The Archdiocese of Harare issued a statement after the armed forces had taken over. The general secretary of the Zimbabwe Council of Churches, Rev Kenneth Mtata, called on politicians and social leaders to rebuild a broken society. ‘The current situation was inevitable. We had reached a point of no return. Our politics of attrition and toxic public engagement have had their logical conclusion.’ His statement echoed one made earlier by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference and the Council of Churches in which they described the country’s politics as ‘poisonous,’ and accused Mugabe of stifling political dissent. Mtata said, ‘Our hope is that we can put the train back on the rails of democracy and citizenship engagement.’ The fragmented society is a result of failures to deal with the hurts of the past, and the political system not allowing everyone to have an opportunity.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered humanitarian assistance, via the Red Cross, to the victims of a devastating 7.3 magnitude earthquake that killed hundreds in Iran and Iraq on 13 November. He was immediately refused. Netanyahu said Israel has no quarrel with the people of Iran; the quarrel is with the regime that threatens Israel’s destruction. Meanwhile tens of thousands of Iranians are living in the open, after homes built with earth were totally destroyed. The terrain is mountainous, and the temperature is dropping. The head of the Revolutionary Guards, Major General Jafari, said the immediate need was for tents, water and food. Pray for this crucial aid to reach the inaccessible areas as helicopters and army vehicles are mobilised. Pray for clear communication between agencies organising search and rescue operations and relief camps. Pray for those in hospitals, and those in mourning. See also

The Bedouin are traditionally Arabic-speaking nomads who live in tents throughout the deserts of the Middle East. In recent decades many have settled into small villages within their tribal territories while continuing to shepherd herds of goats, sheep, and sometimes camels. Culturally they have stronger ties to their families, tribal customs, and traditions than with conservative Islam - though all would declare themselves Muslim. They are very cordial. Even the poorest family will offer a cup of tea or coffee to their guest. Often behind that generosity there is a family suffering from degrees of brokenness and hopelessness. Desert life is difficult. They accept their fate ‘ordained by God and unchangeable’. Because they live in remote areas, they are hard to reach and many have never met a Christian; however, what may seem impossible for us is possible for God. Pray for the Lord to send His rain to soften the dry ground of people’s hearts, sending dreams and visions for people to talk about.

A missionary writes: ‘Afghanistan continues to be plagued by suicide attacks and violence. Recently more than 100 army and police personnel were killed in three days. Government and media offices as well as significant leaders were also targeted. The terrorist groups mainly responsible for this were the Taliban, IS, and the Haqqani network based in Pakistan. Together they are responsible for thousands of deaths each year. Yet when some of us who are still in the country recently prayed very specifically about this situation, within days the security forces uncovered a truck loaded with explosives and a house full of weapons, thus saving many lives. We need to maintain this level of specific targeted prayer. We also need to pray against the external sources which provide all these weapons. Finally, we need to pray that the Lord will continue to protect and provide for our colleagues and national personnel. (Psalm 18:36)’

A Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen's government will not allow rebel-controlled air and sea ports to reopen until a better system is created to prevent weapons being smuggled from Iran. The coalition tightened its two-year blockade after a ballistic missile was fired at Riyadh airport. Iran denied arming Houthi rebels, and said the missile launch was ‘an independent action’ in response to coalition ‘aggression’. 2,000+ have died since April from cholera, and 3,500 cases are being treated daily. The blockade will undo efforts to curtail its spread. 27,000 children a month are treated for severe and acute malnutrition. With no aid deliveries, nutrition supplies will run out within two months, affecting the treatment of 400,000 children over the coming year. The children will bear the scars of this conflict long into the future. Civilians are the only people paying the price for political wrangling.

A mysterious radioactive cloud that passed over 28 European countries recently was first detected over Italy. France’s radioprotection institute has now detailed its findings, saying the origins of the cloud came from ‘somewhere in South Russia’. The area in question has nuclear facilities, including one that converted nuclear fuel into weapons during the Cold War. Even after the location was identified, it is unclear how the radioactive cloud appeared, as there was no apparent accident at any of the nuclear facilities and it was not an ‘authorised release’. Meanwhile, on 16 November, Russia and the USA failed to resolve a dispute over extending the mandate of a UN-backed investigative team which blamed Syrian forces for a chemical weapons attack in April that killed over 80 people. See

For many years intercessors have prayed that Christian persecution would be replaced by interfaith tolerance. Recently the king of Bahrain took unprecedented action in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region and issued a declaration of interfaith tolerance that he believes will promote similar action in other MENA nations. Muslim, Christian and Jewish scholars reviewed the king’s declaration and hope it will gain sign-offs globally from leaders of all faiths. Individual religious freedom is specified as one of the five points in the declaration. Terrorism, suicide bombing, sexual slavery, inciting extremism, and the abuse of women and children are specifically disowned. Preaching hatred and violence in the name of God is condemned as a desecration of His name. The king has also promised to build a museum of tolerance.

In 1867, two visitors to Ottoman Palestine separately showed that Palestine had declined since the Jews had left. First a British archaeologist, Charles Warren, conducted major excavations of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount and found relics of King David’s city; then American writer Mark Twain, after visiting the Holy Land, wrote a hugely popular travel memoir entitled ‘The Innocents Abroad, or the New Pilgrims’ Progress’. In 1917 the British defeated the Ottoman Empire and took control of Palestine. On 2 November 1917 they issued the Balfour Declaration pledging to support the establishment of a Jewish national home in the territory. In 1948, Zionists drove the British out of Palestine and founded the state of Israel. Then, when Israel captured eastern Jerusalem and its holy sites from Jordan in the 1967 Six-Day War, some claimed the messianic era was nigh.

11 November will be the 99th anniversary of the ending of WW1. We remember all those who gave their lives not only in two world wars but also in the many conflicts since. Should we not also pray for those who still serve our country today in the armed forces and for those veterans whose lives bear the scars of their service?

(Val Hall, Armed Forces Christian Union)

Theresa May has called for a ‘new culture of respect’. In this challenging time for our Parliament, we can intercede for all our leaders to begin to demonstrate the Kingdom values of respect, moral uprightness, financial integrity, truthfulness and wisdom. We can cry out for a fresh move of God’s Holy Spirit to touch minds and hearts so that the guilty are convicted and repent, victims see justice, and all corruption and scandals are removed to make way for a new Kingdom culture to be established at the centre of political life. Pray that God will cause the Prime Minister’s spoken words to become a self-fulfilling prophecy: ‘a place in which everyone can feel confident that they are working in a safe and secure environment, where complaints can be brought forward without prejudice and victims know that these complaints will be investigated properly’.