Ended up with something you didn't want this Christmas? One charity is asking Brits to donate that unflattering jumper or umpteenth bubble bath set and help the homeless. Any unwanted Christmas gifts donated to Anchor will be sold on and 100% of the profits put towards its work with the homeless. The gifts will be sold through eBay and the proceeds used to sponsor a room for a homeless person. Additionally, people can sell their unwanted gifts individually and donate the amount to Anchor. Anchor House is helping thousands of homeless from its base in Canning Town, in the east London borough of Newham, the third most deprived ward in England and Wales. The centre provides accommodation for up to 180 single homeless people each year. A wide range of accredited vocational training courses are on offer to residents and the local community in construction, electrical, plumbing and distance learning.

Pray: for the success of this initiative and that many would be helped. (Ac.2:45)

More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/unwanted.gifts.help.the.homeless/29068.htm

Over the past decade, Saudi Arabia has been the largest source of donations from Islamic states and royal families to British universities, much of which has been to the study of Islam, the Middle East and Arabic literature. A large share of this money has been used towards establishing Islamic study centres. Prince Alwaleed bin Talal donated £8 million to Cambridge and Edinburgh respectively for this purpose. Over recent years Oxford received Saudi support of £2 million to the Ashmolean Museum and £1 million to the Middle East Centre. There are many other donors. Oxford’s £75 million Islamic Studies Centre was supported by 12 Muslim countries. Sultan Qaboos bin Said, of Oman gave £3.1 million to Cambridge to fund two posts, including a chair of Arabic. The Saïd Business School at Oxford University was set up by a Syrian-Saudi businessman, with a £23 million donation.

Pray: for Universities to be able to tap a variety of lucrative sponsors without abandoning established national syllabus and ethos.

More: http://www.arabnews.com/british-universities-receive-saudi-funds

England's universities have become breeding grounds for extremism and terrorist recruitment, according to a government report. Officials have identified 40 English universities where ‘there may be particular risk of radicalisation or recruitment on campus’. A soon to be published report, prepared by Home Office officials, – seen by the Daily Mail – will point to a string of examples of students going on to commit terrorist acts against this country or overseas. It warns of hard-line Islamic groups specifically targeting universities which have large numbers of Muslim students in order to peddle a message of hate. It says the universities are not doing enough to respond to this threat to national security. Fewer than half of universities are engaged with the police. Universities UK replied saying that universities ‘are places where ideas and beliefs can be tested without fear of control’, and that they act as a safeguard against ideologies that threaten Britain’s open society.

Pray: that, if these finding prove to be true, measures will be taken to curtail such activity. (Isa.1:16)

More: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1394625/40-UK-universities-breeding-grounds-terror.html

Up to half a million disabled people and their families stand to lose out under the government's proposed Universal Credit, a report says. The Children's Society, Citizens Advice and Disability Rights UK say 100,000 households with children could have incomes reduced by up to £28 a week. They are urging ministers to reconsider their plans. But the government called the report ‘highly selective’ and said it could lead to ‘irresponsible scaremongering’. The Universal Credit will replace Jobseeker's allowance, tax credits, income support, employment and support allowance - formerly known as incapacity benefit - and housing benefits with a single payment. The system will be ‘piloted' in parts of north-east England next April and will come into force across Britain for new claimants from October 2013. Existing claimants will be transferred to the new system in stages until 2017. Universal Credit will be capped at £26,000 per household.

Pray: that the Government will reconsider their plans affecting disabled and children and adults from low income families. (Job.6:29)

More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-19966370

Justin Welby, the Bishop of Durham, described unemployment as a “tragedy” with parallels to losses on the battlefield, which wears down “all but the bravest and toughest”. His comments come amid controversy in some quarters over George Osborne’s depiction of some benefit claimants as people lying in bed while their “striver” neighbours go to work.

He also issued a series of stinging criticisms of Government policy, accusing it of giving the North East of England a “grossly unequal” share of some building funds in an 'out of sight out of mind' attitude. The comments came in highly unusual form for a bishop – as he took over as a newspaper editor for the day. Bishop Welby, who becomes Archbishop next month, spent the day guest editing the Northern Echo, which is based in his Durham diocese, focusing on efforts to combat unemployment.

