Russia: Navalny dissolves political network
29 Apr 2021
Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s political network is disbanded ahead of court rulings declaring it an ‘extremist’ organisation. A Moscow court is expected to ban the network’s crowdfunded work, which would put members and supporters at risk of six years in prison. Leonid Volkov, the network’s former coordinator, said that keeping the work of Navalny’s network in its current form would lead immediately to extremism charges and criminal sentences for those helping or cooperating with it. He said the breakup was a ‘punch in the gut’ after four years of hard work in very difficult circumstances: ‘The networks had victories. We cancelled corrupt public procurement orders, secured the resignation of thieves and crooks, won elections, protected parks from development projects, and helped local activists. Now there are direct orders from the Kremlin to destroy the network of offices.’ The network’s website shtab.navalny.com was still accessible on 29 April, showing dozens of locations spanning eleven time zones.
Gunmen abducted 39 students, most of whom are Christians, from a college in Kaduna state on 11 March. An armed gang raided the college in Kaduna at 9.30 pm, shooting indiscriminately and rounding up 219 people. Of these, 180 were rescued by the army soon afterwards. Several videos have been released showing the 39 abducted students being threatened, beaten, and whipped. In another video, a male student (named Emmanuel) being held at gunpoint pleads with the government to intervene. He added, ‘Many of us here have been injured - badly injured. Most of us here have health issues.’ Meanwhile we can praise God that Pastor Yakuru, kidnapped by Boko Haram on Christmas Eve 2020, was released on 3 March, the day the terrorists said they would execute him. His release was negotiated by the department of state services and a national charity.
India: Covid crisis
29 Apr 2021
Harrowing scenes from India have shocked the world, as it struggles with soaring Covid cases. But the outbreak isn't just India’s crisis - it's a crisis for everyone. ‘Viruses don’t respect borders, nationalities, age, sex or religion; what’s playing out now unfortunately has been played out in other countries’, said the World Health Organisation's chief scientist. We can pray for travel restrictions, multiple tests and quarantine to prevent infections leaking out and for enough vaccines to be available across the nation. Pray for misinformation and mistrust to be replaced by trust and positive take up of Immunisation. Dr Jeff Barrett, director of the Covid-19 Genomics Initiative, said, ‘The higher the number of cases a country has, the more likely new variants will emerge. Every single infection gives the virus a chance to evolve.’ A major concern is that mutations could arise, rendering vaccines ineffective. Pray for God to give medics stamina and hope as they double down on hospital care and vaccination.
Eritrea: Christian detainees
29 Apr 2021
Eritrea remains one of the worst countries in the world for Christian persecution. Imprisoned Christians are tortured, starved, and forced into hard labour. Conditions are worse for pastors and theological students who are singled out for beatings or have their jail terms extended as a warning to others. Many Christians are held indefinitely, often without trial, not knowing when they will be released. Some are kept in shipping containers, where they are exposed to the searing desert heat by day and cold by night. 69 Christian prisoners were released in September 2020 in Covid-19 control measures. Most had been held for over ten years without trial, some for 16 years. The releases were made on condition that bail securities were lodged, usually in the form of property deeds, with guarantors held liable for the detainees’ future actions. None of the known imprisoned pastors or senior Christian leaders were among those released. Tens of thousands of Christians have fled from Eritrea to Ethiopia, Sudan, Uganda, and Israel.
Turkey: Armenian genocide
29 Apr 2021
In 1915 two million Armenians lived in Turkey; today there are fewer than 60,000. Successive regimes deny that there was such a thing as an Armenian genocide. Turkey now appears intent on reigniting the hatred by helping Azerbaijan wage war on Armenia in the context of the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute, which erupted into armed conflict in late 2020. Turkish mercenaries and their Azerbaijani partners have ISIS-like behavior. They tortured beyond recognition an intellectually disabled 58-year-old Armenian woman before murdering her. Her family identified her by her clothes. When a random pedestrian was asked, ‘If you could get away with one thing, what would you do?’ She looked at the video camera and smiled saying, ‘What would I do? Behead twenty Armenians.’ 24 April was Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, marking the start of the period in which Ottoman Turks massacred 1.5 million Armenians during World War I. On 27 April that Turkey said relations with the US had sunk to a new low after Joe Biden formally acknowledged that Armenians suffered genocide 100 years ago.
USA: Biden’s 100 days speech to Congress
29 Apr 2021
President Biden marked 100 days in office with a speech that put into focus his domestic agenda, the most dramatic shift in federal economic and social welfare policies since Ronald Reagan forty years ago. Reagan’s philosophy resulted in decades-long squeezes on domestic spending and tax policies that benefit the wealthiest. If Biden gets his way Reagan’s policies will be replaced by ones directly addressing long-standing economic, racial and gender inequities. His speech reflected his presidency to date, appealing for bold action by a leader whose demeanour is opposite to that of Donald Trump. Biden believes there is an urgent need to act, an opportunity to do so, but limited time to get it done. He said the nation needs ‘a once-in-generation investment in families and children.’ But because of the Democrats’ narrow majorities and a nation still divided over the president’s performance, Biden’s agenda represents a political gamble.
Japan: Tokyo Olympics and the pandemic
29 Apr 2021
Japan’s government declared a third state of emergency due to rising Covid infections just three months before hosting the 32nd Olympic Games. Documents released on 28 April introduce new Covid restrictions and requirements ahead of the Olympics, with guidelines that limit participants’ movement and require more testing. Takeshi Takazawa of Asian Access said, ‘The government wants to quickly eliminate the rapid increase of new cases with new strands of viruses. We are quite behind with vaccinating the people. We didn’t come up with vaccines of our own, so we depend on US production. Different simulations have been done, and we probably will not be able to finish vaccinating people over 65 before the Olympics are supposed to start.’ One third of Japanese people want to postpone the Olympics for another year; another one third want to cancel it, and the rest want to go ahead after already postponing for a year.
2021 report: persecution of Biblical proportions
29 Apr 2021
50,000 Christians are being held in North Korean prison camps. Some 3,000 Yazidi girls and women are missing in Iraq. 130,000 Muslims are in internment camps in Burma and as many as 3 million Uighur Muslims are in Chinese concentration camps. China finds two religions particularly problematic for the survival and existence of the Communist Party. Christianity and Islam. A recent report identifies ten countries which are the worst offenders and of particular concern. They are already designated as such by the US state department: Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. US and NATO ally Turkey is listed as a tier-two offender. There are also recommendations to add India, Russia, Syria, and Vietnam to the list. See