Doctor Antony McRoy, a Christian expert on Islamic extremism, has said Christians have a duty to directly challenge radical Islamist preachers like Anjem Choudhary, who was convicted of terror offences after encouraging people to join Islamic State. There has been a call to review UK anti-terror laws. Mr Choudhary was able to preach radical Islam openly on social media and in public for years before he was finally arrested in 2014. Mr McRoy, who has met Anjem Choudhary and some of the terrorists he has radicalised several times, has said Christians have ‘hidden’ in their churches rather than confronting erroneous teaching. He said, ‘We've got to ask ourselves - how many confronted him personally? How many Christians went up to him to take him on? How many Christians do this to his supporters?’

CAAT (Campaign Against Arms Trade) have reported that the UK is arming Saudi Arabia despite overwhelming evidence that its weapons, including fighter jets and bombs, are being used against civilians in Yemen. Since the collapse of peace talks on 6 August 2016 the Saudi-led coalition has intensified its devastating bombing campaign in Yemen. Between 11 and 18 August Saudi-led forces are accused of bombing a food factory (killing fourteen people), a school (killing ten, including children), and most recently a Médecins Sans Frontières hospital (killing eleven). CAAT says that since the bombing campaign began in March, the UK has licensed £3.3 billion worth of arms to the Saudi government. The destruction of Yemen has created a humanitarian catastrophe. The civilians are paying the highest price, and many believe the UK Government has been complicit in the devastation, having provided bombs, fighter jets and an uncritical political support for the regime.

President Erdogan is issuing warnings that Turkey will stop taking refugees back from the EU if it fails to waive visa restrictions for Turks. The two sides are on a collision course with emergency rule declared after the failed 15 July coup suspending a series of basic rights and freedoms in Turkey - making the planned visa waiver even more difficult and hastening the course toward confrontation . The row was aggravated by a psychological factor as Erdogan feels anger and mistrust toward EU leaders who, according to him, failed to extend him adequate support after the uprising. The Turkish press are calling his warnings a ‘showdown.’ Continue to pray for Turkish citizens living under the state of emergency, with legislative decrees exempt from constitutional checks, freedoms suppressed, and the European Convention on Human Rights put on hold.

The majority of students attending third level institutions will be financially supported by their parents spending an average of €447 each month, an Irish League of Credit Unions survey has found. Out of the 87% of parents who decide to support their children, 60% will be getting into debt to do so. All told, just under three quarters of parents polled said they would struggle to cover the cost of their child’s third level education. The average amount of debt parents will accrue is put at €4,300; on average, parents save for eight years to cover those costs for their children, and manage to accumulate €8,150 over that period. Employment prospects after graduation are the biggest concern for parents, with 32% saying this was what worried them the most.