Venezuela: parliamentary elections on Sunday
It has been over two years since president Hugo Chavez died, giving way to an ‘economic war’ on the Venezuelan people. Violence from the opposition has led to Venezuela looking more and more like a powder keg. Demonstrations have wracked the country. A government prosecutor fled Venezuela in October, claiming that the state had pressured him to falsify evidence against the top opposition leader. Last week the secretary of the opposition Democratic Action Party was gunned down. Sunday’s elections of new national assembly legislators are critical for the people. President Nicolás Maduro said that whatever the outcome, he will not stand down and will continue to govern in a civil-military union. There is public anger with an economic crisis caused by dysfunctional controls, plunging oil prices, high inflation, and widespread product shortages of everything from shampoo to rice. The government campaign has warned that the opposition will dismantle popular Chavez-era welfare policies, while the opposition has been lambasting the government’s economic incompetence and corruption. See also http://www.cnbc.com/2015/11/30/venezuela-on-edge-ahead-of-parliamentary-elections.html
Burundi: lives on the line
Fearful of being recruited into the Imbonerakure (the violence-prone youth wing of the ruling party who are fighting anti-government forces), many Burundian children run away and become refugees in Tanzania. There have been seven months of crisis, sparked by President Pierre Nkurunziza's controversial decision to run for a third term. Since then 240,000 people have become refugees; thousands are unaccompanied minors. The journey is dangerous, walking for days through forests. Children who travel on their own fear danger from both armed people and other refugees who try to pass them off as their own children so that they can get better housing in the refugee camps. Violence continues, and the threat of civil war looms in a country full of poverty, beauty and potential. Often referred to as ‘the Switzerland of Africa’, Burundi is covered by mountains and bush and is bordered by Lake Tanganyika. See also: http://www.greatlakesoutreach.org/burundi-page
IS sources of cash
Weapons, vehicles, employee salaries, propaganda videos, international travel - all cost money. IS's methods of financing are difficult to shut down. Terrorists use their control over a territory the size of the UK to develop revenue channels. The oil fields captured in Syria and Iraq fund the group through a black market oil trade flourishing along the porous borders of IS-controlled land. It is believed some traders have even sold oil from terrorists back to Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Because terrorists control an expansive territory, they can levy taxes on the people living there. Some of these taxes are more like extortion. The group is heavily diversified: if one funding source is shut down, they turn to others to generate revenue. A steady flow of money to IS from rich individuals in the Gulf continues, with Qataris the biggest suppliers. See http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/whos-funding-isis-wealthy-gulf-angel-investors-officials-say-n208006
USA: Christians are tired of being called the bad guys
Powerful advocates are trying to write protections into the law for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Those advocates are battling against conservative Christians who are staunch in their beliefs of right and wrong; they wonder why anyone would deny others their rights. But some Christians say they’re tired of being made into the bad guys. They’re tired of being called the bigots and haters. They feel that the bigotry, hatred and discrimination is actually against them and they are being bullied, as the cultural tide seems to be moving away from hard-and-fast biblical prohibitions. They believe the government is abandoning them. Once at the core of American politics, some evangelical Christians feel increasingly relegated to the fringe, betrayed by their own conservative lawmakers as their cultural dominance is usurped by a smaller group wielding the heft of the media and corporations.
Northern Ireland: gay marriage ban challenged
A legal challenge to Northern Ireland's ban on gay marriage opened on Thursday. The landmark challenge has been launched by two couples - Grainne Close and Shannon Sickles, and Chris and Henry Flanagan-Kanem. They have been granted permission for a judicial review of the Stormont Assembly's repeated refusal to legislate for same-sex marriage. They were the first and second couples, respectively, to enter into a civil partnership in the UK after Northern Ireland made that option available in late 2005. Northern Ireland is now the only part of the British Isles which does not allow gay marriage, following the Republic of Ireland’s ‘yes’ vote in May.