Pray: for all those who face the devastating effects of unemployment. (Ecc.3:13)

More: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jobs/9796906/Unemployed-not-just-statistics-says-Justin-Welby.html

Parts of British cities are becoming no-go areas where drugs gangs are effectively in control, a United Nations drugs chief said this week. Professor Hamid Ghodse, president of the UN's International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), said there was 'a vicious cycle of social exclusion and drugs problems and fractured communities' in cities such as Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester. The development of 'no-go areas’ was being fuelled by threats such as social inequality, migration and celebrities normalising drug abuse, he warned. ‘In many societies around the world, whether developed or developing, there are communities within the societies which develop which ones become no-go areas. 'Drug traffickers, organised crime, drug users, they take over. Examples are in Brazil, Mexico, in the United States, in the UK, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester.’ The INCB's annual report for 2011 found persistent social inequality, migration, emerging cultures of excess and a shift in traditional values were some of the key threats to social cohesion.

Pray: for authorities to be enabled to take charge of these ‘no-go’ areas and transform these communities. (Ro.12:2)

More: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/9110374/UN-drug-gangs-controlling-parts-of-British-cities.html

According to the annual Global Peace Index (GPI) published by the Institute for Economics & Peace the world has become more peaceful for the first time since 2009. However it also reports that the UK is less peaceful. Globally, austerity-driven defence cuts creating gains in several indicators of militarization and improvements in the Political Terror Scale have led to changes in the annual rankings, whilst Syria has dropped over 30 places on the rankings. The index reveals Somalia as the least peaceful country, which with Afghanistan, Sudan, Iraq and the Democratic Republic of Congo make up the bottom five. The UK has fallen three places to 29th position, which means it is the first time the UK placement has not risen in the list. The index also estimates that if the world had been completely peaceful in 2011, the additional economic impact would have been an estimated $9tn - equal to the size of Germany and Japan's economies combined.

Pray: that our rankings in this index would rise and we would see the positive impact on our economy. (Ps.85:8)

More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2012/jun/12/global-peace-index-2012

2011 saw a significant rise in the number of people in the UK taking their own life, according to new figures. According to the Office for National Statistics, some 6,045 people committed suicide in 2011, up by 437 on the previous year. An average of 11.8 people per 100,000 population ended their lives in 2011, compared to 11.1 people in 2010. Men between the ages of 30 and 44 were most likely to take their own life. Figures from the ONS reveal that the rate of suicides among men in 2011 was the highest since 2002, with 4,552 men committing suicide. The suicide rate among women was far lower, with 1,493 women killing themselves in 2011. The average number of suicides among women fell across all age categories in the last three decades. The 2010 and 2011 figures among men brought an end to more than 10 years of falling suicide rates.

Pray: that the increasing numbers of suicides would cease and the causes be found. (Is.41:10)

More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/uk.sees.rise.in.suicides/31497.htm

The President of the Bangledeshi National Garment Workers Federation has warned eight leading UK retailers that there could be a repeat of this year's Rana Plaza tragedy if they refuse to sign up to an international accord designed to protect Bangladeshi factory workers. Amirul Haque Amin, who is in the UK, addressed the Trades Union Congress Annual Conference this week, saying several high street names are still refusing to commit to the agreement that will make building inspections compulsory at Bangladeshi factories that supply fashion goods to UK stores. These brands include Matalan, River Island, Sports Direct/Republic, Jane Norman, Peacocks, Bench, Mexx and Bank Fashion. The TUC is asking consumers touched by the Dhaka tragedy to use social media to build pressure on the UK clothing brands that are refusing to sign up. The e-action allows consumers to write directly to the companies and tell them to support strengthening health and safety protection for Bangladeshi textile workers.

Pray: for all retailers to recognise their responsibility to the workers who supply them with goods and that they will all sign up to the accord. (Lev.25:53)

More: http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/19013