling their plans to board a plane in Gibraltar to the UK. The facilitator, a German national of Romanian origin who was identified in the first instance by the Gibraltar authorities, was also arrested. Acting Commissioner of Police Ian McGrail said, ‘What a great example of cross border police co-operation this has been

Pray for the networks of relationships developing all over Germany which are leading to many conversations about a personal relationship with God. There is unrest with demonstrations being held by groups in several main cities over the perceived lack of ‘voice’ in political and economic decisions. Pray for godly responses to these activities and that a ‘soft or gentle answer turns away wrath’ as it says in Proverbs 15:1. Pray also for Campus fur Christus as the need is high for additional staff to work in ministry. Every summer individuals, young and old,  travel to Germany on short-term mission trips. Pray that God will grant divine appointments and that the spiritual impact will be felt by both the visitors and the locals. Continue to pray for Angela Merkel and other German leaders who are trying to work toward a peaceful resolution to the Russia/Ukraine conflict.

Aid agencies have warned that the problem of migrants camping out in Calais before trying to reach Britain has risen to a level of crisis not seen before.Their numbers in the French port have swollen from around 1,000 in April to 3,000 this month, and it is predicted that up to 4,000 more will arrive in the coming weeks. Aid workers warn that some of the sprawling makeshift campsites, known locally as the Jungle, have become so large as to be untenable. Dozens of migrants have occupied derelict barns and erected tarpaulin-covered wood structures big enough for families, as many wait to try their luck at hiding on lorries to Dover. Maya Konforti, a volunteer for l’Auberge des Migrants, an aid group based in Calais, said the number of migrants arriving was ‘definitely climbing’. She said, ‘The situation is catastrophic. They don’t have enough tents, blankets or food and with Ramadan it’s more difficult.’ She urged Britain to ease the burden on France.