The Jordanian and Palestinian governments supported a decision by Roman Catholic, Armenian and Greek Orthodox leaders to close Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre, one of Christianity’s holiest sites, because of a ‘systematic campaign of abuse’ directed at their community. Many Christians believe the church to be the site of Jesus' crucifixion and burial. Millions of pilgrims visit every year. This decision was based on several issues, including a bill allowing the government to take over church properties leased to private companies; it also intends to begin imposing taxes on church properties. Under a 2013 agreement, Jordan's King Abdullah II is the custodian of Muslim and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem. A Jordanian government spokesman expressed his country's ‘full solidarity’ with the churches, saying the Israeli law violates international and humanitarian laws, and called on the Israeli government to ‘immediately reverse the decisions taken against churches.’

Worldwide, there are approximately 42 milion victims of abortion each year. That's more people than the entire population of Iraq being killed. Abortion is not confined to one region or people group. It is a global tragedy, with roughly 83% of all abortions taking place in developing countries and 17% in the developed world. That is why it is called the silent Holocaust. 40 Days for Life continues until 25 March. This is a unified time of prayer and fasting for God's mercy, healing, and restoration - that He would bring an end to abortion. Multitudes around the world are crying out to God for an end to the shedding of innocent blood. Prayer Alert readers are invited to cry out to God for the lives of those not yet born to have a future and a hope.

The federal court has recently decided to allow four Christians who converted from Islam to begin to take steps to have their conversions from Islam legally recognised and have the word Islam removed from their identity cards. When this decision was announced on 28 February, the solicitor for the Christians began to receive death threats. Although the constitution guarantees freedom of religion and the right to propagate it, there has been a pattern of religious discrimination in Malaysia. Now that this ‘apostasy’ case has been heard, it could uphold the constitution, clarifying a Muslim’s right to convert to other religions including Christianity. If the next hearing allows them to be registered as Christians, it could lead to amending the law and making it clearer for future cases. Meanwhile Baru Bian, their lawyer, continues to receive death threats. See

At least 13 people were killed on 26 February in clashes between Christians and Muslims in Kasuwan Magani community in Kaduna state, central Nigeria. Many houses and shops were burnt down. Twenty suspects have been arrested and extra police have been put on the streets to try to quell the violence. ‘The place is currently calm. I was in the village yesterday to implore the community and traditional leaders to direct the warring youths to sheath their swords,’ said the state police commissioner. ‘We don't want to jump to conclusions as to what led to the mayhem. Speculation was that some Christian boys were unhappy that their girls are befriending Muslim boys.’ Local reports indicate the death toll is higher than the police have reported.

World News recently published an article highlighting what Christian broadcasters are doing to contribute to the fastest growing evangelical population on the planet. Iran Alive Ministries broadcast Christian programmes across the region, and Dr Hormoz Shariat, the president and founder, has been called ‘the Billy Graham of Iran’. Millions of Iranians refer to him as ‘my pastor’ as he speaks to them in their living rooms each evening on satellite television. In recent months, protests have broken out all over Iran, with people marching in the streets against their government. Dr Hormoz helped listeners outside and inside Iran to understand what the protests mean. He encouraged Christians in Iran to use the protests as an opportunity to share the gospel; in doing this Iranians saw even more people come to Christ. See also

Billy Graham died on 21 February, aged 99. No-one will ever be able to calculate the extent of the blessing he has been to hundreds of millions of men and women, from possibly every country in the world, who were put on God’s path for them through his ministry. To listen to a tribute to Billy Graham presented by UCB, click the ‘More’ button.

The British Medical Journal (BMJ) recently called for doctor-assisted dying to be legalised, ‘to reflect public support’. They said assisted suicide works well in other countries. However, there are increasing reports of involuntary euthanasia in countries like Belgium and the Netherlands, and euthanasia is being extended to minor and non-life-threatening conditions. Consequently the elderly and vulnerable are now fearful of going into hospital. In the UK, doctors are said to be 2:1 against the legalisation of assisted suicide. However a poll on the BMJ website asking whether doctor-assisted dying should be legalised claimed that 59% voted Yes and 41% No. It is possible that this figure was manipulated to produce the desired result; some responders voting No were told their vote was not accepted due to a technical hitch. Activists are calling for doctor-assisted dying to become legal for those with six months to live, even though it is difficult to predict life expectancy.

NSPCC reports that child sex crime allegations have reached a record high in the UK, with an average of 177 cases recorded every day in 2016-17 - an increase of 15% on the previous year. Offences included rape, sexual assault and grooming. In almost 14,000 cases, the complainant was aged ten or under, with 2,788 of the alleged offences perpetrated against children aged four or under. In 10% of cases, there was an online element involved. NSPCC chief executive Peter Wanless said, ‘This dramatic rise is extremely concerning and shows just how extensive child sexual abuse is. These abhorrent crimes can shatter a child's life and leave them feeling humiliated, depressed or even suicidal. Every single child who has endured abuse needs support so that they can learn to rebuild their lives.’ Online groomers are a major problem.

The Brexit secretary, David Davis, has hit back at negative suggestions that Brexit will lead to an Anglo-Saxon race to the bottom, saying that fears are based on neither history, intention, nor interest. International trade secretary Liam Fox has warned EU leaders that imposing new tariff barriers with the UK would make their economies less competitive, and stressed the benefits of the high UK standards of goods. Meanwhile a letter to Theresa May signed by sixty Tory MPs insisted that the UK should make a clean break with the EU, stating that the UK must be able to negotiate trade deals with other countries as soon as it leaves the EU, and must gain full ‘regulatory autonomy’. Both speeches and the letter set out key Brexit issues ahead of the MPs’ ‘away day’ at Chequers on 22 February. Pray that all decisions made there will lead to a new, fresh positive team of British MPs standing strong behind Theresa May for frictionless change.

On 1 January a petition calling for the banning of medical intervention to change gender surgically or medically by hormones for people below the age of 18 was sent to the Department of Health and Social Care. Responding to the petition on 20 February, the department appears not to have changed its policy, stating that a person under 16 is competent to give valid consent to a particular intervention if they have sufficient intelligence to enable them to understand fully what is proposed. There are no such sentiments when it comes to protecting under-18s from making choices they might in the future regret with regard to purchasing tobacco and alcohol; also, sex under the age of 16 remains a criminal offence.