Curtis Hayes, a community activist running for city council in Charlotte, said, ‘We have some of the most horrific mass murderers of our time in custody without a scratch, but this black man who allegedly uses a counterfeit $20 bill loses his life. They have got to convict the former police officer accused of killing George Floyd by sitting on his neck for over nine minutes. The officer came to a situation which he should have de-escalated and given out a ticket in the worst-case scenario. Are we going to hold him accountable for his actions? This is a chance for America to show exactly what it represents: giving everybody liberty and justice. If you don't convict him, you're simply telling black and minority Americans that we do not care for you: this is a white America and you're going to get down or lay down. Now people are fighting for equality, but they could soon be fighting for revenge.’

The latest evidence of Iran concealing vital elements of its nuclear programme from the outside world suggest that even if there is a resumption of negotiations, the regime has little genuine interest in complying with the terms of any future deal. Iran's conservative-dominated parliament has ordered the government to start limiting some inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN-sponsored body responsible for monitoring nuclear activities. This came after the IAEA published a report revealing last summer’s inspectors found uranium particles at two Iranian nuclear sites that Iran tried to block access to. With the Biden administration seemingly keen to recommence negotiations with Tehran, fresh photographic evidence is emerging that the regime is up to its old tricks by attempting to conceal key elements of the Isfahan uranium enrichment facility from UN inspectors.

Christian volunteer security guards are preparing to defend their churches in the run-up to Easter. With world-wide concern peaking after Palm Sunday’s suicide bomb in Indonesia, William Arif Khan and his team of fifteen security volunteers at Lahore’s Sacred Heart Cathedral stressed the need for extra vigilance. ‘For the past twelve years, I have been leading young men dedicated to support the police’s security guards stationed at the cathedral. We don't expect any rewards. All of them have dedicated their holiday to the Church. They have metal detectors. The police have allowed us to keep some licensed weapons on church premises; but only my deputy and I are armed with a pistol. Everybody is afraid of the terrorists. But we stand for the One who protects us all. Our faith tells us that God won't let us down. We perform our duties with complete passion and avoid negative thinking.’

Hate crimes involving Asian-American victims soared in New York city last year. Officials are grappling with the problem as new incidents occur. ‘I’ve never cried like that before,’ Maggie Cheng said, after seeing security footage showing her mother being shoved to the ground on a crowded street. ‘To see my mother get thrown like that, she looks like a feather, a rag doll.’ The attack, which gained widespread attention on social media, was one of four attacks in a day against Asian-American women in New York. Concerns intensified after an Asian man was stabbed on Thursday night near Chinatown. Asian-Americans make up 16% of the population of the city: it is feared that the wave of racism and violence against them during the pandemic is surging again. The attacks are random, fast and furious, stoking a lot of fear and paranoia. Many Asians are not leaving their homes.

Praise God that the International Justice Mission (IJM) has signed its first collaborative agreement with the business sector in the Dominican Republic. IJM and Aerodom, the largest network of airports in the country, are joining forces to bring an end to sex trafficking. They are launching awareness campaigns in the air terminals, equipping their staff to recognise the signs of trafficking, and establish additional protocols to report these crimes to local authorities.

Indonesia has banned schools from forcing girls to wear Islamic hijab headscarves after the case of a Christian pupil pressured to cover up sparked outrage in the world’s most populous Muslim nation (90% of the population follows Islam). The move was applauded by rights activists, who say non-Muslim girls have been forced for years to wear a hijab in conservative parts of the country. State schools across the archipelago of nearly 270 million people will face sanctions if they fail to comply with the edict. Nadiem Makarim, the education minister, said that religious attire was an individual choice and schools cannot make it compulsory.

A new Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) study indicates internet sex predators are manipulating children to record their own sexual abuse, and that of their friends and siblings. The new research reveals this ‘disturbing’ trend is eight times worse than experts had feared. The IWF is the UK-based charity responsible for finding and removing images and videos of children suffering sexual abuse from use of the internet. The rise in ‘self-generated’ child sexual abuse imagery being created and shared online often occurs after a child has been groomed, bullied, or blackmailed by an adult. Between 28 September and 23 December, 511 self-generated child sexual abuse images and videos assessed in this period were also found to involve siblings. That’s eight images or videos each working day. IWF said the youngest children are the most vulnerable, and often disproportionately suffer the worst kinds of abuse. It often takes place in children’s own bedrooms, when parents think children are safe – playing with their siblings.

Last year over 8,500 people crossed the Channel in small boats to the UK. The Home Office plans to make it much tougher for those who enter the UK illegally to claim asylum. They will no longer have the same entitlements as those who arrive legally. The Government wants to deter organised criminal networks who attempt to smuggle thousands of men, women, and children into Britain. Under the new plans, refugees who come to the UK through the government's official resettlement program will get indefinite leave to remain once they arrive. Those who arrive illegally, but still manage successfully to claim asylum, will receive a new ‘temporary protection status’ rather than an automatic right to settle. The Kent Refugee Action Network charity said that far from solving the problem the new ‘deliberately divisive policy’ will ‘make people think that there are good refugees, who do the right thing, and bad refugees, who don't do the right thing’.

Deaths in the UK have fallen below the five-year average for the first time since the summer. Experts say it means the winter wave of Covid deaths has ended, and lockdown and the vaccine rollout have saved lives. Prof Neil Ferguson of Imperial College London said, ‘The new data on deaths are encouraging in suggesting the second devastating wave of the pandemic is behind us. But calling epidemics 'waves' can be misleading in implying a phenomenon which has reached a natural end - that is not the case here. The rapid decline in deaths we have thankfully seen is entirely because of the lockdown and the rapid rollout of vaccines. So, while I'm optimistic that this means we will be able to return to something more like normal in the next few months, we need to remain vigilant and cautious - particularly given the threat still posed by new variants of the virus.’

Church leaders from seven denominations have argued that the Government's plan to increase the UK's nuclear warheads ‘takes us in a worrying and wholly wrong direction.’ The UK currently has 195 nuclear warheads and was expected to reduce that to 180 by the mid-2020s. The cap is now 260, due to the threat of state-sponsored terrorism and other states increasing their nuclear arsenals. The leaders said that the fundamental purpose of nuclear weapons is to preserve peace, prevent coercion and deter aggression. A minimum, credible, independent nuclear deterrent, assigned to the defence of NATO, remains essential to guarantee our security and that of our allies. They also said that Trident submarines already carry warheads with an explosive yield equivalent to hundreds of the bombs dropped on Hiroshima, and the Government is committing resources which could be spent on the common good of our society.