Thousands of people continue to flee the fighting in Raqqa between Syrian forces and IS which is intensifying. According to humanitarian agencies on the ground, 108,000 people have been displaced from Raqqa province - the majority from the city itself - while a further 100,000 people are still believed to be under IS control. Due to a lack of diesel to operate generators and a damaged pumping station, the water supply inside the city is limited. Civilians have reportedly resorted to drinking water taken from the Euphrates, exposing residents to the risk of waterborne diseases as the water is unfit for consumption. Only nine doctors remain in the city, and medicine and medical services are severely lacking. Many IDPs speak of a lack of basic necessities including food and water.

One journalist was killed while resting in a hammock at a carwash. A second was dragged from his car and shot dead near the newspaper he had co-founded. When another was killed in front of her son, the criminals left a note, 'For your long tongue'. Human rights groups say Mexico is one of the most dangerous countries for reporters. More die here than in any other nation at peace. But even for a country so used to drugs-related violence and organised crime, the recent bloodshed has been shocking. Seven journalists have been killed in the country so far this year, most shot by gunmen in broad daylight. Yet virtually all cases of attacks on the press end up unsolved and, in many, corrupt officials are suspected of partnering with criminals. As the killings mount, is there anything that Mexico can do to save its journalists?

'The villagers started punching and kicking us, all over our bodies. They asked us to praise Hindu gods. We refused. They kicked us harder.' This is what happened to Sohan, after he decided to follow Jesus and began sharing the gospel with others. His attackers then called the police and accused him of converting people to Christianity. He was imprisoned for four days, and saw God work in amazing ways. Sohan says, 'I preached the gospel and prayed for an inmate who was sick. He was healed and believed in Christ instantly. My other cellmate was a person suffering from intense depression. He kept saying that he wanted to kill himself. I prayed for him and the suicidal thoughts left him. He also accepted Christ. I also met a young man falsely accused of raping a woman; he was very upset and felt hopeless about his life. I shared the gospel with him, and he also accepted Christ. This way I saw God's immense power and deliverance.' Open Doors partners were able to bail Sohan out of prison, and are helping him to fight the false claims filed against him.

Recently, after an anonymous tip-off, anti-trafficking authorities in the Dominican Republic, working in cooperation with International Justice Mission (IJM), found two young girls and their mother - who was exploiting them - in a crime-ridden and impoverished neighbourhood in Santo Domingo. The mother was arrested, and IJM social workers are working to ensure that the girls will recover from the trauma they endured. In another story, in South Asia, IJM and police had been investigating a sex trafficking network for over a year. On 25 June the team successfully rescued two young girls from a private brothel and arrested four suspects. Please pray for follow-up on the legal case, and pray for comfort and healing for these girls as they settle into a loving aftercare programme.

Being a prison chaplain is like no other ministry I know. Every day they work tirelessly to offer hope, support and care to some of the nation’s most vulnerable people and those who keep them in custody. Every day they get the opportunity to see Jesus in the eyes of the prisoner. Do you know a chaplain at a prison you could pray for?

(written by Bob Wilson, Free Churches Faith Advisor to NOMS and Prison Hope)

Retired judge Sir Martin Moore-Bick has been chosen to lead the public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire. Eighty people are now presumed dead after the disaster in west London on 14 June. Born in Wales and educated at Cambridge, the 70-year-old is said to be highly respected in the profession and ‘intellectually superb’. But leading barrister Michael Mansfield QC, who has met survivors of the fire, has said it is ‘unbelievable that lessons are not learned’ from the earlier inquiry into child sexual abuse, which he claimed had not consulted the families or the survivors. ‘The same thing seems to have happened all over again’, he said. Local residents are unconvinced that the inquiry will attribute responsibility as well as identifying the cause of the blaze. Meanwhile, tests have shown inflammable cladding on 120 tower blocks in the UK, and that number is expected to rise. Aluminium composite cladding has been widely blamed for the speed with which the Grenfell Tower fire spread. See

On 28 June the Crown Prosecution Service announced that six people will face trial for the Hillsborough disaster - including match commander David Duckenfield and former chief constable Sir Norman Bettison. Duckenfield, 72, faces trial for the manslaughter by gross negligence of 95 of the 96 Liverpool fans who died at the FA Cup semi-final in 1989. Bettison, 61, faces four charges of misconduct in a public office, including two of lying about his role to further his career. However, the FA and Sheffield Wednesday FC avoided action, despite the withering assessment of their conduct which emerged in the Hillsborough Independent Panel (HIP) investigation of 2012. Families of the Hillsborough victims broke into applause when they were told Duckenfield faces charges. Margaret Aspinall, whose son James died in the tragedy, said: ‘No-one should have to go through what the families have gone through for 28 years to try to get to the truth.’

The Government’s austerity policy descended into chaos on 28 June as it first seemed to suggest it would abandon its one per cent cap on public sector pay rises, then denied it. Three Cabinet ministers appeared to have been briefed that the pay cap was coming to an end as they openly talked about lifting it, and Sir Oliver Letwin, the influential backbench MP, even went into detail about how taxes would have to be increased to fund it. However, only hours later Downing Street insisted that the cap would remain in place until 2020. This reversal was blamed on the ongoing ‘war’ between Theresa May and Philip Hammond, with the Treasury reportedly demanding a retraction of the announcement. It led to speculation that the Chancellor had intended to claim credit for the policy change at his next budget. Tim Farron, the outgoing Liberal Democrat leader, said: ‘The Tories are in utter chaos. They have U-turned on their own U-turn within the space of a few hours.’

The Scottish Episcopal Church has elected Rt Rev’d Mark Strange, Bishop of Moray, Ross and Caithness, as Primus. Bishop Mark, 56, the youngest of the bishops, was consecrated in his current diocese in 2007. He said: ‘I am humbled by the confidence shown in me by my colleagues, and I will seek to serve the Church with love and strength. It has been 82 years since a Bishop of Moray became Primus, and I pray that I may be worthy of this trust. I will continue to serve in my beloved Highlands while I also step out into new and exciting journeys of faith in both Scotland and the wider international church.’ He takes up this role as a Primate within the Anglican Communion at a time when the General Synod of his Church has voted to permit same-sex marriage. That decision is expected to be on the agenda of the forthcoming Primates’ meeting in Canterbury, which he will attend. He is married to Jane, a teacher, and they have a son and two daughters.

Amanda Spielman, who in January became head of schools’ regulator Ofsted, has vowed to continue promoting ‘British values’. Citing the recent terror attacks as evidence that a greater crackdown on different forms of extremism is needed, she said that the promotion of British values will be determined by individual inspectors, adding, ‘There isn’t a prescribed translation of it, so schools will have to work it out’. John Denning of the Christian Institute, which has consistently questioned the vague and subjective nature of ‘British values’, said Spielman’s assertions would be particularly concerning for head teachers of faith schools. He said: ‘This might encourage Ofsted inspectors to pressurise or even fail schools, based on their own subjective opinions of what British values are. Schools will remain vulnerable to inspectors’ personal biases.’ Since the Government introduced the requirement to ‘actively promote’ British values in schools in 2014, Ofsted inspectors have caused widespread problems for religious liberty in England, with aggressive questioning of teachers and pupils over their beliefs on same-sex marriage and transsexualism.