Rashid Mohamed Salim was cornered and captured by local youths on 29 January in a village in the DRC. He was handed over to the armed forces and arrested. University-educated Salim was radicalised as a teen at a popular mosque in Mombasa. He has been linked with recruiting youth into terror groups in East Africa, and with various terrorist activities. A source said, ‘This young man is a great terrorist. He is a very big player in the activities of slaughtering Christians. We have been receiving pictures and short films of him cutting Christians’ throats. He captures them or has them captured by fellow-rebels, then takes pictures of the murders on his phone and publishes them as propaganda.’ Kenya’s anti-terror police put a $100,000 reward for his capture. He was captured on his way back to Kenya from Cabo Delgado where he had joined Mozambique’s IS group.

Justin Welby will conduct interviews on a new Radio 4 series, ‘Faith and morality’, which will run for six half-hour episodes on consecutive Sundays. He will discuss the balance of spirituality and life in the public eye with a number of high-profile personalities like Tony Blair and Stephen King. The archbishop said it would be ‘a privilege to spend time interviewing fascinating people from different backgrounds for this series. I relish the opportunity to be the one asking the questions rather than answering them. There are few better ways to get to know someone than to inquire and listen. I want to hear about people's lives, and the events and underlying frameworks that shape their views, and I'm extremely grateful for each person’s generosity in giving their time, honesty and vulnerability telling their stories.’

‘Father, when we look at all that is going on around us today, it would be so easy to pray according to how the media lead us, or how our own reasoning would have us intercede. Lord, please give us Your perspective when we watch and pray over challenges in our politics and the UK's participation in international affairs. Lord God, we, along with the rest of the nations, continue to face the Covid crisis and its derivatives. May You bring about your kingdom's purposes through this season of sickness and uncertainty. Finally, Father, our communities need to be powerfully reached for Christ; alert us to the pitfalls of self-made agendas that don’t have Your anointing. Wake us up to Your power living in us, and grow us up in the fivefold ministries, so that we produce a harvest of kingdom fruit. In 2022 may Your church walk powerfully in your purposes.‘

A recent report concluded that 36% of farming people in England and Wales were 'probably or possibly depressed', 52% 'experienced pain and discomfort', 25% had 'mobility problems', and 58% of women in the sector said they 'experienced mild, moderate or severe anxiety'. The most common sources of stress were regulations, compliance and inspection, Covid, unpredictable weather, and loss of subsidies. In response the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution has launched two new mental-health support and counselling services. Pray for all agencies and individuals who are providing farming people with practical and moral support. Also, rural CofE churches report that ‘clergy and congregations are increasingly pessimistic about the long-term future of their churches’. Leadership was seen as a critical issue. However, through Covid, it seems the Lord has ‘sifted’ His church: some have fallen away, but others have drawn closer to Him.