Atheist handbooks given to Scottish parents
26 Aug 2016
The Enlighten Up campaign is an initiative of Humanist Society Scotland (HSS), to promote ‘a fair and inclusive education system where pupils and teachers are not discriminated against because of their religion or belief.’ However, HSS’s head of communications said their ultimate objective is to see religious observance scrapped and replaced with a more inclusive activity, such as philosophy. The campaign is providing parents ‘concerned about religious influence in schools’ with an atheist handbook. Scottish law requires public schools to host at least six religious observance sessions a year. HSS has produced two handbooks to help challenge teachers entitled A Guide for Non-Religious Parents and A Guide for Non-Religious Young People. The books include advice on how to opt out of religious observance and how to make a complaint when someone feels their rights have not been respected. HSS also provides templates for opt-out letters.
GCSE A*-C grades fall drastically
26 Aug 2016
National GCSE results have fallen dramatically across the board, with the proportion who gained a C grade or above dropping by an unprecedented 2.1% compared with last year – including a sharp decline in the numbers gaining a C or above in English. The falls are due in large part to new Government policies that force 17-year-olds who got a D or lower in English or maths last year to resit those exams, meaning more students overall were sitting the tests. But some of the fall is unexplained. Of pupils taking their exams in year 11, the normal GCSE year, the proportion gaining A*-C grades was down by 1.3%. The female dominance in the exams continued with the gender gap increasing slightly (by 0.5%) this summer, with 71.3% of girls awarded at least a C grade, compared with 62.4% of boys.
Mentor a child in care
26 Aug 2016
When a child goes into care they may have experienced loss, neglect, abuse or trauma. To befriend such a child, support and encourage them as a reliable positive presence in their life is a significant commitment, but tremendously rewarding. This is the role of an independent visitor or mentor. The 1989 Children’s Act created the role of volunteers to be appointed by the local authority to ‘visit, befriend and advise’ a child and to be a consistent presence in their travels through the care system. Social workers may change, but ideally a mentor remains a constant friend, visiting the child on a regular basis. Sadly, this role hasn’t been given the publicity or esteem it deserves, and consequently many children who would like a mentor simply don’t get one. Barnardo’s is calling upon local authorities to ensure that every child in care knows they have a right to an independent visitor or mentor, and to sign up to a new set of quality standards.
Suspect arrested in terrorism investigation
26 Aug 2016
Police have arrested a serving member of the British Armed Forces on suspicion of Northern Ireland-related terrorist activities. The 30-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday during a joint operation involving the Metropolitan Police counter-terrorism squad, Avon and Somerset Constabulary, and Devon and Cornwall police. In a statement, the London Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) said the arrest was ‘pre-planned and intelligence-led’ as part of an investigation into Northern Ireland-related terrorism. The suspect, who has not been identified, has been taken to an unnamed police station in the west of England. The MPS said further searches are being carried out at an address in south Devon and a nearby wooded area by the force’s Counter-Terrorism Command, also known as SO15. The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) is also conducting searches in relation to the investigation. In June it was reported that Republican dissidents are developing anti-tank weapons. See
Italy: earthquake leaves towns in ruins
26 Aug 2016
Residents in mountain communities 85 miles east of Rome woke up on Wednesday to scenes of devastation after a strong shallow earthquake rocked them at 3:30am. At the time of writing, the death toll has reached 267 and could rise further as rescue teams search for survivors under the rubble of flattened towns. Hundreds of homes have been destroyed. Trucks full of debris leave the areas every few minutes. People are frightened, sleeping in cars or tents with the earth continuing to tremble under them from aftershocks, hundreds of which have struck since the quake. Two of them registered 5.1 and 5.4, just before dawn. ‘I haven't slept much because I was really afraid,’ said 70-year-old Arturo Onesi from the town of Arquata del Tronto, who spent the night in a tent camp for survivors and rescue workers. Also on Wednesday, a 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit Myanmar. See
Germany: IS’s terrorist strategy
26 Aug 2016
A German intercessor reports that Islamic State strategy documents have been discovered and statements from key witnesses in Germany have revealed that IS wants to provoke a religious war. The motives of refugees must be regarded with suspicion, fear of them must be stirred up, and attacks on them by Neo-Nazis and right-wing extremists provoked. The state is expected to react with drastic measures. This is intended to make the Muslim minority community in Western Europe feel discriminated against, alienated and isolated, and consequently be more prepared to fall into line with and support IS’s global campaign. Three people have now returned from Syria to Germany, and they have broken their silence. From their statements it has become clear that IS leaders know that especially in Germany and Great Britain they have few sympathisers who are ready to sacrifice their lives. Thanks be to God!
Olympics evangelism update
26 Aug 2016
Last week we prayed for the distribution of an evangelistic book ‘Power to Win‘. Thank you for all your prayers. God is moving. In the final week of the Olympics Alex Ribeiro wrote to say, ‘Our book is in the hands of people from Kenya, Cameroon , Tunisia, China, Greece, New Zealand, Russia, Ireland, England, Germany, USA, Zambia, Honduras, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Equatorial Guinea, Mexico, Canada, Cuba, Myanmar, Togo, South Korea and Brazil at the Olympic Village.’
USA: attack on prosperity preachers
26 Aug 2016
Russell Moore, President of the Southern Baptist Church, has launched a devastating attack on prosperity preachers, criticising those who sit on a ‘golden throne’. Moore said it was dangerous to ‘normalise’ Christianity and it was good news that the Christian faith ‘isn't normal anymore’. He said he got the same shock of adrenaline from watching prosperity preachers as others got from watching horror movies. In his podcast, Moore described a prosperity preacher who said that even if the gospel was untrue, she would still be a Christian because it is ‘the best way to live’. Moore insisted that Christianity comes ‘with a scandal and with a cross’, reminding people that in first century Ephesus, when identifying yourself with a crucified and resurrected Messiah you might also lose your standing in the marketplace.