A number of elections will take place on 6 May, including those postponed in 2020. These will be for local councils, mayors, police and crime commissioners, and members of the London Assembly and the Welsh and Scottish parliaments. We can pray for the Lord of Heaven and earth to be in every preparation leading up to these elections. We are in a season of financial shaking and pandemic challenges. Pray for God to release an atmosphere of health, safety, security and wellbeing to the various cultural and ethnic groups in our society. God’s word states, ‘Righteousness exalts a nation’, so we can pray for Him to release His righteousness into every aspect of national and local government. May His purposes be fulfilled in and through every business and government department’s decision. Pray for honour and integrity to increase in all political agendas.

The international trade secretary, Liz Truss, has admitted Brexit led to food shortages in Northern Ireland after weeks of disruption. Her cabinet colleague Brandon Lewis, the Northern Ireland secretary, had argued that the coronavirus crisis was solely to blame for the shortages, but Ms Truss contradicted him, blaming both issues. Meanwhile, a row broke out between the UK and EU after the Foreign Office refused to grant the bloc’s ambassador in London the same diplomatic status afforded to representatives of individual nation states. Also, anger is building among manufacturers as EU customers cancel orders due to Brexit red tape.

On 18 January more than twenty shellfish trucks parked just metres from Boris Johnson’s Downing Street office and the British parliament to protest against the post-Brexit bureaucracy that has stopped them exporting to the EU. Many Scottish fishermen have not been able to export their stocks to Europe since the start of the year after the introduction of catch certificates, health checks and customs declarations added lengthy delays to their delivery times, prompting European buyers to reject them. A director of Venture Seafoods, which exports live and processed crabs and lobsters to the EU. said he had cancelled several lorries due to the onerous red tape involved. One operator needed 400 pages of export documentation last week to board a ferry to the EU. He warned the system could collapse.

Large numbers of Irish trucks have begun transporting goods via ferries to France, to avoid delays on the more traditional route to continental Europe via Britain, which withdrew from EU trading rules on 1 January. Ireland's transport minister said that France may now require rapid Covid tests from Irish truck drivers operating on this route. The new measures would target the more infectious variant of the coronavirus first discovered in England but now widespread in Ireland. The PCR Covid test can take several days. However, a much quicker antigen test can give results in minutes. Whichever test the French decide on, the truckers will have to manage it and ensure they do it without disrupting supply chains. (France’s demand for Covid tests from British drivers in December caused significant delays and disruption.)

The Christian Democratic Union (CDU), a centre-right party, has elected Armin Laschet, the pragmatic governor of Germany's most populous state, as its new leader - sending a signal of continuity before the 26 September election. The vote is not the final word on who will be the centre-right candidate for Chancellor, but Laschet will either run himself or will have a big say in who does. He is viewed as more in line with Merkel's pragmatic centrism, and spoke of the value of continuity and moderation. ‘We must speak clearly but not polarise. We must be able to integrate, hold society together.’ The decision ends an 11-month leadership limbo in the CDU. Angela Merkel, who has been Chancellor since 2005, is not seeking a fifth term.

Open Doors reports Christian persecution at a record high globally. The number of Christians murdered for their faith rose 60% in 2020. 340 million Christians suffer high levels of persecution through Islamic or communist oppression or Hindu nationalism. Even the pandemic has been used as an excuse by extremists and governments as a justification in several places. Indian local governments use pressure on Christians to withhold food and medical care. Over 115,000 incidents have been documented. In Nigeria Boko Haram attack Christian villages and take food and medical supplies. Pray for an end to the extra persecution because of Covid. New data show that China is using Facebook, Zoom, and Apple to threaten and censor Christians. There are 100 million Christians in China; the regime is using technology to watch their every move. When they go into church they are subject to facial recognition; their online searches are examined, and massive surveillance systems are monitoring religious practice.

On 20 January, Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th US president. He wasted little time before undoing policies that were anathema to Democrats; he signed 15 executive orders and two other directives, including an order requiring face masks and social distancing on federal property. This was followed by an order recommitting the United States to the Paris Agreement on climate change. With plain language and open emotion, Biden urged a shaken nation to regain its footing. He has directed the government to rejoin the World Health Organisation and intends to join the COVAX Facility, a project to deploy Covid-19 vaccines to people in need around the world (whether in rich or poor countries); it is an umbrella effort that focuses on distributing diagnostic tools and therapeutics for coronavirus to countries around the world. The justice department pledged to keep the Capitol safe through the next few days.

International Christian Concern has released its annual report, documenting the abuse and condition of prisoners in Iran’s prisons. Their treatment has long been of major concern for the international community. Iran violates not only international standards of right to life and health of prisoners, but its own national code as well. Political prisoners and Christians arrested for their faith are housed with common and dangerous criminals. They are intentionally placed there for targeting. Also commonly used are solitary confinement for indefinite amounts of time and the denial of medical treatment for prisoners who are tortured or injured before incarceration. Pray for the Iranians imprisoned for their faith, including Joseph Shahbazian, an Iranian-Armenian church leader, who received the highest requested bail for any imprisoned Christian, $150,000. Saheb Zaman Fadaie, who received eighty lashes and a six-year sentence, is experiencing medical neglect.

In Cabo Delgado, most Internally Displaced People (IDPs) have lost access to their basic livelihoods due to years of conflict. Neighbouring areas that were previously classified as ‘stressed’ now face ‘crisis’ situations due to a rapid increase in IDPs. Conflict and even more IDPs has made many areas inaccessible for those distributing humanitarian aid. They are in ‘crisis’ situations. Some of the most affected families who have lost their homes and livelihoods face difficulty escaping to safe areas, and will face even worsening famine. Families in drought areas are consuming wild foods due to low income and exhausted food stocks. Unfortunately, poorly distributed rainfall through December limited planting in southern Mozambique. Please pray that food security will begin to improve in April 2021 with the start of the harvest. Pray also for the poorest households recovering from Cyclone Idai but contending with worsening economic shock due to Covid-19.

A key member of the ‘independent and objective’ panel advising Tasmanian MPs on Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) has a long history of strong advocacy for the reform, prompting concerns about bias. University professor Margaret Otlowski is one of four review panel members whose expert report will help shape the state’s final voluntary assisted dying law, which is set to pass parliament in March. The panel was requested by Premier Peter Gutwein, a declared supporter of the bill, to provide independent and objective advice to MPs ahead of the vote. This advice is to include a comparison with legislation in other jurisdictions, an objective analysis of safeguards, the interrelationship between VAD and palliative care, and stakeholder feedback. Opponents of the bill have said they are concerned that the professor, as the key legal expert on the panel, has been a consistent and firm supporter of VAD.