In Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and Bolivia more than 160,000 people were displaced over the last few days of December by the heaviest floods to hit South America in 50 years. The year 2015 was the warmest on record globally. In the media, a lot of attention has been given to the many floods, droughts, wildfires and heatwaves that have battered countries this year. Little attention is given to the Arctic - where global warming is felt most strongly. Temperatures at the North Pole rose to above freezing point at the end of 2015; that’s more than 30 degrees higher than average. Last month 150 world leaders met at the COP21 climate summit and shook hands on the Paris Agreement. We can continue to pray through this year that countries will implement comprehensive and effective remedies to climate change. See also article 1 in the British Isles section, and go to http://arctic-news.blogspot.co.uk/

Taiwan’s general elections will be held on 16 January to elect the 14th president and vice president and all 113 seats of the 9th Legislative Yuan. These elections are said to be the most important in the democracy in nearly 20 years because: 1. Taiwan is poised to elect its first female president, as both of the two major parties have nominated female presidential candidates. 2. Taiwan’s long-time ruling party, the KMT, is expected to lose the presidency and possibly the legislature. Taiwan operates a semi-presidential system, with a directly elected president but also a premier similar to parliamentary systems. 3. Taiwanese identity is growing despite (or because of) increased ties with China. Taiwan’s polls have frequently asked whether people identify as Chinese; over the years Chinese identification has fallen from 25.5 percent to 3.3 percent. This shift benefits the opposition party, the DPP, who have traditionally promoted a distinct Taiwanese identity. For information regarding other nation-changing elections in the coming year go to: http://www.prayer-alert.net/index.php?option=com_docman&view=download&alias=616-insight-elections-jan-june-2016&category_slug=insight-articles-1&Itemid=216

MPs will hold a debate on a petition calling for US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to be barred from Britain after his proposal to stop all Muslims entering the United States. The debate, called by the Petitions Committee of the lower house of parliament, will be held on 18 January. The government responds to all petitions with more than 10,000 signatures. Topics are considered for debate if they reach 100,000.Trump owns two golf courses in Scotland, and has threatened to withdraw investments from the UK worth £700 million if barred from entry. In the past, people have been banned from Britain for fostering hatred that might provoke inter-community violence. The petition said, ‘If the United Kingdom is to continue applying the “unacceptable behaviour” criterion to those who wish to enter its borders, it must be fairly applied to the rich as well as poor, and the weak as well as the powerful.’

The British jihadi bride whose four-year-old son recently appeared in an IS execution video was once a devout Christian who loved going to church, her father has said. 25-year-old Grace, who now goes by the name Khadijah, was religious. She would read her Bible and pray all the time. Her father said, ‘We called her Grace after Amazing Grace, the hymn. She went to church every week without fail, often three times.’ Khadijah converted to Islam in 2010 and is believed to have been radicalised online. She fled to Syria in 2012 with her son, Isa, who appeared in a ten-minute IS propaganda video released last week entitled 'A message to David Cameron'. It showed five hostages being killed.