Protests outside abortion clinics
26 Jan 2018
Ealing Council may install buffer zones outside a Marie Stopes abortion clinic to ban the presence of pro-life protesters within 150 metres. It would prohibit silent praying, singing hymns, displaying foetus images and distributing leaflets. Only after twenty years of activity outside the clinic has the council considered them a threat. Pro-lifers have never altered their tactics or adopted any aggressive policies. They organise the prayer vigils and provide counselling for pregnant women in crisis. They repeatedly asked Ealing councillors to meet and listen to women who have been helped by their pavement counsellors; their offers were ignored. Video footage of ‘intimidating protesters’ simply shows three people at prayer opposite the clinic. Meanwhile on 24 January Manchester council voted to ‘take all necessary actions within its powers’ to stop what it said was protesters’ harassment of women using their abortion clinics. See
Accelerating rise in crime
26 Jan 2018
Police figures show offences up 14% in a year, with knife and gun crime rising even more steeply. Statistics also show the number of police officers in England and Wales has fallen by 930 in the same period, to the lowest since records began. Offences such as domestic burglary and car crime are also increasing: however, there has been a 15% fall in fraud and online computer misuse. Nevertheless the increasing levels of gun and knife offences, stalking, harassment, and robbery will set alarm bells ringing in Downing Street. God’s plans are for good and not for evil. Let us pray for our nations to experience peace, stability and justice, pushing back every plan and purpose of Satan for confusion, criminality or deception.
Brexit: Britain - bespoke EU trade deal?
26 Jan 2018
Ireland's Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, said Britain should be offered a bespoke trade deal with the EU after Brexit, rather than an ‘off-the-shelf’ agreement. He added that Ireland would like Britain to ‘stay closer in the EU’s orbit’ than non-member states, and mentioned the example of Norway, which currently implements EU single market rules with free movement within the bloc. He also suggested that although Theresa May had pledged to leave the EU customs union and single market, ‘perhaps we can negotiate something that isn’t very different from that’. Brussels wants the UK’s future relationship with the EU to be either Norwegian-style implementation of all EU rules, or a Canadian style free-trade agreement that would not cover large areas of the economy, including services. British negotiators have been given until March to decide what they want the future relationship with the EU to look like.
Ireland: combat the tide of evil
26 Jan 2018
A leading Irish expert has called Church leaders to appoint a team of exorcists to cope with what he sees as a rising tide of evil in the country. While many believe exorcisms only happen in Hollywood blockbusters, exorcist Fr Pat Collins said he is besieged by desperate people seeking help to deal with what they believe to be demonic possession and evil activity. He is ‘baffled’ that Irish bishops are not taking more action to appoint priests to deal with everything from ghostly encounters, being pulled from their beds, and full-blown possession. ‘What I’m finding is people who in their own minds believe - rightly or wrongly - that they’re afflicted by evil spirits. In many cases it is wrongly, but when they turn to the Church we don’t know what to do, and often they are not helped.' He also said there was growing apostasy within the Church. 'As this has happened, there is increasing evidence of the malicious activity of the evil one.’
Switzerland: Davos economic forum
26 Jan 2018
Theresa May’s speech at Davos spoke of the UK as a centre of Artificial Intelligence, stating that in the past few years a new AI startup has been created in the UK every week, and technologies like the internet were developed with a philosophy that connecting us together would improve people’s lives. She said that the UK is developing a digital charter, at the heart of which is a set of principles that the same rights people have offline should be protected online; the internet should remain free, open and accessible; people should understand the rules that apply to them when they are online; personal data should be respected and used appropriately; and protections should be in place to help keep people safe online, especially children.
Syria: the forgotten people
26 Jan 2018
Last week we prayed for more international intervention to end the unspeakable conditions in Ghouta, near Damascus. Please continue to pray for the beleaguered 400,000 inhabitants still living in the area, who have been under siege for five years. Throughout January they have been pounded with 350+ airstrikes, killing approximately 200 civilians, including many women and children. Recently the Syrian American Medical Society announced that the regime had allowed only 29 out of the approved list of 500 critically ill patients to be evacuated for hospitalisation. Incessant mortar fire by rebel fighters is wounding and killing people in a predominantly Christian district of Damascus. The most recent report, on 22 January, stated that another 21 people had been wounded in the area. Armed opposition forbids food, medicine or aid into a zone established by Russia, Iran and Turkey. Click the ‘More’ button for a Voice of America report. See and
In 2017 Hamas said its smuggling and terror tunnel network was twice as large as the Viet Cong’s was at the height of the Vietnam War. In 2018 Israeli technology has proved successful in locating and blocking many Hamas tunnels. Many believe the terror group, fearful of losing a major strategic weapon, could take desperate measures. Pray that this will not happen, particularly after the destruction of a massive Hamas tunnel on 20 January. It ran under the Gaza border, near where Egypt, Israel and Gaza meet, not only entering Israel, but also entering Egyptian territory - violating both Israeli and Egyptian sovereignty. Ironically, Hamas was targeting Palestinians’ economic lifeline, a passage where thousands of trucks carrying Israel’s merchandise cross the border bringing supplies to the residents of Gaza, the economic oxygen of the Gaza Strip. According to security forces, Hamas planned to blow up the entire complex.
Thailand: slavery in the seafood industry
26 Jan 2018
Thailand is the third largest seafood exporter in the world. The industry relies heavily on trafficked and forced labour on unlicensed vessels. Many victims are from Cambodia, Laos and Burma. Beatings and starvation are commonplace. The Thai government claims it is regulating the fishing industry more tightly, yet slavery persists. The International Justice Mission (IJM) works with other bodies to rescue victims trafficked into Thailand’s fishing industry, and creates individualised care plans to meet survivors’ physical, psychological and emotional needs so that they can thrive in freedom. IJM requests prayer for favour and wisdom as the team builds relationships with police and prosecutors in both Thailand and Cambodia (where many of the traffickers target victims).