Turkey: Presidential elections begin
Turkish citizens go to the polls on August 10 to vote for the 12th president of the Republic of Turkey - the first time the country's president will be elected by popular vote. The presidential post has previously been elected by assembly lawmakers. The public campaign for the position will continue up until August 9. The first votes have begun to be lodged by Turkish nationals living overseas. Forty two Turkish land, airport and harbour customs offices launched their polling services for Turks residing abroad but staying in Turkey at the time of voting at midnight on Friday and will remain open until 5 p.m. on August 10 - the day voters choose their first directly elected president. Should none of the candidates take more than 50 per cent of the vote, a second round will take place on 24 August.
Israeli/Palestinian: Children’s summer camp and Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies
Summers are intense at Musalaha in three summer camps for Israeli and Palestinian children. This summer there was anxiety due to the Gaza conflict. Each year church teams come to help with our summer camps. This year a youth group from Bolton assisted the staff at Beit Sahour camp. On Wednesday I visited the camp, wondering how the children had related to one another in the midst of the conflict in the country. I marvelled at how much they enjoyed themselves playing with one another. Pray for similar camps to spread to all parts of the country, where Arab children could meet Jewish children. One of the children said ’I wish I could stay in this camp forever [rather] than go home to war.’ Meanwhile as Middle East shelling continues, internet users have been flooding the web with dozens of photos of Jews and Arabs together showcasing peace and love, under the hashtag #JewsAndArabsRefuseToBeEnemies see:
South Africa: More than a thousand people accept Jesus
More than a thousand people made decisions for Jesus during a recent four-day mission in which Every Tribe of East London took a group of hip, young, local missionaries to share the love of Jesus in the Eastern Cape town of Adelaide. The mission team members shared the good news from door to door in the small, historic town, and also ministered to God’s people in taverns, taxi ranks, hair salons and old age homes. 1,064 salvations were harvested during the four days and there were many testimonies of healing, signs and wonders. ‘It surprised me that many people we met had never heard the name of Jesus and that He loves them and has wonderful plans for their life’ shared Stephanie Swart, a sales consultant who participated in the outreach.
Israeli/Palestinian: Children’s summer camp and Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies
Summers are intense at Musalaha in three summer camps for Israeli and Palestinian children. This summer there was anxiety due to the Gaza conflict. Each year church teams come to help with our summer camps. This year a youth group from Bolton assisted the staff at Beit Sahour camp. On Wednesday I visited the camp, wondering how the children had related to one another in the midst of the conflict in the country. I marvelled at how much they enjoyed themselves playing with one another. Pray for similar camps to spread to all parts of the country, where Arab children could meet Jewish children. One of the children said ’I wish I could stay in this camp forever [rather] than go home to war.’ Meanwhile as Middle East shelling continues, internet users have been flooding the web with dozens of photos of Jews and Arabs together showcasing peace and love, under the hashtag #JewsAndArabsRefuseToBeEnemies see:
South Africa: More than a thousand people accept Jesus
More than a thousand people made decisions for Jesus during a recent four-day mission in which Every Tribe of East London took a group of hip, young, local missionaries to share the love of Jesus in the Eastern Cape town of Adelaide. The mission team members shared the good news from door to door in the small, historic town, and also ministered to God’s people in taverns, taxi ranks, hair salons and old age homes. 1,064 salvations were harvested during the four days and there were many testimonies of healing, signs and wonders. ‘It surprised me that many people we met had never heard the name of Jesus and that He loves them and has wonderful plans for their life’ shared Stephanie Swart, a sales consultant who participated in the outreach.
Religious freedom under threat across the world
An increased international focus on protection of religious freedom is required to combat the worldwide persecution, torture and killing of Christians, says Cross-bench Peer, Lord Alton. The Peer made the statement whilst leading a debate calling on the House of Lords to note that Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was ‘under threat in almost every corner of the world’. Lord Alton asked the House to take note of international compliance with Article 18 and said greater devotion to the protection of religious freedom was required. Article 18 of the UDHR stipulates that, ‘Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.’ Lord Alton drew on many international examples of the persecution of Christians around the world. Lord Bach supported the cross-bench member saying Lord Alton’s motion was ‘right and action is necessary’. He said the House looked forward to hearing what the Government proposed to do about the situation.
Trojan Horse: Role of faith in state education under scrutiny
Park View School in Birmingham, one of three schools inspected as part of the ‘Trojan Horse’ investigations, has been placed in special measures. The role of faith in state-funded education is coming under closer scrutiny following publication of two government reports into the so-called ‘Trojan Horse’ affair. A report by former head teacher Ian Kershaw failed to spot concerns about some schools at the centre of the controversy and also failed to take action in order to avoid being seen as ‘racist or Islamophobic’. Students at one school had to teach themselves Christian RE for GCSE. The finding is among a number of startling episodes laid out in a report from Peter Clarke – former head of counterterrorism at the Metropolitan Police. Children were encouraged to express vocal support for anti-Christian remarks, Christmas was banned and some teachers claimed serviceman Lee Rigby’s murder was actually a hoax.
Shock report reveals girl had four abortions before her 16th birthday
The pro-life movement is sometimes scoffed at by abortion activists when it points out that abortion is mostly used for birth control reasons. A British schoolgirl had her fourth abortion in 2012, figures today revealed. She is one of 200 teenage girls who have had repeat abortions before the age of 16. The figures show five girls had three abortions by the time of their 16th birthday, which is the legal age of consent in England. That means abortion practitioners are doing abortions on girls who are victims of statutory rape and, as is the case in the United States, they may not be reporting those rapes to authorities. In 2011, a total of 84 under-16s had abortions for a second time or more, according to the Department of Health figures. Norman Wells, of the Family Education Trust, said too many teenagers were having sex without thinking about the consequences.
Government accused of dishonesty over 3-parent baby plan
Leading scientists have accused the Government of misleading the public after it quietly changed its definition of ‘genetic modification’ to push forward with proposals to allow 3-parent babies. Last week, the Government announced its intention to place regulations before Parliament as it released its response to a 12-week consultation recently undertaken by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA). The proposed IVF technique, known as ‘mitochondrial replacement therapy’, will allow permanent changes to the genetic make-up of future generations for the first time and is widely recognised by experts as a form of genetic modification. However, in a move buried in a Department of Health document, the Government quietly redefined ‘genetic modification’ in a way that would exclude 'mitochondrial replacement therapy'. Leading scientists say that the Government is acting dishonestly and misleading the public over the true implications of the procedure.
UK broadband users reject porn filters, watchdog finds
New broadband customers in the UK are overwhelmingly rejecting porn filters when prompted to install them by internet service providers, the industry watchdog Ofcom has found. The filters were proposed by Prime Minister David Cameron last year as part of a Government-backed scheme to protect children from explicit content online. Ofcom found that fewer than one in seven households use the filters, which are offered automatically to new subscribers at the point of registration. The findings showed that most customers have been choosing to actively disable the filters. The four main broadband providers, BT, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media, offer an automatic porn filter at registration but only TalkTalk was able to persuade more than ten per cent of its users to keep it. Of the providers Ofcom noted that Virgin Media has ‘recognised that this is a failure in process and indicated it is taking steps to address this gap’.