India: National Health Care scheme
06 Jul 2018
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plan to provide healthcare and insurance to half a billion Indians, a people-mass larger than the entire population of South America, is facing serious hurdles. Almost five months after announcing the programme they are still working to lock in hospitals and insurance companies in time for the planned 15 August launch (India’s Independence Day). The healthcare scheme aims to cover the poorest 40% in a country where a 2017 World Health Organisation report found personal spending on health pushed over 52 million people below the poverty line. Although beneficiaries are identified and IT infrastructure is in place, the involvement of hospitals still needs to be finalised. It is the government's second major welfare push this year. It recently presented a draft bill on a social security programme designed to cover the country’s 500 million poorest workers, including those in informal employment.
Global: Wildfires this week
06 Jul 2018
In North America 70 wildfires are consuming 630,000 acres across Alaska, California, Colorado and other western states. Meteorologists warn of more blazes due to strong winds, dry conditions and low humidity. A huge fire in Canada’s British Columbia has been burning since 21 June at Comstock Lake. Another 12-hectare forest fire is being fought in Kawarthas near Toronto, Ontario. In England a major incident was declared as moor fires converged in Lancashire. The Northern Ireland fire service has had to deal with 600 gorse fires this week and in Ireland Slieve Bloom mountains are alight with an uncontrolled fast-growing blaze. Nine out of ten wildfires are carelessly (or deliberately) started by people. A wildfire destroys ALL vegetation, causes erosion which degrades stream water quality and wildlife are burned, dehydrated and malnourished. The larger animals like deer can escape but squirrels, foxes and snakes are not always able to. Birds can fly away, but nests and eggs are destroyed. See also
Saudi Arabia:Things women still can’t do
06 Jul 2018
Saudi Arabia is issuing driving licences to women after abolishing its ban on female drivers. 2,000 women want to complete a driving course now offered at all-female university campuses. However women are still restricted in everyday life. They can’t make major decisions without male permission. They must have a male official guardian, father, brother etc., and need their guardian’s consent to travel, obtain a passport or sign contracts. Their dress code is governed by a strict interpretation of Islamic law. The religious police harass them for exposing too much flesh or wearing too much make-up. Women must limit time spent with men to whom they are not related and most public places have segregation. They cannot use public swimming pools available to men neither can they compete freely in sports. Saudi Arabia proposed hosting an Olympic Games without women. They cannot try on clothes when shopping or read an uncensored fashion magazine.
Brexit: UK Fishing White Paper
06 Jul 2018
The UK's proposals for fishing in UK waters after Brexit was unveiled on 4 July. Michael Grove hopes that our fishing industry will get a larger share of domestic catch after Brexit, once the UK ‘decides access’ to its own waters. Currently 60% of fish caught in UK waters goes to Europe. The environment secretary said the UK would be in the ‘driving seat’ in quota negotiations once the UK leaves the EU's Common Fisheries Policy but would not commit to a specific figure. UK fishing groups are pressing to keep more than 80% of domestic catch. There were protests earlier this year when it was revealed that the UK would continue to be bound by the Common Fisheries Policy during the post-Brexit transition that ends in 2020. Now the White Paper sets out a UK vision for an ‘independent coastal state’ from 2021 onwards.
Europe: Grasping for Migrant Solutions
06 Jul 2018
A rescue ship carrying 60 migrants picked up from rubber boats in the Mediterranean Sea arrived in a Spanish port on 4 July, after being refused entry by Italy and Malta. Tens of thousands of migrants have reached European shores so far this year. Southern European countries are refusing entry to arrivals unless their burden is shared. Refugee policies now dominate European political agendas. Pray for God to inspire Europe’s leaders to agree on border protection that complements existing European agreements (Schengen/Dublin III). Pray for fresh methods to speed up current slow asylum procedures. Some nations are ‘going it alone’ - asserting their own interests, without any compassion for the plight of the displaced. Ask God to soften hearts and give politicians compassion towards those fleeing their home countries.
NHS preparing for no-deal Brexit
06 Jul 2018
The NHS is preparing to stockpile medicines and equipment to ensure hospitals can function after a no-deal Brexit. Simon Stevens, the health service CE, said there was 'immediate planning' around the Department for Health and in hospitals about 'securing medical supply' under different scenarios to ensure there was enough medicine. It is 'top of the list' of contingency planning that would be implemented once the state of the deal 'crystallised' in the autumn. Whitehall realises that with no replacement for EU medical agencies, hospitals could run out of drugs and other supplies within weeks. Mr Stevens told the BBC's Andrew Marr that hospitals would be ‘ready for whatever situation emerges’. Pray for patients, the NHS and the UK’s life science industry to have workable regulatory arrangements in place and be fit for purpose for a smooth transition. Pray also for cross-border communications in medical research and development.
Normalising LGBTQ+
06 Jul 2018
On 3 and 4 July, the BBC aired ten news topics promoting LGBTQ+ on their website. Twice last month BBC Radio Four Sunday programme interviewed a woman who had been an evangelical and then changed her beliefs to become a homosexual. LGBTQ+ people now make up a weighty percentage of BBC staff and their influence is seen more and more in programmes and reporting. Quiz shows, soaps, documentaries and entertainment programmes usually have a LGBTQ+ representative. A Christian lady who struggled with her sexuality told her story of how she was counselled by a liberal theologian who helped her to ‘read the Bible in a different way’ so she could become LGBTQ+. She said she had since talked with Archbishop Justin Welby who encouraged her to apply for ordination, saying she would be just the kind of clergy he wants to see in the Church of England. So the state broadcasting service and the state Church promote LGBTQ+ agendas. see
Rees-Mogg – leadership bid?
06 Jul 2018
In September 2017 the eccentric Catholic Tory MP Mr Jacob Rees-Mogg addressed a crowd of 100 activists in Westminster who had signed up to the ‘Moggmentum’ movement which grew over the summer. A survey at the time found that he was Tory members’ favourite to be the next leader, despite the fact that he has never held a frontbench post. Ten months later he insisted again that he is not ambitious and not aware of a £750,000 war chest raised by supporters for an eventual leadership bid. He joked, ‘There isn't a leadership contest. I’m very unlikely to be the next Pope and just as unlikely to be the next Prime Minister. The papacy would be fantastic. I would be infallible, which is better than is given to most politicians.’ He named Sajid Javid and Michael Gove as ‘first-class candidates’ to succeed Theresa May when there is a vacancy.