The Pentagon has said it is investigating what could be its deadliest strike on civilians in Syria since its anti-IS campaign began two years ago. Syrian opposition groups and monitors said a strike on 19 July is likely to have killed over 100 civilians, including whole families in Syria’s Aleppo province. Speaking from Baghdad, Colonel Christopher Garver said that the anti-IS coalition reviewed reports of US warplanes killing civilians and has completed a preliminary probe. The result was that the information available was credible enough to warrant a formal investigation, which has now been initiated. Meanwhile the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights continues to monitor and report on civilian casualties as airstrikes continue. Researchers and reporters based in the Middle East have catalogued 74 civilians killed last week, but how many more may have died in US and allied airstrikes remains unclear.

For the first time since the games were inaugurated in Greece in 776 BC, a team of refugees will compete in the Olympic Games. Ten refugee athletes from Syria, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and the Congo will be in the newly-formed Refugee Olympic Team, competing in swimming, track and judo. When the team enters the Maracana Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, during the opening ceremony on 5 August, they will be representing not their country of origin but the millions of refugees worldwide. Their anthem, instead of a national song, will be the Olympian theme, and their banner will be the Olympic flag. Open Doors USA's director of communications Emily Fuentes says that having a refugee Olympic team is meaningful since it 'brings attention to the unprecedented refugee crisis that we're having in our world right now. For the refugees, having athletes to represent them in the Olympic Games will show that they still have a place in the world.'

She was told she might never run again, after major knee injuries in 2008, but instead sprinter English Gardner qualified for the Olympics this weekend after becoming the fourth-fastest American in history. Gardner won the 100-metre sprint at the US Olympic track and field trials in Oregon on Sunday in record time. According to NBC, her time would have won an Olympic gold medal every year except 1988, when Florence Griffith-Joyner ran 10.62. When Gardner crossed the finish line she was overwhelmed and immediately started praising Jesus. 'Thank you Jesus. Thank you Jesus. Oh, God I praise You. I give you so much glory,' she said, slapping the ground while on her knees. The video of her record-setting race has more than one million views and 15,000 likes along with 800 comments. See:

As the implications of the referendum vote continue to sink in, it is vital that we keep praying for this nation at such a significant moment in its history. May Christians across the nation know that in these uncertain times God is our rock, and live and proclaim the good news of the Gospel in villages, towns and cities. We also pray blessing on Europe, that the Gospel will flood the nations, remove the barriers and make the way for His kingdom to come to every nation on the continent. For more useful material, click on the 'more' button and download prayer topics based on the Lord's Prayer.

After the second round of voting by Conservative MPs yesterday, the two remaining candidates are Theresa May, the Home Secretary, and Angela Leadsom, minister for energy and climate change. There will be a postal vote by Conservative party supporters to decide the outcome: the winner will become the next Prime Minister. Meanwhile, it is still uncertain whether Jeremy Corbyn will face a challenge to his leadership of the Labour party, and Nigel Farage has announced that he is stepping down as leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), which supported Brexit.

The official inquiry into the Iraq war, which took seven years to produce, has concluded that Tony Blair overstated the threat posed by Saddam Hussein, sent ill-prepared troops into battle, and had 'wholly inadequate' plans for the aftermath. The chairman, Sir John Chilcot, said the 2003 invasion was not the 'last resort' action presented to MPs and the public. There was no imminent threat from Saddam - and the intelligence case was 'not justified'. Mr Blair apologised for any mistakes made, but not for the decision to go to war. However, the relative of one of the soldiers who died in the war described him as 'the world's worst terrorist'.

On Monday, the Government's agreement with the British Medical Association (BMA) on a new contract was rejected by junior doctors by 58 to 42 per cent, on a turnout of 68 per cent. The result forced the immediate resignation of Johann Malawana, chairman of the Junior Doctors’ Committee (JDC), who had recommended the deal. He called on the Department of Health to respect the result of the vote, but it is understood that the Government plans to press ahead and impose the new contract. The junior doctors said they were prepared to embark on further strike action, amid growing divisions within the union.

Last Friday was the hundredth anniversary of the Battle of the Somme, the bloodiest battle in history. This occasion was marked by special services in many different locations, including one in Westminster Abbey attended by the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, and the Prime Minister, among others. The Bishop of London, Richard Chartres, said that as we remember this battle we need to be 'agents of reconciliation, rejecting those who would stir up hatred and division and instead working for the reconciliation that will ensure that our children will never have to endure what the men of the Somme so bravely endured.'

One unpleasant outcome of the Brexit vote has been a rise in hate crime and racial abuse. Last Friday, by way of contrast, the Diocese of Birmingham launched a 'love your neighbour' movement, with the aim of encouraging people to be kind and celebrate our differences. The launch was attended by over 150 people of all faiths and none including representatives from business, police, parliament, the arts, community organisations, and local government. Bishop David Urquhart challenged people to move from Leave and Remain to Peace and Reconciliation, and to be willing to be kind to people whoever they are and whatever their views are. Although the theme of ‘love your neighbour’ appears in many holy books, it was suggested by the Humanist Association, as a message with which we can all agree. For further details, see

Lives are being ‘put at risk’ because of a crisis within the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS), one of its workers has claimed. The emergency medical technician (EMT) said that the system for managing shifts in the service was 'shambolic'. The NIAS said it wants to reassure the public that calls are being prioritised to ensure rapid response times. On Saturday the NIAS was twelve crews short because of a combination of sickness, staff and cancelled overtime. The NIAS said that this situation was not unusual at the weekend. It also said it had become reliant on the support of the independent and voluntary sector over the last two years. The EMT worker, who did not want to be identified, has worked for the service for over a decade and said the situation was the worst he had ever seen.