Police ‘Stop and search’
Home secretary Teresa May wants an overhaul of police powers in England and Wales which have been disproportionately used against black and minority ethnic people. She said the widespread use of the powers of ‘Stop and search’ has been seen as sharply divisive among Britain’s black and minority ethnic communities. She is launching an immediate Home Office consultation over the future use of the powers following a successful pilot scheme in five police forces, including the Metropolitan police and the West Midlands force, which has seen a more ‘intelligence-led’ approach. A report showed that black people are subjected to ‘routine’ street searches at roughly five and a half times the rate of white people. There was also particular concern about the use of ‘exceptional’ section 60 searches, which were introduced to curb football violence but are widely used to combat knife crime. Black people are up to 25 times more likely to be subjected to a section 60 Stop and Search than white people.
Pray: that police officers will use the powers they have to build public trust.
More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk-news/video/2013/jul/02/police-stop-search-theresa-may-video
Live streaming of child sex abuse an 'emerging threat'
Live streaming of child sex abuse via webcams has emerged as a method of exploitation, experts have warned, amid a doubling of reported indecent images. The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) said children were being ‘abused to order’. Offenders targeted vulnerable families overseas, paying them to facilitate child abuse, according to its report. CEOP said those carrying out abuse used a ‘hidden internet’ to disguise their identity and avoid detection. Their report found the number of still and moving child abuse images reported to CEOP had doubled in the last year to 70,000. The child protection body - part of the Home Office's Serious Organised Crime Agency - said it received 8,000 reports of indecent images of children being shared last year. It said live streaming emerged in 2012 as a means of producing and distributing images. ‘We're seeing cases where they're effectively being abused to order for paying customers,’ Chief Executive Peter Davies told the BBC.
Pray: that CEOP will have success in exposing offenders who distribute such material and especially as they use live streaming. (Eph.5:11)
More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23137754
Abortion in Ireland: Divorcing Church from State?
The Dail, (the Irish Parliament), is expected to conduct the first of a series of votes on the controversial issue of abortion in the coming days. If passed, the new legislation will allow abortion in Ireland in limited circumstances. Until now, abortion has been banned in the Republic, a traditionally Catholic country. But figures suggest at least 11 women leave every day for an abortion in Britain. BBC NI Dublin correspondent Shane Harrison reports on current Church-State relations in Ireland. There was a time when the Irish state and the Catholic Church had a very cosy relationship. But the revelations of child sex abuse by priests and its cover-up by bishops who were more worried about the Church's reputation than the plight of the victims, changed all that. Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Enda Kenny told the House: ‘I am proud to stand here as a public representative, as a Taoiseach who happens to be a Catholic, but not a Catholic Taoiseach.’
Pray: for the Taoiseach as they vote on this issue that they will be guided to make the right decision. (Ps.48:14)
More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23061276
Hostility against Christians in Europe on the increase
Martin Kugler of the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians has spoken about the growing acts of intolerance against Christians in Europe in an interview with MercatorNet magazine. The interview marks the 1700th anniversary of the birth of religious tolerance in Europe and seeks to explore the significance of the occasion for Western Christians, whom Mr Kugler says are now facing increasing social hostility. ‘It is not nominal Christians who are fully aligned to society’s mainstream who suffer discrimination. It is those who strive to live according to the high ethical demands of Christianity who experience a clash with the dominant culture,’ he says. ‘These are not in the majority. And even if they were, history has shown that a minority can discriminate against a peaceful majority.’
Pray: that this trend of hostility towards Christians will cease. (Ps.78:49)
More: http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/is_europe_discriminating_against_christians
Hostility against Christians in Europe on the increase
Martin Kugler of the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians has spoken about the growing acts of intolerance against Christians in Europe in an interview with MercatorNet magazine. The interview marks the 1700th anniversary of the birth of religious tolerance in Europe and seeks to explore the significance of the occasion for Western Christians, whom Mr Kugler says are now facing increasing social hostility. ‘It is not nominal Christians who are fully aligned to society’s mainstream who suffer discrimination. It is those who strive to live according to the high ethical demands of Christianity who experience a clash with the dominant culture,’ he says. ‘These are not in the majority. And even if they were, history has shown that a minority can discriminate against a peaceful majority.’
Pray: that this trend of hostility towards Christians will cease. (Ps.78:49)
More: http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/is_europe_discriminating_against_christians
Hungary: Introduction of controversial Church rules
Smaller evangelical congregations and other groups were weighing their options after Hungary's parliament introduced new rules on recognizing churches, despite the Constitutional Court’s annulment of several passages in a controversial church law. Criteria for recognized churches include a history of at least one hundred years or minimum two decades of activities in Hungary. Additionally, a church should count 0.1 percent or more of Hungary's 10-million population as its members or supporters. The adjusted law appeared to revive Communist-era rhetoric, demanding that recognized churches must ‘not pose a risk to national security’ and ‘cooperate with government agencies for community purposes’. The government-sponsored amendment demands that churches are those faith groups ‘recognized by parliament’. Other organizations that pursue religious activities must be registered by the Municipal Court. Formal recognition qualifies churches for government support and allows them to collect donations during services and do pastoral work in jails and hospitals of this heavily Catholic nation.
