Cardinal Dieudonné Nzapalainga, Imam Oumar Kobine Layama and Rev Nicolas Guérékoyamé-Gbangou have international recognition for their peacekeeping efforts, and have blamed foreign mercenaries for an upsurge in violence. The so-called 'Christian rebels', the Anti-balaka, wear occult charms around their necks and fight with knives, clubs, rifles and machetes to rid the south of Muslims. The Bambari cathedral was looted, as were the bases of nine NGOs including the National Commission for Refugees. The clerics called all armed groups to lay down weapons, stop illegal exploitation of natural resources, and have ‘frank and inclusive dialogue’. The UN reported that 37,000 people, displaced by recent violence, are living in nine camps. The Red Cross said Muslim and Christian communities in Bambari want to live peaceably but are driven apart by violence and revenge attacks that trigger more assaults, making it harder to persuade people to live side-by-side again. See
India: beating plastic pollution
07 Jun 2018
Nestled in the Himalayas in north-eastern India, Sikkim has been leading a green revolution. Despite being small and isolated, with its people living in extremely tough mountainous terrain, it became the first Indian state to ban disposable plastic bags (1998) and is among the first to target single-use plastic bottles. In 2016 Sikkim banned packaged drinking water in government offices and events, and banned the use of disposable plates and cutlery to cut down toxic plastic and refuse problems. Pray for more governments to be active in promoting environmental programmes that end the global use of single-use plastic. Pray for more research and development into alternative materials to be used to manufacture food packaging, carrier bags, plastic pipes, electrical cable insulation, and artificial limbs. Pray for more innovative recycling and composting programmes, and thank God for the work of Christian environmental organisations such as A Rocha.
Myanmar: ‘genocidal campaign’ against Christians
07 Jun 2018
The Myanmar army is waging a ‘genocidal campaign’ against Kachin Christians, using the same tactics that forced nearly a million Rohingya to flee the country. ‘What we found in this forgotten part of the world was worrying evidence of a second genocidal campaign, this time against the Kachin’, stated a Sky News correspondent on 4 June. Attacks on Kachin areas have increased substantially since January. The forces that spent months driving the Rohingya Muslim ethnic minority out of western Myanmar are now deployed in the north and applying similar tactics, including helicopters, heavy artillery, and burning villages to the ground. The most recent attacks have displaced 10,000 from the mainly-Christian Kachin ethnic minority. One mother of four told journalists, ‘The Burmese government is trying to carry out ethnic cleansing of the Kachin people. Whenever they see Kachin civilians they kill them. If they see a Kachin woman they will rape her, even a pregnant woman.'
Guatemala: volcano casualties
07 Jun 2018
There are over 75 people dead, 200 still missing and 3,319 in shelters, many of them with dead or missing loved ones, unable to return to homes and land destroyed by Guatemala’s most active volcano. Firefighters said the chance of finding anyone alive was now practically non-existent. The thick grey ash covering the region has been hardened by rainfall, making it even more difficult to dig through the piles of rocks and debris. Pray for the exhausted rescue workers still searching for survivors. Pray for those who have lost loved ones. Pray for the rural communities who have lost everything - land, livestock and livelihood - in a once-fertile collection of canyons, hillsides and farms now reduced to a moonscape of ash and debris. ‘In a matter of three or four minutes the village disappeared as a sea of muck came crashing into homes, inundating people, pets and wildlife’, said one survivor.
Action plan on physical activity
07 Jun 2018
The WHO has launched a global action plan on physical activity and health. Worldwide, one in five adults and four out of five adolescents do not do enough physical activity. Girls, women, older adults, poorer people, people with disabilities and chronic diseases, marginalised populations, and indigenous people have fewer opportunities to be active. Regular physical activity is key to preventing and treating non-communicable diseases (NCDs) - such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and breast and colon cancer - which are responsible for 71% of all deaths globally. The action plan calls for training health-care workers and other professionals, stronger data systems, and the use of digital technologies. On 27 September world leaders will meet to take action on physical inactivity and mental disorders at the third UN General Assembly high-level meeting on NCDs in New York.
Trade tariffs and G7 8-9 June
07 Jun 2018
The G7 leaders will discuss many things, including trade tariffs. France says tariffs are illegal. Macron will not shy away from telling Trump what he thinks. Merkel may try to calm down her EU counterparts to avoid a full-scale trade war. Italy’s new prime minister is a political novice who said Italy is ‘second to no-one,’ and shares some of Trump’s views about ‘putting national needs ahead of global ones’. Japan is not expected to support Trump's tariff decisions. Some believe Theresa May could look for concessions to calm the waters ahead of Trump’s UK visit in mid-July. On 3 June US treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin faced sharp criticism from the angry finance ministers of all the G7 nations over America's imposition of steel and aluminium tariffs. See
Britain’s got Christian talent
31 May 2018
A gospel choir and a friar will be among the competitors in the penultimate stage of Britain’s Got Talent. In April when Fr Kelly sang Everybody Hurts, Simon Cowell said it was one of his favourite auditions ever, and many in the audience were moved to tears. His singing previously went viral on Youtube when he sang Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah at a wedding in 2014. It received over 60 million views. The DMU Gospel Choir was the university gospel choir of the year in 2016 and has been a BBC Songs of Praise choir of the year finalist. Members impact and transform the lives of many as they engage in community outreach, visit hospital wards, do schools workshops, charity performances, and sing for societies and organisations like Global Hands (Run for Africa). See
Immigrant: ‘God helped me’
31 May 2018
Mamoudou, a Malian migrant living in Paris, caught the world’s attention when he bravely saved a child who was dangling over the edge of a balcony of a high-rise apartment complex. He has been nicknamed Spider-Man for the incredible way he scaled four floors of the building and lifted the child to safety. When asked why he undertook such a dangerous climb, he simply replied, ‘I didn’t think about it, I climbed up and God helped me.’ He added: ‘I like children. I would have hated to see him getting hurt in front of me. I ran and looked for solutions to save him, and thank God I scaled the front of the building to the balcony.’ Mamoudou has been awarded French citizenship. The child’s father is under investigation for neglect, and the child has been placed in care.