Many face extreme poverty as drought and food shortages are serious challenges in this one-party state. Christians in denominations not recognised by the government are persecuted; many are under house arrest, and over 3,000 are in prisons that are beyond description. Some are kept in metal, unsanitary, unventilated shipping containers in the desert - tin cells that are almost too hot to touch by day and freezing cold at night. They are beaten to get them to renounce their faith. The government has seized church assets. All denominations are drawn together in fellowship through decades of war, drought, and government oppression, but the intense suffering of the Church in Eritrea is one of the untold stories. Pray that Christians may remain fervent for Jesus amid hardship and make a significant impact on their nation and beyond. Evangelicals now operate through underground networks in homes. Around twenty or more networks are known, but numbers are impossible to ascertain.

Brutal heatwaves are causing millions of people to struggle. Temperatures hit a record 49.2C (120.5F) in Delhi in its fifth heatwave since March. Officials in many parts of India are asking people to take precautions, as temperatures are set to remain high and could cause health concerns for the elderly, infants and people with chronic diseases. Pray for farmers whose wheat harvests have been affected. Pray for the poor who have fewer ways of keeping cool and fewer options to stay inside, away from the heat. They have to work outside during the hottest hours. Pray for the children in rural areas where schools are in sheds with tin roofs - unbearable in the heat. There are places in India where the temperature itself may not be that high, but when combined with high humidity, life is very difficult. These record heatwaves are a dramatic example of climate change: see

Last week we prayed for North Korea after Covid reached it. The World Council of Churches (WCC) has now warned of a major humanitarian crisis. There are rising Covid cases (currently 1.2 million) and 50+ deaths. 5% of the population is being monitored. The population is unvaccinated, and without adequate ventilators or other essential supplies the risk of an unprecedented death toll is very high. This outbreak greatly compounds the pre-existing humanitarian situation, particularly related to food insecurity. The WCC is calling for urgent humanitarian responses by the international community which are equal to the gravity of the crisis. In particular, newly developed antivirals such as Paxlovid must be provided as a matter of urgency, as well as diagnostics, ventilators, PPE, vaccines, and other medical needs, as well as essential food supplies. WCC wants centralised coordinated approaches through the UN, and for current sanctions to be lifted as a matter of fundamental ethical and humanitarian responsibility.

According to a lawsuit, Alaska Airlines violated federal and state anti-discrimination laws when it fired two Christian flight attendants who spoke out against the Biden administration-backed Equality Act bill which adds ‘sexual orientation’ and ‘gender identity’ to a protected classes list for public places, education and employment. Marli Brown and Lacey Smith, who have brought the lawsuit, were fired shortly after expressing concern about the bill after the airline asked for employees’ comments on it. They were compelled by their Christian faith to speak out against the bill's impact on religious freedom and women's sports, among other things. The airline immediately removed them from flight schedules, terminated their employment, and disparaged their religious expression and beliefs as 'hateful,' 'discriminatory,' and 'offensive’. Alaska Airlines' treatment of the two women and its various public statements show that it does not tolerate employees who hold biblically-based, traditional religious beliefs on issues of sexual morality, the lawsuit says.

Good News for Everyone (formerly the Gideons) distribute Bibles in hospitals, hotels, education, public services, clubs and prisons. A Bible in Andy’s cell at Aylesbury Young Offenders Prison turned his life around. ‘While in prison, I decided to take my own life. My situation had become so hopeless I had lost the will to live. I made a noose and decided to fix it to the window then let myself hang to death. At that moment a quiet voice spoke to me “Just read that Bible”. On the shelf sat a copy of the New Testament and Psalms. I started reading at the beginning of Matthew. At Luke, the story of the lost son, my tears began flowing, my hopelessness disappeared, and the wretchedness I suffered went. If no Bible had been in that cell, I would be in hell right now, instead of living my life in the joy of the Lord!’

Pastor Denis, a Russian with an Odessa-based YouTube channel, says, ‘I believe the situation in Ukraine will shake the false foundations of many people’s lives and they will turn to God, who is the Rock of our salvation and who is a strong tower.’ Dodging rockets, Pastor Denis and his congregation are in the streets telling people about Jesus.He says,  ‘When we can, we keep witnessing to people, we keep evangelising, unless incoming missiles ruin our plans. We continue to hold church services unless curfews make us stream them.’ Not every Russian supports Putin’s imperialistic designs against neighbouring Ukraine, especially those living outside Russia who have access to western media sources. Pastor Denis believes that the malevolent war against neighbouring Ukraine will lead to revival.

Some medical students need to work multiple part-time jobs to afford to complete their degrees. Final year students have stopped training because they don't have enough money to survive.

For that year, they get a bursary to live on (maximum £6,458). It is not enough - especially for those from low-income backgrounds. They are campaigning for better NHS bursaries. Penny Sucharitkul hopes to be a vascular surgeon, but the money does not even cover her rent. She is from a single-parent family, and relying on Universal Credit after her father lost his job during the pandemic. On top of studying full-time, she works as a martial arts instructor and a clinical research assistant. She says working-class students are treated unfairly. ‘We're getting up at 6 am, training all day, then going to work again. It’s incredibly taxing on our mental health. We're burning people out before they've even started in the NHS.’

Over eighty complaints of assaults, neglect, and sexual abuse have been made about after-school clubs in the past five years. In one incident, an eight-year-old boy had to clean his younger sister who had special educational needs, after she soiled herself: see The Department for Education says every child should feel safe in such clubs. Parents rely on them, and breakfast clubs, to provide childcare outside school hours. Many are not regulated, as providers do not need to register with Ofsted unless they offer childcare for more than two hours. They can register voluntarily with Ofsted in England, but only 10% are inspected a year, meaning they might not be inspected for nearly a decade. The mother of the two siblings said it was difficult for parents to know about the quality of safeguarding, saying, ‘After-school clubs are blind spots that need to be addressed.’

The attorney general has been advised that it would be lawful to override parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol, the post-Brexit arrangement which requires some checks on goods between Britain and NI. This angers both Unionists and the EU. There has been no power-sharing executive for several months after the DUP withdrew in protest against the protocol. In the recent election Sinn Féin, whose goal is for NI to become one country with the Republic of Ireland, won the most seats and needs to form a government. It cannot take up the office unless the DUP nominates a deputy first minister. The DUP's leader said his party would respect the election result, but changes needed to be made to the protocol. Boris Johnson has said the most important treaty is the Good Friday Agreement, which established a cross-community power-sharing government to end decades of violence. 

Tory MP Lee Anderson has said that poor people use foodbanks because they cannot cook properly; they haven’t got the skills to budget appropriately or do a proper weekly shop, ‘like we did back in the day’. Mr Anderson said he was not ‘being a nasty Tory.’ ‘The point I was making was that there are a lot of people out there who with the right help, the right support, and the right education, would be able to fend for themselves.’ The Trussell Trust foodbank network said, ‘Foodbank need in the UK is about lack of income, not food.’ Mr Anderson’s expenses claim last year was £220,000. The Independent Food Aid Network wrote to the chancellor warning they are close to ‘breaking point’ after an unsustainable surge in demand due to the cost of living crisis.