EU countries welcome Polish election result
19 Oct 2023
Politicians across Europe have been encouraged by the result of the Polish election on 15 October - especially in Germany, the favourite target of the ousted Law and Justice (PiS) party. A German MEP said, ‘I expect that Poland will become a constructive partner and that the change in government will strengthen its standing in Europe’; and Katja Leikert, a Christian Democrat MP who sits on its foreign relations committee, said the election results ‘give hope’ to Europe. German-Polish relations have suffered in recent years. Foreign minister Annalena Baerbock had sought to improve relations last year, travelling to Warsaw on Germany’s national day as a sign of respect for an important ally and neighbour. Instead of welcoming the gesture, however, the PiS leaders formally demanded that Germany pay €1.3 trillion in war reparations. Russia’s reactions to the election results were less enthusiastic: see
Italian evangelical Christians have protested against the ‘active and public’ participation of Thomas Schirrmacher, secretary-general of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) in a large ecumenical prayer vigil organised in the Vatican on 30 September. This featured prayers led by the heads of twenty Christian confessions, including Mr Schirrmacher. The Italian Evangelical Alliance (AEI) said, ‘We are confused and disappointed. Once you pray publicly with the Pope, in St. Peter’s Square, in front of a Marian portrait, embracing the message of spiritual unity with liberals and orthodox leaders, your alleged distinction becomes secondary.’ Pope Francis said the event would help to sow unity among Christian confessions. According to the event’s website, he shared ‘personal memories of his ecumenical journey’. The Spanish Evangelical Alliance has also criticised WEA’s participation: see
Founded by CMS, Al Ahli hospital was run by the Baptist Church until 1982 when it became part of the Episcopal diocese of Jerusalem, offering care to all, regardless of ethnicity, religion, or political affiliation. The hospital is a partner of Embrace the Middle East, who described the hospital’s deaths as ‘utterly heartbreaking: not only the immediate loss of innocent lives but also the loss of a vital institution that provides healthcare for the people of Gaza regardless of background. It is a Christian Anglican hospital that has no connection whatsoever with Hamas. This is the destruction of the very institutions that maintain a vestige of hope for people in desperate need. The Christian population in Gaza is tiny. We, and for sure, they, have every reason to fear for its very survival.’ The hospital’s aim is to ‘plant hope in the heart of the people of Gaza’.
Machinery to repair roads has been sent through the Rafah border crossing from Egypt into the Gaza Strip in preparation for the delivery of some of the aid stockpiled in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, two security sources said on Thursday. Rafah is the only crossing not controlled by Israel but has been out of operation since the first days of the conflict in Gaza following Israeli bombardments on the Palestinian side of the border. The USA and Egypt have been pushing for a deal with Israel to get aid delivered to Gaza, and on 18 October the White House said that it had been agreed for up to 20 trucks to pass through, with hopes for more later. Most of Gaza's 2.3 million residents depended on aid before the current conflict started on 7 October, and about 100 trucks daily were providing humanitarian relief to the enclave, according to the UN. At least that number are waiting close to the crossing, though it was not expected that aid would enter before 20 October. More aid is being held in the Egyptian city of Al Arish, some 45 km away. Benjamin Netanyahu's office has said Israel would not block aid for civilians entering Gaza from Egypt, as long as those supplies do not reach Hamas.
A Catholic healthcare clinic is challenging a Colorado law that forbids giving women a natural hormone to reverse the effects of the abortion pill and save a baby's life. Mother and daughter nurse practitioners Dede Chism and Abby Sinnett founded Bella Health and Wellness, a ‘life-affirming, dignified healthcare’ facility for men, women, and children. It is one of many healthcare clinics across the nation which offer progesterone, a naturally occurring hormone essential for maintaining a healthy pregnancy, to women at risk of miscarriage. But Colorado has now passed a law that prohibits clinics from offering progesterone in order to reverse the effects of the abortion pill, in spite of evidence of its safety and efficacy. Now, Chism and Sinnett say they run the risk of losing their medical licences and being liable to pay $20,000 per violation if they continue their ministry to pregnant women who seek their help. In September California's attorney general filed a lawsuit against two major pro-life pregnancy centres to stop them from advertising abortion pill reversal services, claiming that the natural hormone used to reverse the abortion pill is risky and ‘has no credible scientific backing’. However, the Abortion Pill Rescue Network (APRN) website says that there is a 64-68% success rate for women who follow their protocol, adding that ‘thousands of lives have been saved’.
Sudan: UK describes ‘ethnic cleansing’ in Darfur
19 Oct 2023
Recent analysis of satellite and social media data reveals that at least 68 villages in Darfur have been set on fire by Sudanese armed militias since the civil war began in April. The UK minister for Africa, Andrew Mitchell, said this bore ‘all the hallmarks of ethnic cleansing’ - the first time the government has used the term to describe what is happening in Sudan. General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who leads the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), said that he would cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) to bring those guilty to justice. Much of the ethnic violence is blamed on militias which are part of - or affiliated to - the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the paramilitary group fighting the SAF for control of the country. The RSF has repeatedly denied any involvement in the violence in the region and has called for an independent international investigation. The analysis has been carried out by the Centre for Information Resilience (CIR), which uses Nasa heat-recognition technology and satellite images to identify fires and matches them with images on social media.
A court in Pakistan has sentenced a Muslim man to 25 years in prison for killing a Christian woman who rejected his marriage proposal. Muhammad Shahzad, also known as Shani, was sentenced in Islamabad for killing Sonia Allah Rakha, a 24-year-old Christian woman. The judge commended the police for their thorough investigation, which led to Shani’s conviction while acquitting three other accused individuals, the group said. Shanik shot Sonia on 30 November 2020, after her family declined his marriage proposal due to religious differences. He initially fled the scene but was later apprehended by the police.on. The victim’s family said that the accused had been harassing Sonia for the previous six months and had tried to force a physical relationship with her.
USA: another failure to elect a House speaker
19 Oct 2023
On 18 October Jim Jordan, a hard-line conservative and staunch ally of former president Donald Trump, lost a second bid to be elected as speaker of the House of Representatives. Jordan, a nine-term lawmaker from the midwestern state of Ohio, won only 199 Republican votes in the second round of voting, as 22 Republican colleagues voted for other lawmakers for the top position in the lower chamber of Congress. He also trailed Democratic minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, who won the votes of all 212 Democrats, although he has no chance of becoming speaker of the chamber that is narrowly led by Republicans. Since Kevin McCarthy was ousted as speaker two weeks ago, the House has been rudderless. It has been unable to consider any legislation, such as a spending measure to avert a partial government shutdown when current funding runs out on 17 November, or a straightforward, bipartisan resolution to support Israel after the attack by Hamas militants. With Jordan’s defeat, it is not immediately clear what steps the House might take next to fill the speakership.