Pray: that the parliament will recognise churches and faith groups for their spiritual beliefs and not just historical criteria. (1Cor.16:18)
More: http://www.bosnewslife.com/29130-hungary-introduces-controversial-church-rules
Hungary: Introduction of controversial Church rules
Smaller evangelical congregations and other groups were weighing their options after Hungary's parliament introduced new rules on recognizing churches, despite the Constitutional Court’s annulment of several passages in a controversial church law. Criteria for recognized churches include a history of at least one hundred years or minimum two decades of activities in Hungary. Additionally, a church should count 0.1 percent or more of Hungary's 10-million population as its members or supporters. The adjusted law appeared to revive Communist-era rhetoric, demanding that recognized churches must ‘not pose a risk to national security’ and ‘cooperate with government agencies for community purposes’. The government-sponsored amendment demands that churches are those faith groups ‘recognized by parliament’. Other organizations that pursue religious activities must be registered by the Municipal Court. Formal recognition qualifies churches for government support and allows them to collect donations during services and do pastoral work in jails and hospitals of this heavily Catholic nation.
Pray: that the parliament will recognise churches and faith groups for their spiritual beliefs and not just historical criteria. (1Cor.16:18)
More: http://www.bosnewslife.com/29130-hungary-introduces-controversial-church-rules
NIGERIA: Anglican Church seeks capital punishment
Anglican Archbishop Nicholas Okoh asked the Federal Government to impose capital punishment for perpetrators of rape and killing. He also advised young ladies to avoid indecent dressing and nudity in order to avoid people who lacked sexual self-control. At Tuesday's press briefing in Abuja he counselled religious leaders to concentrate on teaching morality, not how to make money adding, ‘My church has not met to discuss the issue of capital punishment for rapists. But rape is becoming an embarrassing situation in this country and as religious leaders we must continue to react against deviant behaviour. We must continue to support marriage in order to build a decent society.’ He told the story of an incident of violent rape of a family, particularly the mother, by armed robbers and the perpetrator being executed adding, ‘The law of capital punishment for those who rightly deserve it should stay.’ Many favouring the death penalty quote Genesis 9:6.
Pray: that the broken systems in Nigeria will mend and administer justice not more victims. (Mat.6:14)
More: http://www.punchng.com/news/anglican-church-seeks-capital-punishment-for-rapists-others/
Egypt: At a tipping point
Egypt’s democratic experiment is at a tipping point and President Obama is trying to nudge Egypt’s bitterly divided antagonists toward compromise with limited influence. Unpopular President Morsi was democratically elected but needs to strike a workable deal with Egypt's military without alienating millions of protesting Egyptians. Egypt's size and leading position in the Arab world mean its political course will be felt throughout the region, where the United States is already struggling to stem Islamist militants and sectarian strife. The White House is not enamoured with Morsi, a Muslim Brotherhood leader whom it sees as having failed to form an inclusive, effective government. Obama has not hosted Morsi at the White House, and officials cancelled a visit by the Egyptian leader last year after a video surfaced in which Morsi described Israelis as ‘descendants of apes and pigs.’ For INSIGHTS into the roots of Egypt’s violence, the Muslim Brotherhood’s commitment to a unified community of Islamic nations and world rule, please go to: http://site.prayer-alert.net/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_download&gid=448&Itemid=93
Pray: for God to bring peace, reconciliation and freedom to Egypt. Pray also for a new constitution that would enhance equality of citizenship and religious freedom. May Egypt one day be known as a haven of tolerance for all.
More: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/07/03/uk-usa-egypt-analysis-idUKBRE96203E20130703
Global: 43 million refugees
Persecution, violence and war have displaced 43 million people globally. Consider how your world would change if you were forced to leave your home and possessions at little or no notice and relocate somewhere where you knew no-one. Plus, you have no idea where your next meal is coming from. A refugee is outside their habitual residence because they have suffered (or fear) persecution and/or oppression on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or because they are a persecuted 'social group' or they are fleeing natural disaster. They are an 'asylum seeker' until recognized by the state where they make a claim. In Isaiah God told His children to provide shelter to Moabites (a people group the Israelites often fought) This past Sunday we observed World Refugee Sunday! Let us not stop praying for these ‘forgotten’ people of the world. Pray that we will obey the words of Isaiah 16:4 and give shelter to those who have been our enemies.
Pray: and cry out to God to have mercy on the millions of refugees, asking him to give them a future and to foil the plans of the enemy for their lives. (Jer.29:11)
More: http://iafr.org/