Archbishop of York begins walking pilgrimage
Dr John Sentamu began a six-month walking pilgrimage of his deaneries in the north-east of England on Tuesday with morning prayers at St Mary's Church in Whitby, which hosted the Whitby Synod in AD 664, uniting Roman and Celtic branches of Christianity. He will spend six days in each of his 21 deaneries, walking ‘considerable distances’ between them. He said, ‘My prayers have led me to this pilgrimage. St Paulinus, St Aidan, St Cuthbert and St Hilda of Whitby in their time shared the good news of Jesus Christ with the people of the North. Praying for those who come to know Christ is a great privilege and a joy. During this pilgrimage, I would like to encourage everyone I meet to commit themselves afresh to try praying, be open to encountering Jesus Christ, pray for a mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and receive the gift of the joy provided by Jesus Christ - and be thankful.’
Compulsory sex education in schools
Campaigners are again pushing for sex and relationships education (SRE) to be made compulsory in all English schools. Currently local authority-maintained schools in England are obliged to teach SRE from age 11 upwards, and must have regard to the Government’s SRE guidance. Academies and free schools, the majority in secondary education in England, do not have to follow the National Curriculum and so are not under this obligation. But if they do decide to teach SRE, they must also have regard to the guidance. Parents are free to withdraw their children from SRE if they wish to do so. The only exceptions to this are the biological aspects of human growth and reproduction, which are essential elements of National Curriculum Science. But this could change if government-funded campaigners have their way. Private members’ bills have been tabled to introduce compulsory SRE. There have also been calls from across parties for the Government’s SRE guidance to be updated to equip teachers more effectively.
Northern Ireland: abortion law incompatible with human rights
This week, the Belfast High Court ruled that Northern Ireland’s abortion law is incompatible with human rights. By not allowing for exceptions where the child has a ‘fatal foetal abnormality’ (FFA), or where the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest, the current law breaches the European Convention on Human Rights. Under Northern Ireland’s existing legal framework, abortion is permitted when the mother’s life is endangered by the pregnancy. Earlier this year, the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission applied for a judicial review of the legislation. In his ruling on the case, the judge said that it was ‘illegitimate and disproportionate’ to ban abortion of unborn children with a FFA as they are ‘incapable of existence independent of the mother’s womb’. He also said that not allowing a victim of rape or incest to abort ‘completely ignores the personal circumstances of the mother’.
Woman loses court battle in gender abortion case
A woman has lost her legal challenge to bring charges against two doctors accused of agreeing to perform abortions based on the sex of unborn baby girls. Aisling Hubert, a pro-life campaigner from Brighton, accused the Director of Public Prosecutions of making ‘politically motivated’ rather than ‘legally based’ decisions. Sitting in London, Lord Justice Burnett and Mr Justice Irwin refused Ms Hubert permission to seek a judicial review; they will give their full reasons at a later date. The case centred on the actions of two doctors facing the first-ever private prosecution on gender abortion charges after an undercover newspaper investigation filmed them agreeing to arrange terminations because of the gender of the foetus. Ms Hubert now faces a legal bill of over £22,000. Her barrister said, ‘The desire to choose whether people have boys or girls is creating problems and raising important issues which should be addressed by the courts.’
Damascus comments on UK air strikes on Syria
Thursday’s Damascus newspapers criticised the West's engagement in Syria. ‘Britain didn't ask permission from Syria's government,’ declares the state news agency SANA. ‘Cameron told lies,’ it says. Syrian officials insist Britain and its allies must follow Russia's example and co-ordinate their campaign with Syrian government forces. If they don't, they warn, they simply won't succeed. The deadlock over President al-Assad's future role will continue to block the formation of a unified command against a common enemy. It will also stand in the way of Britain's pledge that it will now also focus on finding a negotiated way out of this war. Syrian activists and opposition groups feel bitterly let down that the West did not give them this kind of military support to help remove Assad. Many Syrians, exhausted by war, want to believe Britain's promise that it is stepping up the fight to ‘win the peace’ - as hard as that is.