A man attacked a church in the Kadıköy district of İstanbul with a Molotov cocktail on Tuesday, setting the building's door on fire. In a video purporting to show the attack, the man is seen shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ (God is great) and ‘Revenge will be taken for Al-Aqsa Mosque’ as he throws a bomb at the Aya Triada Orthodox Church in the Bahariye area of Kadıköy. The door of the church caught fire, but the blaze was extinguished shortly after the attack. The man was detained by police. A recent report by the Gatestone institute stated, ‘Churches in Turkey on the Verge of Extinction’ as cathedrals are having Qu'ran recitations and being turned into museums. See also

Romania's parliament has refused to lift prime minister Victor Ponta's immunity from prosecution after he was questioned by Romania's powerful DNA anti-corruption agency last Friday on suspicion of forgery, tax evasion and money laundering. Mr Ponta, who has come under pressure to resign, said he would stay on to prevent a protracted political crisis. Anti-corruption officials are looking at his work between 2007 and 2011. Parliament is dominated by Mr Ponta's centre-left coalition so Tuesday's vote to block prosecution was unsurprising. It is alleged that Mr Ponta used forged invoices from a law firm, Sova and Associates, to buy two luxury apartments and a Mitsubishi Lancer car. The Social Democrat prime minister, in office since 2012, has denied any wrongdoing and says his government will survive a no-confidence vote in parliament due on Friday 19 June. President Klaus Iohannis said he regretted that parliament was obstructing justice and acting as a shield for the prime minister ‘in contempt’ of the Romanian population.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned that time is running out for a deal to keep Greece in the Eurozone. Speaking after the G7 summit in Germany, she said Europe would show solidarity but only if Greece ‘makes proposals and implements reforms’. Also on the agenda was climate change, with the G7 calling for a transformation of electricity generation towards renewables and nuclear power by 2050; they also said that fossil fuel should not be burned in any sector of the economy by the end of the century. This is a seismic shift, but huge questions remain. On the Ukraine the G7 hoped Russia would comply with a ceasefire agreement signed in February by pro-Moscow rebels and the Kiev government. But sanctions could be strengthened if necessary. Barack Obama echoed Mrs Merkel’s comments, saying, ‘The G7 is making it clear that if necessary we stand ready to impose additional significant sanctions against Russia.'

This is an early invitation to all Prayer Alert readers to join with other European churches, prayer ministries and mission agencies to pray and seek God’s kingdom for the lost in Europe. (2 Chronicles 7:14). There is nothing more powerful than when saints stand in the gap. A great shift is happening in Europe and many are aware of it. It is time to gather, to move forward together, to lift our voices and rejoice together in prayer. God is calling His people to come together to blow the trumpets for the whole continent of Europe, for ‘When you go into battle in your own land against an enemy who is oppressing you, sound a blast on the trumpets. Then you will be remembered by the LORD your God and rescued from your enemies’  (Numbers 10:9). Please join us in Timisoara, Romania for a historic gathering of believers from across Europe as we cry out for a transformative move of God on our continent.

The newly-elected President of Poland promises change.  Andrzej Duda has limited powers, but is head of the armed forces and can veto new laws. The victory will be a wake-up call to Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz ahead of parliamentary elections this autumn. Mr Duda said, ‘Those who voted for me voted for change. Together we can change Poland.’ Poland is gradually catching up to Western Europe's living standards but youth unemployment is high and Poles can still earn much more in the UK or Germany. The new President needs his Law and Justice party to win this autumn's parliamentary elections to bring about real change. Mr Duda attracted most support in the conservative eastern regions near the border with Ukraine and Belarus. For up-to-date INSIGHTS into potentially significant political changes across the nations in the second half of 2015 click the ‘more’ button below.

Turkish voters go to the polls on Sunday amid concerns around slowing economic growth and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's autocratic policies. The election could also be momentous for modern Turkish history, as four candidates come from Turkey’s minority groups, including the resurgent Kurds who have been discriminated against for years. Erdogan's AK Party is also fielding an Armenian Christian candidate, Markar Esayan, in hopes of courting the Christian vote in Istanbul. In Turkey there are no Armenian officials, police or judges. The Armenian Apostolic Church is the world's oldest national church and one of the most ancient Christian communities, claiming to have originated in the missions of apostles Bartholomew and Thaddeus in the 1st century. Underscoring some of the tensions surrounding Turkey's minority community, hundreds of people took to Istanbul's streets in May protesting against the seizure of a one-hundred-year-old Armenian orphanage. For up to date INSIGHTS behind elections due to be held across the nations between now and 2016, click the ‘more’ button below.

A few countries span more than one continent - transcontinental states. Azerbaijan is on both European and Asian maps, but this year’s European games place it firmly in Europe. An anomaly? Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan, was awarded the right to host the 2015 European Games, which are the final ‘continental’ Games to be inaugurated (after the Asian Games, Pan-American Games, All-Africa Games and Pacific Games). As of 2015, every continent will have a continental Games in the Olympic tradition. A total of 20 sports will be represented: 16 Olympic sports and four non-Olympic sports. Twelve of them - Archery, Athletics, Volleyball, Boxing, Cycling, Judo, Shooting, Swimming, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Triathlon and Wrestling - will offer qualification opportunities for the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics.

This week EU leaders convened in Riga for the eastern partnership summit. They met with officials from the six eastern partners. Latvian foreign affairs minister Edgars Rinkevics hoped it would be ‘an opportunity to look at the challenges the EU faces along its eastern borders’ (namely ongoing tensions with Russia and peace in Ukraine hanging by a thread). During the summit a rally congregated outside urging the EU to grant Georgia and Ukraine visa free regimes and recognise their European future. One of the rally's organisers said the main demand for Georgia and Ukraine to be promised a ‘European perspective’ was not achieved at the summit.

Russian people and religious organisations charged with distributing banned ‘extremist’ texts face sharply increased fines after changes to the law this month. Confiscations of religious texts from all religions, mostly during raids or detentions, frequently result in prosecutions of people. Convictions have led to liquidation, or threats of liquidation of ministries. The possession of allegedly ‘extremist’ texts is not the only obstacle to exercising freedom of religion or belief. Communities face barriers to holding public events. Baptist pastor Pavel Pilipchuk was imprisoned for five days in mid-April for refusing to pay a fine for allegedly organising an open-air meeting for worship without informing the city administration beforehand. The increases are part of a number of legal changes proposed by the Communications Ministry in December 2014, which introduce specific charges for media outlets accused of inciting "extremism’ and harsher existing punishments for related offences. There have been 19 prosecutions so far in 2015.

On Sunday four Irish bishops simultaneously published statements urging Catholics to vote ‘no’ in Ireland's referendum on gay marriage. They defend marriage between a man and a woman as the natural order and argue that a vote against same-sex marriage is a vote for the common good. Bishop of Killala John Fleming admits that during the past fifty years there has been a great change in the home environment in Ireland. It must be acknowledged that single parents and, in recent years, same-sex parents provide children with a loving home environment. However, this does not take away from the fact that it’s the firm belief of the bishops that the traditional family environment of a father, mother and children is in fact the best environment in which to raise children, despite the fact that family life as we know it is not without its problems and difficulties.