Christian leaders representing over 1 billion people from 170 nations have sent an open letter to heads of the G20, calling for urgent action on corruption and tax evasion, reports Micah Challenge International in a media statement released on 26 June. This historic anti-corruption initiative by the global Church comes at a decisive political moment as finance ministers meet in Australia ahead of the G20 summit in November. The letter was handed in to Australia’s Treasury as part of a lobbying event in Canberra that saw over 200 advocates meet with 100 MPs. Participants also gathered near Parliament shining symbolic giant lights on the darkness of corrupt deals. Australia holds the presidency of the G20 this year and plays a crucial role in setting the priorities for the meeting in Brisbane. The letter represents the hopes of millions around the world looking to Australia to take the lead on financial transparency.

Pakistani authorities prevented more than one thousand ‘persecuted’ Christians from fleeing Pakistan and hundreds of Christian asylum seekers have been detained in Sri Lanka, a well-informed source told BosNewsLife Sunday, June 29. ‘More than 1000 Pakistani Christians were illegally removed from their confirmed flights from Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore airports in recent months.' he added. ‘It was the first step to end this mass exodus’. Christian refugees who managed to arrive in Sri Lanka have reportedly been targeted as well. Local media reported that the Sri Lankan Immigration and Investigation police had started a joint operation against Pakistani Christian asylum seekers. They had reportedly detained hundreds of asylum seekers in recent weeks. The Christians were to be deported because of their alleged involvement in ‘anti-state activities’ in India and Pakistan.

Despite the Central Africa Republic (CAR)’s increasing level of chaos, a glimmer of hope has been developing in its northern town Bozoum - which is peaceful and prosperous thanks to mediation efforts. This town of about 26,000 inhabitants enjoys a relative calm which ensures the functioning of vital services such as the hospital, schools and market, thanks to mediation efforts of people of good will under the leadership of an Italian priest, Father Aurelio Gazzera, the bishop of St. Michael Parish of Bozoum. Since Seleka rebels took over power in March 2013, numerous armed men claiming to be from the Seleka rebels or opposing anti-Balaka militia have been looting and committing other forms of abuse against the population, in Bangui and elsewhere across the country.

Jihadist militant group ISIS has said it is establishing a caliphate, or Islamic state, on the territories it controls in Iraq and Syria. It also proclaimed the group's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, as caliph and ‘leader for Muslims everywhere’. Setting up a state governed under strict Islamic law has long been a goal of many jihadists. Meanwhile, Iraq's army continued an offensive to retake the northern city of Tikrit from the ISIS-led rebels. The city was seized by the insurgents on 11 June as they swept across large parts of north-western Iraq. In a separate development, Israel called for the creation of an independent Kurdish state in response to the gain made by the Sunni rebels in Iraq. The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) announced the establishment of the caliphate in an audio recording posted on the internet on Sunday.