Rail services on the East Coast main line are being brought back under Government control, following the failure of the current franchise. Operators Stagecoach and Virgin Trains will hand over control from 24 June. The Department for Transport will run the service until a new public-private partnership can be appointed in 2020. Transport secretary Chris Grayling said it would smooth the transition to a new operator, but critics said it was evidence of private sector failure. It is the third time in a just over a decade that the government has called a halt to the East Coast franchise. Stagecoach and Virgin had promised to pay £3.3bn to run the franchise until 2023, but at the end of 2017 it became clear they were running into trouble. In February it was announced that the franchise would end early, leading to accusations that the Government was bailing them out. The rail companies have accused Network Rail, of failing to upgrade the line, which would have allowed them to run more frequent services. See also:

Greece’s parliament passed a bill on 15 May aimed at making asylum procedures simpler and faster and easing overcrowding in its refugee camps. Five camps on islands close to the Turkish coast hold more than double their capacity, and have been mired in violence over living conditions and delays in asylum claims that often take months to process. Human rights groups and the European Commission, which has offered Greece millions of euros in emergency aid, have criticised the government for not doing enough to manage the situation. Migration minister Dimitris Vitsas acknowledged that the bill ‘will not magically solve the refugee and migration issue’, but said the government wanted to reduce the wait for thousands of asylum seekers. Human rights groups criticised the bill, which foresees a shortened appeals procedure for rejected asylum seekers, saying it would lead to slapdash procedures violating refugees’ rights.

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, has agreed to face a grilling from European Union lawmakers over how the data of as many as 2.7 million Europeans could have ended up in the hands of consulting firm Cambridge Analytica. On 16 May, European parliament president Antonio Tajani said that Zuckerberg had accepted the EU institution’s invitation to cross the Atlantic and face lawmakers in person as soon as next week. The meeting will take place in private on 22 May, the assembly’s press service said. Facebook, in an statement, said it accepted the ‘proposal to meet with leaders of the European Parliament and appreciate the opportunity for dialogue, listen to their views, and show the steps we are taking to improve protection of people’s privacy’.

The USA wasn’t the only country to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem this week. Just days after the historic - and contentious - opening in the holy city, Guatemala did the same. President Jimmy Morales, a strong evangelical, said, ‘We have had an excellent relationship with Israel since it was founded. I believe we will be receiving a blessing for both peoples by doing the right thing.’ Citing prayer and prophecy as their motivation, Morales and vice president Jafeth Cabrera officially recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital last year and pledged to return their embassy there. ‘People in Guatemala pray for peace in this region, pray for Jerusalem, and they are excited’, said Sarah Solis, the country’s ambassador to Israel.

Moqtada al Sadr, the Muslim Shiite cleric, and his Marching Towards Reform alliance with Iraq's communists look to be in first position coming out of the national polls.The elections rejected the Iraqi elite that has run the country since the ousting of Saddam Hussein in 2003. Running a campaign highly critical of both the USA and Iran, the controversial cleric and militia leader has struck a chord with millions of poor Shia voters. Only 44 percent of voters turned out, the lowest in the four elections since the removal of Saddam. During the next two weeks, the various parties will jockey for position as they seek to form a governing coalition.

On 16 May, President Trump was asked whether his summit with North Korea would still take place after the communist regime had threatened to call it off. ‘We haven't seen anything, we haven't heard anything’, Trump said. When asked if Kim was bluffing when he threatened to cancel the planned summit on 12 June, he replied, ‘We'll see what happens’. Pyongyang’s statement blamed the annual military drills between the US and South Korea that had started two days earlier, adding: ‘The USA must carefully contemplate the fate of the planned summit amid the provocative military ruckus that it is causing. We will keenly monitor how the authorities react.’ China has urged North Korea to go forward with the summit. Its foreign ministry says the two countries should make sure that the meeting runs as planned and yields ‘substantial outcomes’.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is braced for a gruesome battle, this time against the deadly virus Ebola. Congolese authorities declared the outbreak in the northwest region on 8 May; so far three have died from the disease. The number of reported cases is 42, according to a World Health Organisation tally. A health ministry spokeswoman said that 5,400 doses of vaccine had arrived from Geneva; they would be kept in Kinshasa until refrigerated transport could be guaranteed. The WHO said the risk of the disease spreading was high, and announced it was preparing for the ‘worst case scenario’. Its chief executive visited the affected area last weekend, saying he hoped for a ‘better way out’ of the latest outbreak. On 16 May Oxfam pledged an initial £50,000 to fight the spread of the disease. Ebola is one of the world's most notorious diseases, being both highly infectious and extremely lethal. See also:

Long ago, wise men in Eastern Arabia noticed a star burning brightly in the night sky and set out to see where it would lead them. At the end of their journey they found Jesus and presented him with costly gifts - one of which was frankincense. Frankincense trees still bloom today, particularly in the Arabian peninsula. At the centre of this region is a city that is home to six unreached people groups - each with their own specific language or dialect, with unique customs and traditions, divided into tribes and families. As different as each group is, they hold certain things in common: their unifying faith in Islam, their abiding love of camels, and the daily use of frankincense. Every day after evening prayers, the city is permeated by the sweet smell of frankincense as families heat it in burners and carry it throughout their homes. Wise men from Arabia once offered Jesus frankincense: today, He is offering the lasting healing, cleansing and deliverance they seek.

IS has claimed responsibility for the suicide bombings in three Indonesian churches, killing at least 13 people and injuring dozens of others. According to police, the suicide bombers were all members of the same family: a mother and two daughters aged nine and 12 detonated their bombs in one church, while the father and two sons, aged 16 and 18, targeted two other churches. The Santa Maria Catholic Church was attacked first, then the Surabaya Centre Pentecostal Church and the Diponegoro Indonesian Christian Church. The fact that a family, including children and teenagers, carried out these attacks is part of what makes them so shocking. A family should be a place of love and safety - and yet this one was used to inspire hatred and violence. But there is another family that we are a part of: God’s worldwide family of the church. Our brothers and sisters in Surabaya need our prayers and support today. Many are grieving, many are injured, many are scared.

Fears are growing that Hawaii's Kilauea volcano is heading for a major eruption. The US Geological Survey has raised the alert from orange to red, meaning that a major volcanic eruption is imminent or very likely. The volcano is one of the world's most active, and its activity level has increased substantially over the past twelve days. A 300m-long fissure has opened on the volcano's side, releasing more lava and gas and sending a plume of ash and smoke as high as 12,000 feet. There were reports of ash and vog (volcanic air pollution) falling as far as 18 miles downwind, the USGS said. Dozens of homes and swathes of farmland in that area have been destroyed. US president Donald Trump declared it to be a disaster on Friday, following a request from Hawaii's governor, David Ige.