To grow and prosper, UK agriculture needs to question its approach and thinking. With this in mind, the 2018 farming conference, which ran from 3 to 5 January, was on ‘Embracing Change’. The opportunities for our farming sector are huge, but farmers need to realise what changes must be made - at personal, family and business levels - for the sector to progress. The speakers came from around the world. They shared their approaches to tackling personal and professional adversity under headings of ‘behavioural changes needed within family businesses’ and ‘digital disruption taking British farming into a new realm of possibilities.’ Michael Gove, secretary of state for the environment, spoke of potential post-Brexit farm payments and systems. Farmers can expect change, with a capital C.

Lamentations 2:19 says, ‘Arise, cry out in the night, as the watches of the night begin; pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord. Lift up your hands to him for the lives of your children.’ A report into social media use among 8- to 12-year-olds has stated, ‘Schools should play a bigger role in preparing children for social media's emotional demands as they move from primary to secondary school; and parents should prepare children emotionally for the significant risks of social media as they move schools and meet new classmates.’ Meanwhile, an IJM report said, ‘Cybersex trafficking is the live-streamed sexual abuse of children viewed over the internet. It’s brutal, growing at an alarming rate, and fuelled by the behaviour of Westerners, including people from the UK.’ See

A number of MPs have added their voice to the growing concern over an upcoming visit to the UK by US evangelist Franklin Graham. Over 5,000 people have signed a petition stating he should not be allowed into the country. They claim he has homophobic and islamophobic views and is ‘likely to promote prejudice and hatred’. The preacher, who is the son of legendary evangelist Billy Graham, is due to speak at Blackpool's Festival of Hope in September. But after recent endorsements of Donald Trump and what has been seen as inflammatory statements about Islam, many are unhappy about the visit. Labour MP Gordon Marsden is calling on the home secretary to refuse him entry into the UK saying, ‘some of his comments are incompatible with what Jesus said in the Bible’. His visit is being supported by many local church leaders.

Research commissioned by the government suggests that migrants may be responsible for most of Germany's rise in violent crime. Researchers say the findings are not surprising because many migrants are single males aged 14-30. This group is most likely to commit crime, irrespective of nationality. Migrants are twice as likely to be reported to police for alleged violent crimes as German nationals, and a third of all victims of violent crimes by migrants are other migrants. The report comes as Chancellor Angela Merkel's centre-right CDU/CSU, after its poor showing in the recent election, prepares for coalition talks with the centre-left SPD. Over a million migrants and refugees, fleeing war and abuses, have entered Germany through the open-door policy, which has led to tensions at home.