Give thanks for Clayton and Ellen Kershaw, from the Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Team, who partnered with the International Justice Mission (IJM), and visited the Dominican Republic to help bring a major reduction in the scale of sex trafficking of children. They met with local government officials, local partners and survivors. They then used their American platforms in sports and media to shine a light on this issue and released a clip on the internet about their visit. Please pray for many people to watch the video clip about sex trafficking and then go on to join the fight for justice.

A survey asked over 47,000 citizens from 35 African countries about their experiences and perceptions of corruption. More than half of the survey respondents think corruption in their country is getting worse, and that their governments are not doing enough to tackle this scourge. Citizens have every reason to call for stronger anti-corruption measures: from education to health care to policing, rackets affect millions of people each-and-every day. More than a quarter of citizens paid bribes to access public services over the past year - that is equivalent to around 130 million people across the countries surveyed. Of all public institutions, police forces were identified as the most corrupt; but many other areas of government are also seen by citizens as corrupt. The good news is that the majority of people are optimistic that they can make a difference in the fight against corruption.

The number of new Ebola cases is at worrying levels and now the virus has reached Goma City, the Central Africa transport hub, where 2 million people live. A Pastor, who had become ill in Butembo travelled to Goma on 14 July and died in its treatment centre. All passengers on the bus the Pastor had taken to Goma have been traced. Butembo is one of the towns hardest hit by Ebola. The pastor held regular services in seven churches there and laid his hands on worshippers, including sick people. Over 1,650 people have died and about 700 people have recovered from Ebola. Currently there are 2,489 cases. The movement of people around or through Ebola zones is a huge challenge for health services. Provinces affected by the virus are characterised by poor infrastructure, political instability and ongoing conflict involving scores of armed militia groups and community mistrust of national authorities and outsiders. The World Health Organisation has sounded a global Ebola alarm see.

Iran's state TV said on 18 July that the Revolutionary Guard had seized a foreign oil tanker with 12 crew members accused of smuggling one million litres of fuel in the Lark Island of the Persian Gulf. The guards said the vessel impounded was the same one it towed on the previous Sunday after it sent a distress call. The TV didn't identify the tanker or say which country the crew were from. There has been speculation earlier on the whereabouts of the Riah oil tanker, which sails under the Panama flag. At the time of writing it is not known whether the vessel towed by Iran was indeed the Riah. The US expressed suspicion that the Riah had been seized in Iranian territorial waters. US General Kenneth McKenzie said that they were talking to other countries about freedom of navigation in the Gulf and will work ‘aggressively’ to find a solution to enable free passage.