USA: wildfires across the west
23 Jul 2021
The Bootleg Fire in Oregon is the largest of 300 raging in the USA, more than 80 of which are described as major blazes. It has burned through over 300,000 acres, prompting thousands of evacuations. Over 2,000 firefighters are tackling the fire, one of the largest blazes in Oregon's history. Since starting on 6 July, it has already scorched an area larger than the city of Los Angeles. The fires raging across 13 US states are spurred by heatwaves and high winds. At least 160 homes and buildings have been destroyed so far. Fire incident commander Joe Hessel said, ‘We are running firefighting operations day and night. This fire is a real challenge, and we are looking at a sustained battle for the foreseeable future.’ It threatens to destroy thousands more properties as it continues spreading.
Equatorial Guinea: kleptocracy
23 Jul 2021
Revelations by courageous investigative journalists reveal kleptocracy in Equatorial Guinea. A recent cross-border investigation exposed how Gabriel Mbega Obiang Lima - the President’s son, and the country’s oil minister - may have siphoned off millions in state funds and bribes abroad. Journalists tracked down an international web of shell companies and properties linked to him, including a Cyprus company and its subsidiaries in other countries. Another corruption investigation, released this week, implicates two more individuals related to the Obiangs who run Equatorial Guinea's state oil company. Journalists discovered the oil industry power couple had luxury properties around the world that even their hefty pay packages cannot explain. In Cyprus they purchased a €2.5 million villa to obtain golden EU passports. The international community needs to make it much more difficult, and eventually impossible, for the kleptocrats to enjoy the proceeds of their crimes, deterring them from stealing from their people in the first place.
Cuba: protests against government
23 Jul 2021
Historic and spontaneous protests rocked Cuba on 11 July, taking the communist government and the international community by surprise by their intensity and numbers. Analysts say there will not be immediate changes to one-party communist rule, but it’s a watershed moment and they have put an enormous amount of pressure on the government to speed up reforms. Cubans experiencing food and medicine shortages, increasing Covid-19 cases, inflation, rising prices and long power cuts chanted ‘Freedom’ and ‘We want change’, while holding signs that read ‘Down with dictatorship’. Journalist Yoani Sánchez tweeted, ‘We were so hungry, we ate our fear.’ Dr. Teo Babun said dissent has been brewing in the church for months. Evangelicals and Catholics have been generating a tremendous amount of social media, demanding the government pay attention to the hurt taking place. Political changes depend on whether demonstrators continue the momentum that stunned so many on 11 July.
Japan: Olympic Games - state of emergency
23 Jul 2021
The director of the Olympics opening ceremony was dismissed for making jokes in the 1990s about the Holocaust. Earlier this week, a composer quit the ceremony team after it emerged he had bullied classmates with disabilities at school. In March the Olympics' creative chief quit after suggesting that plus-size comedian Naomi Watanabe could appear as an ‘Olympig’. In February the head of the organising committee had to step down after he made inappropriate remarks about women. The scandals have increased massive unease about the Games. A recent poll found 55% of Japanese were opposed to holding the Games, fearing it could become a coronavirus super-spreader event. Already, organisers are dealing with rising Covid cases. Dozens involved in the Games, including officials and athletes, have tested positive. An increase in cases among Japan's population - only a third of whom have been vaccinated - has led to a state of emergency being declared for the duration of the Games.
Largely thanks to campaigning Christians, one of the most wicked proposed changes in the law ever to have been conceived in this country has failed to win approval. An amendment to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, intended to legalise abortion for any reason up to birth, has been withdrawn after being selected by the Speaker for debate and a vote. Jesus has the victory over death and destruction, and is right beside those who promote justice, righteousness, life, health and peace to a very sick society.
Tahreen’s story
15 Jul 2021
‘This lady was in deep despair when I first met her. She came to a local church foodbank seeking help to feed her four children. Thanks to God, volunteers, donations of daily needs, and gentle support, Tahreen gratefully received practical help. She also heard the gospel, and by God’s grace, she found new life in Christ!’ For further details, click the ‘More’ button.
Young family freed in South Asia
15 Jul 2021
Praise God for an operation this week that brought a young family, including four children, out of bonded labour. One of IJM’s partners discovered an 11-year-old forced to work at a sheep farm and then, by interviewing him, learned that the whole family was in bondage at a nearby brick kiln. Many families like theirs are being left vulnerable due to Covid-19 and a lack of dignified work.
Bishops’ ‘lavish’ lifestyles
15 Jul 2021
Financial data released by the Church of England shows that each bishop costs almost £120,000 a year, in addition to receiving £46,000 per year as a stipend. ‘As a member of General Synod for over a decade I have questioned the cost of bishops’ lavish lifestyles and opulence at the top while parishes up and down the country struggle to meet their bills, and even close their door,’ said Sam Margrave, a lay member of General Synod and a former local councilor, in a written statement submitted before last weekend’s synod meeting. The CofE spends, on average, £70,800 on the ongoing maintenance of each bishop’s house; 26 bishops live in houses that have more than six bedrooms.