Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned that Palestinians will not allow Israeli extremists to ‘contaminate’ the Temple Mount, saying that allowing Jewish prayer at the site would risk a global religious war. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeated several times in recent days that he does not intend to change the status quo at the site. Jews are allowed to visit but forbidden from praying at the contested site, which Israel captured from Jordan in the 1967 war, but where it allowed the Muslim Waqf authorities to remain in administrative charge. Abbas also said the Palestinian claims to all territory captured by Israel in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza in 1967 were not up for debate and, ‘The Muslim and Christian worlds will never accept Israel’s claims that Jerusalem belongs to them. The Jerusalem that was occupied in 1967 belongs to us.’
APEC is a 21-nation Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum that met this week to move towards a new free trade zone and agree as a climate deal. America and Russia are part of APEC. President Barack Obama and President Vladimir Putin met three times while there, though relations between their countries continue to deteriorate. The White House said they tackled the tough issues of Russia's provocations in Ukraine and support for Syria's embattled government. They also discussed the fast-approaching deadline in nuclear talks with Iran, in which the US and Russia find themselves on the same negotiating team. Unlike some of their past meetings, Obama and Putin kept their deep-seated policy disagreements behind the scenes, but their public encounters suggested relationships between two of the most powerful leaders in the world remains tense.
USA: The Ferguson Response
15 Nov 2014Following protests and civil disorder when Michael Brown was killed in Ferguson, Christians erected a tent where 8-10 hours of praise, worship, intercession, and evangelism occurred daily. Believers of every hue united to provide opportunities for Ferguson to experience God. There were miraculous healings and deliverances; a couple of major protests were turned into prayer meetings, a few violent situations were defused through supernatural intervention, 50 people surrendered their lives to Jesus, and many heard the Gospel. The tent expression ended on 25 October. Minister Thomas said, ‘We've only just begun. The crisis invited the Church to manifest God’s love. He’s exposing our hearts. Jesus deals with iniquity in us before He deals with inequity around us. Regardless of the facts, and final outcome, every believer has a role to play in the healing of these wounds and bringing peace.’
Nigeria: The issue of education
15 Nov 2014Nigeria’s population growth has put immense pressure on overstretched public services and infrastructure. 45% of the population are under 15 years of age and 4.7 million primary school age children are not in school. Statistically, 40% of those aged 6-11 don’t attend primary school and 30% of those in primary education drop out, with only 54% progressing to Junior Secondary Schools. The Northern region has the lowest school attendance rate, particularly for girls. The proportion of girls to boys in school ranges from 1 girl to 2 boys and 1 girl to 3 boys. Children skip school to work or when families cannot afford uniforms and textbooks. Sometimes a school is beyond a safe walking distance from homes, sometimes girls marry early. UniceF reports that the prospects of Nigeria achieving’ Education For All by 2015’ are frail.
Nigeria: Death toll rises after school bombing
15 Nov 2014The death toll has risen to 49 after a suicide bomber disguised in a school uniform blew himself up at a boys' secondary school in northern Nigeria on Monday. 57 people were injured. Other reports put the number of injured victims at 79 in the attack in Yobe state, which took place as students were in the yard of the boarding school during the morning roll call. All schools in the town are closed now. The attack came six days after a similar one on a Shi'ite Islamic school in Potiskum, in which 30 people died. Boko Haram targeted both schools. The UN Children's Fund (Unicef) said attacks on children are attacks ‘on the future of Nigeria’, warning that the country already has the largest number of children out of school in the world. (see item 2 below)
Australia has been criticised recently for the way it has responded to the Ebola crisis. (Australia suspended entry visas for visitors from Ebola-affected countries and wouldn’t send health workers to fight the epidemic.) Now, this week, Prime Minister Tony Abbott has contracted a private company to staff and operate an Ebola treatment centre in Sierra Leone. Mr Abbott said, ‘We are not sending people over but we are ensuring there is a 100-bed treatment centre staffed and run in Sierra Leone by Aspen Medical, an Australian health provider.’ The Australian government has also committed A$2m to provide logistical support for Ebola teams in West Africa, and A$2m to help ensure that East Timor and Papua New Guinea can treat Ebola if any cases are reported there. Aspen will have some staff in Sierra Leone within days and the centre will be operational by the end of November. Australia’s UK partners have been building the centre.
USA: Midterm elections – what the results mean
09 Nov 2014Republicans need only six seats to have a majority in the Senate; this week they gained that majority. While the Republican Party is far from perfect, it is currently the political party that most closely matches the core policy beliefs of evangelical, ‘born again’ Christians and Catholics. According to pollster George Barna, there are 77 million ‘born again’ evangelical and Catholic voters in the United States. The Midterm election results means Republicans will have new powers to challenge Obama's agenda in the final two years of his term, able to launch investigations and hold hearings from both chambers. They can hold up key appointments and pass GOP (Grand Old Party) favoured legislation. The division of power also could yield areas of agreement on subjects ranging from immigration to energy. See also
Pakistan: Persecution of Christians
09 Nov 2014On Tuesday an enraged Muslim mob beat a Christian couple to death near Lahore and burnt their bodies in the brick kiln where they worked for allegedly desecrating the Holy Quran. This is the latest example of mob violence against minorities accused of blasphemy. Pakistan’s brick-kiln workers are often subject to harsh practices, with an estimated 4.5 million being indentured labourers (Indian indenture system is a form of debt bondage). Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has constituted a three-member committee to fast track investigation of the killings and ordered police to beef up security in Christian neighbourhoods. Blasphemy is a sensitive issue in Pakistan, with allegations often prompting mob violence. A Christian woman has been on death row since November 2010 after she was found guilty of making derogatory remarks about the Prophet Mohammed during an argument with a Muslim woman. Continue to pray for the repeal of the blasphemy laws which are often misused to persecute Christians and those of other minority faiths.