It is fire season in Thailand, with hundreds of patches of farmland and forest ablaze in the north, belching toxic fumes into the atmosphere and poisoning the air. Tiny pollution particles caused an estimated 32,000 premature deaths in Thailand in 2019, according to a global report. Along with exhaust fumes and crop burning, smoke from the wildfires contributes to the problem. On the worst days this year, drifting smoke made Chiang Mai the most polluted city in the world. As the years go by, the pollution is getting worse. Each year, on average, northern Thailand has been swathed in smoke for eight weeks, causing thousands of health problems. In the first three months of this year 200,000 people in eight provinces have been made ill by toxic particles in the air, according to health officials. ‘Most of the people hospitalised already had chronic diseases,’ said the director-general of the ministry of public health.

A Turkish court sentenced Syriac priest Father Sefer to two years and one month in prison on terrorism-related charges. This sentence comes just over a year after Father Bileçen was detained alongside twelve others on the charges of aiding the PKK, an internationally recognised terrorist organisation. Father Bileçen said, ‘Two members of the organisation came to the monastery asking for food, and I gave it. It was detected afterwards, and the gendarmerie commander met me through the metropolitan bishop. I did not deny it. I wanted security measures to be taken so that this would not happen again. But no security measures were taken.’ Nevertheless he thought the case was closed. Christians in rural Turkey are caught in the middle of the Turkey-PKK conflict and no matter how they respond - they lose. Religious charity is being criminalised.

Iran is currently fighting a fourth wave of the pandemic, according to its health authorities, who announce horrifying rates on a daily basis. As of 6 April, the number of cities under a red alert hit 88, marking a sudden jump from 47 only two days before. One of the latest members of the red zone is the capital Tehran. Of the city’s 175 hospitals, 173 are dealing with Covid patients, whose population has grown by 100% since last week, fuelling fears that in a matter of weeks, if not days, hospitals will be overwhelmed. Over 90,000 nurses battling the pandemic on the poorly-equipped front lines have been infected by the virus. The rates are blamed on an easily transmissible new mutation, which was first identified in the UK and referred to as the British virus. The government traced the spiking rates to negligence of preventive measures during the two-week Persian New Year holidays that ended on 2 April.

Many churches and cathedrals which have remained closed throughout the recent lockdown are reopening in time for in-person worship during Holy Week and Easter - but online services and events remain at the heart of festivities. The stay-at-home rule has been replaced. Now up to two households of unlimited numbers, or up to six households of six people, can meet outdoors. The rector of Bath Abbey said, ‘We look forward eagerly to celebrating the life-renewing hope of Easter. It will be a great joy to celebrate Christ’s victory over death, as a church family back in the abbey once again - especially as we were unable to meet at Easter last year.’

The following is part of an email: ‘We give thanks to God for the way the five-year community-based rehabilitation (CBR) project is going in a mountainous district of Nepal. In its first year it has already reached hundreds of people with disabilities and their families, helping them access services, including livelihoods and physical rehabilitation, and is slowly helping to change attitudes in the community so they are included with kindness and respect. C is planning a home assignment after two years without a break! Pray that his successor as leader will enjoy the work, want to stay, and adapt quickly to living remotely.’

Father Tulak was preaching at a Catholic cathedral in Indonesia when it was attacked by suicide bombers on Palm Sunday. He said God protected church members and guards, who were only two metres away from the bombers when they exploded. ‘What happened in my church is a personal testimony for the world.’ Indonesia is one the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nations. Christians in the area are unfortunately used to these types of attacks, especially during Christian celebrations. Please pray for the injured church guards, who are in a police hospital for protection.

The Government formally adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance ’s (IHRA) working definition of anti-Semitism in 2016. The education secretary, Gavin Williamson, warned that universities faced funding cuts if they failed to adopt the definition by Christmas 2020. However, anti-Semitism is still allowed in British universities under the guise of Israel Apartheid Week: this means that it is operating in plain sight, with events taking place on taxpayer-funded campuses. These events (this year’s will be virtual) are designed to compare Israeli rule to apartheid in South Africa. See also

A teacher who showed pupils a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad is in fear for his life. His parents have also gone into hiding, amid growing concerns the wider family may be targeted and even killed by extremists. Mass protests have been held outside the school since the teacher used the cartoon in a lesson looking at blasphemy. A Paris teacher was beheaded in October after showing his class the same image. Despite appealing for calm, local leaders have noticeably stopped short of calling for the protests to stop. Communities secretary Robert Jenrick said teachers should be allowed to show such images in free society. ‘We want religions to be taught to children and children to be able to question and query them.’ 70,000 people signed a petition supporting the teacher, but anger grows as others demand that he goes.

A study of the test-and-trace system found that fewer than one in five people with Covid symptoms request a test, and few follow full self-isolation rules. The report also found only half of people knew the main Covid symptoms. Its authors said, ‘With such low rates of symptom recognition, testing, and full self-isolation, the effectiveness of the current UK test, trace, and isolate system is limited.’ Men, younger people, and those with young children were less likely to self-isolate, as were those from working-class backgrounds, people experiencing greater financial hardship, and those working in key sectors. Common reasons for not fully self-isolating included needing to go to the shops or work, a medical need other than Covid-19, to care for a vulnerable person, to exercise or meet others, or because symptoms were only mild or got better. However, while adherence to the rules had been low, ‘some improvement has occurred over time’.

23 April is St George’s Day. National identity is controversial in our contemporary culture, but belonging to a nation is important to many people. Solzhenistsyn saw nations as the wealth of mankind. Dostoevsky saw them as moral personalities. God Himself created the nations and determines their boundaries. Rural land plays a special role in our nations, providing a concrete focus for abstract ideas of national identity. Give thanks for the distinctiveness and unity of the nations of the UK and for their diverse and beautiful landscapes. Pray for the Lord to prosper the particular gifts and callings of each nation. As many seek independence, pray for the future of the United Kingdom. Pray especially that believers, whose first citizenship is in the Kingdom of God, will be effective salt and light, reaching out to all nations with loving intercession and mission, whatever our political relationships.