Sally, now 20, believes her mental distress should have been spotted years before she received treatment that helped her. She says she became ill when she first started secondary school. Teachers noticed, describing her as ‘an odd child’, but in the end Sally had to ask her doctor for help herself. She was 16 and on the edge of suicide before she got any effective treatment. The charity Young Minds says it is not uncommon for families to have to wait 18 months even to get an assessment for their child, let alone treatment. In December, the government announced plans to overhaul children's mental health care in England, with proposals limiting waiting time to four weeks and allowing children to access mental health support in schools. Now a report from MPs has branded the strategy ‘unambitious’, providing no help to most of the children who need it. But ministers reject this suggestion, saying their proposals will transform the system.
Russia/Greece/France: protests
11 May 2018
Two days before President Putin’s fourth inauguration, over a thousand people were detained after protests against his extended rule turned violent. Riot police barricaded protesters who then ran into adjoining streets, chanting, ‘Putin is a thief!’ and ‘He’s not my Tsar’. After lighting smoke bombs and throwing bricks, many were beaten bloody with batons in scenes reminiscent of 2012’s opposition movement. Many protesters held yellow duck symbols of ‘anti-corruption’. Pray for honest politics. See Over 2,500 Greeks protested against 2016’s EU/Turkey deal that left thousands of asylum-seekers stranded on Lesbos. When prime minister Alexis Tsipras arrived at Lesbos, protesters used loudspeakers to promote dissent and violence, and riot police fired teargas. See France’s May Day turned nasty when 1000+ ‘Black Bloc’ anarchists burnt cars and vandalised businesses, chanted anti-fascist slogans, threw firecrackers, and built barricades against police water cannons.
Spain moves to block Puigdemont
11 May 2018
Spain acted on 9 May to stop pro-independence politicians in Catalonia voting in ex-leader Carles Puigdemont, now in Germany, as their regional head, with an important deadline looming. The constitutional court accepted a government appeal against a new Catalan law that would allow Puigdemont to be elected at a distance while he waits for German courts to rule on a Spanish request to extradite him. This means the law will be blocked until the court makes a final decision, which could take months. Catalan lawmakers must pick a leader to form a government by 22 May, to avert more elections and plot a path out of a seven-month standoff which has given Spain, the euro zone’s fourth-largest economy, its worst dose of instability in decades.
Trump threatens Iran
11 May 2018
A day after Donald Trump said he was withdrawing from the Iran weapons deal, he created further anxiety by threatening Iran with ‘severe consequences’ if it restarted its nuclear programme. He is also preparing to impose new sanctions, perhaps as early as next week. His comments came as officials in Iran and leaders across Europe scrambled to see if they could continue to operate the 2015 deal negotiated by Barack Obama. France’s foreign minister claimed that the deal could yet continue, but Iranian president Hassan Rouhani told Emmanuel Macron that Europe had only a ‘limited opportunity’ to preserve it.
Kenya: dam burst kills many
11 May 2018
A dam burst in Kenya on 9 May after heavy rain, causing huge destruction and killing at least forty people. The breach happened on farmland 120 miles northwest of Nairobi. The dead are thought to include children and women trapped in mud. The Kenyan Red Cross says it has rescued some 40 people so far, and over 2,000 people have been left homeless. There are fears that the death toll could rise as the search-and-rescue operation continues. The Patel dam, one of three reservoirs owned by a large-scale farmer, broke its walls and swept away a primary school and hundreds of homes downstream, following the heavy rains that have been pounding the country. The toll now brings to 162 the number of people who have died countrywide as a result of the rains since March, according to official statistics. More than 220,000 people have had their homes destroyed.
Syria: Christian fears after takeover
11 May 2018
The city of Afrin welcomed refugees fleeing Syria’s war, but in January Turkey, backed by Syrian rebels, took control there. Hanan, a Syrian Kurdish Christian, fears for those who converted from Islam to Christianity. Six years ago he started a church there, which now has 230 members. Many are from a Muslim background, becoming Christians when the grinding civil war drove them to the church searching for peace. Syrian rebels are now threatening to kill Kurds unless they convert to Islam. ‘By Allah, if you repent and come back to Allah, then know that you are our brothers,’ a soldier said in an online video. ‘But if you refuse, then we see that your heads are ripe, and that it is time for us to pluck them.’ There are serious fears of ethnic cleansing in the region.
Worldwide: ageing populations
11 May 2018
Elderly healthcare is today’s challenge for tomorrow. Between 2015 and 2030 people aged 60+ will grow by 56% globally, to nearly 1.5 billion. By 2050 it is expected to be two billion. Americans aged 65+ will double to nearly 100 million by 2060. Central and South America face similar challenges. In every country in the region, the proportion of elderly will increase significantly. Similar demographic changes apply to the Caribbean where falling fertility rates compound the problem. After the 2008 financial crisis European governments reformed pension systems and retirement ages, creating a commercial care challenge. China and India’s large numbers of older people are expected to jump from 8% to 24% of the population in the next thirty years.
Nigeria: gunmen attack bishop
11 May 2018
The Bishop of Makurdi, Nathan Inyom, was attacked by gunmen in Nigeria’s Benue state on 6 May. None of the five passengers (who included his wife Becky and his chaplain) was injured, but his car was stolen in the attack. Benue is an area that has been beset by increasing levels of violence in recent weeks. Last month two Catholic priests, Joseph Gor and Felix Tyolaha, were killed when herdsmen stormed the church in Ukpor where they were celebrating Mass. ‘This was an attack on everything that we ever stood for and believed in’, a spokesman said. See