The Peruvian government has asked for international support after 6,000 barrels of crude oil washed onto beaches in the ‘worst ecological disaster’ in recent history. Tonga’s volcano eruption caused unusual waves to disrupt an oil tanker unloading crude oil at Repsol oil refinery, and an underwater pipeline ruptured during the process. Twenty-one beaches are ‘a serious risk to health’, and the oil slick is the size of 320 football fields. Hundreds of fishermen are without work; two protected marine reserves for sea otters, Humboldt penguins and red-legged cormorants have been destroyed. A marine biologist said, ‘We are watching the destruction of the Peruvian marine ecosystem and the livelihoods of those who depend on it, because neither Repsol nor the state has the capacity to respond.’ The oil will be in the sea for months, affecting fauna, food and health. Dead seals, fish and birds are washing up on oil-covered beaches.

Youtube has removed a sermon on sexuality by American pastor John MacArthur. The sermon violated their ‘hate speech policy’ when he said ‘there is no such thing as transgender. You are either XX or XY’. MacArthur’s comments related to Canada’s legislation, Bill C-4, which became law on 8 January. Some pastors and church leaders fear it could lead to the prohibition of sermons on biblical sexuality. Christian organisations say the wording of the bill is so broad, it could be used for ‘the criminal prosecution of Christians who speak biblical truth’. Four thousand preachers have affirmed their opposition to the bill and their willingness to speak out against it. Conservative commentator Todd Starnes said, ‘YouTube affirmed the Canadian law by banning any opposition to transgenderism on their platform, and it won’t be very long before the sex and gender revolutionaries target the source of our beliefs - the Holy Bible.’

The UN is investigating the death of people in the Central African Republic (CAR) by government forces and mercenaries with the Russian private military company Wagner. Over thirty civilians were killed, some by stray bullets, in the 16-17 January operation which targeted the Union for Peace rebel group. The UN mission known as MINUSCA received reports of the incident involving CAR troops and ‘other security personnel’. They sent a human rights team and security personnel there to assess the situation and take necessary measures to protect civilians. A military source, declining to be identified, suggested that the fighting is continuing, with forces and Russians committing massacres. ‘There have been summary executions and about fifty deaths.’ UN experts expressed concerns over ‘grave human rights abuses’ by the Wagner group, who take orders from the Russian defence ministry.

Airlines reported nearly 6,000 incidents involving unruly passengers last year and 151 in the first two weeks of this year. Most incidents involved passengers refusing to wear masks. The latest incident, on 20 January, involved an American Airlines passenger who refused to wear a mask on a flight to Heathrow from Miami, which forced the Boeing 777 carrying 129 passengers to return to Florida. The American Airlines statement said the diversion was ‘due to a disruptive customer refusing to comply with the federal mask requirement’. See also