North Korea: 80 executed
North Korea has executed 80 people by firing squad for minor misdemeanours, the South Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo reported. The wrongdoings include watching television programmes from South Korea or possessing a Bible. The article says the coordinated executions were held in seven cities earlier in November. In Wonsan the local government gathered up 10,000 people, including children, and forced them to watch people tied to stakes being machine gunned to death. Relatives and friends of the victims were also reportedly sent to prison camps. They were executed in Wonsan, Chongjin, Sariwon and Pyongsong, but none in Pyongyang, the capital. Most were charged with watching or illegally trafficking South Korean videos, prostitution, or possessing a Bible. Simultaneous executions across the country could suggest an extreme measure by Mr Kim’s regime to quell public unrest. The common theme of the persecution was crimes related to South Korea or corruption of public morals.
Pray: for democracy to reach the most undemocratic and totalitarian state in existence. Pray for justice where the world's worst human rights crimes are committed. (2Thes.2:8)
More: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/nov/12/80-people-publicly-executed-across-n-korea-films-b/
Warsaw prepares to host fresh global climate talks
Delegates from almost 200 nations will begin talks in the Polish capital, Warsaw, on Monday to prepare for a global summit on a UN climate pact. The search for new targets on emissions cuts promises to be a hotly debated issue with many developed nations eager to set a more cautious tone, but some environmental campaigners say tough action is still needed. The biggest greenhouse gas emitters China and the United States have pledged to curb carbon, but on a modest scale. In Europe, recession and green energy use mean the EU has already nearly met its 2020 target of a 20 percent cut in comparison with 1990 in greenhouse gas emissions, which include carbon and methane. Goals for 2020 agreed by EU leaders in 2007 became an international benchmark for climate ambition.
Pray: that the focus on climate change would lead to further steps to implement further reductions.
More: http://www.euronews.com/2013/11/10/warsaw-prepares-to-host-fresh-global-climate-talks/
Warsaw prepares to host fresh global climate talks
Delegates from almost 200 nations will begin talks in the Polish capital, Warsaw, on Monday to prepare for a global summit on a UN climate pact. The search for new targets on emissions cuts promises to be a hotly debated issue with many developed nations eager to set a more cautious tone, but some environmental campaigners say tough action is still needed. The biggest greenhouse gas emitters China and the United States have pledged to curb carbon, but on a modest scale. In Europe, recession and green energy use mean the EU has already nearly met its 2020 target of a 20 percent cut in comparison with 1990 in greenhouse gas emissions, which include carbon and methane. Goals for 2020 agreed by EU leaders in 2007 became an international benchmark for climate ambition.
Pray: that the focus on climate change would lead to further steps to implement further reductions.
More: http://www.euronews.com/2013/11/10/warsaw-prepares-to-host-fresh-global-climate-talks/
Prisons Week: A call to community
hristians across the UK are being invited to pray for prisoners during 'Prisons Week' from 17 to 23 November. The campaign, which has been running since 1975 and uses the tagline 'Stand in the Light', aims to bring attention to the issues surrounding imprisonment. With a committee made up of representatives from various Christian denominations and organisations supporting prisons ministry, it encourages churches and congregations to get involved with schemes run in their local prisons, challenging people to say ‘I'm in’. This campaign comes as recent figures released by the Ministry of Justice reveal that 200,000 children were affected by the imprisonment of a parent in 2009, which is a greater number than experienced their parents' divorce. 85,000 people are currently in custody in England and Wales, and re-offending rates are high. Organisers behind Prisons Week contend that the social impact of crime and imprisonment means that the future of a generation is at risk, and action must be taken.
Pray: for all those who are imprisoned: and for their families, especially the children. Pray for those reaching out with support and encouragement. (Rom.12:8)
More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/prisons.week.a.call.to.community/34649.htm
British Armed Forces in Afghanistan
The penultimate British force has arrived in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan. These troops were once in more than 130 bases, but this is now down to five, and will reduce still further. They now rarely patrol and the formation of the brigade has changed too. They have enough armour and infantry to protect them from Taliban attacks, but a large part of the force is made up of engineers and logisticians engaged in packing what they can to take back to UK and disposing of what they cannot. Many of the troops now arriving in Helmand will stay for nine months, but some will leave earlier as the force rapidly scales back. Please pray for the families who are facing a long nine month separation from their loved ones, and especially for the children who are fearful of Daddy being away.
Pray: that the draw down will be peaceful and safe. Please pray against attacks from the Taliban which might hinder this process. (Ps.140:4)
Plans to outlaw Christian street preachers
This Government is fast becoming the most authoritarian threat to our liberties of the modern era. The Home Secretary Theresa May is intent on outlawing anything that people may find 'annoying'. John Bingham writes in the Telegraph - Christian preachers, buskers and peaceful protesters could effectively be driven off the streets under draconian new powers designed to clamp down on anyone deemed ‘annoying’, according to a former Director of Public Prosecutions. Lord Macdonald QC said Theresa May, the Home Secretary’s plans for a new civil injunctions to replace Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (Asbos) amount to ‘gross state interference’ with people’s private lives and basic freedoms. The proposed safeguards to prevent abuse of the new system are ‘shockingly’ weak, he writes. Under proposals currently before Parliament, Asbos are to be scrapped and replaced with wide-ranging new orders known as Ipnas (Injunctions to Prevent Nuisance and Annoyance). The draft bill was first read in February this year, and was less threatening to Christian values, see: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmhaff/836/83605.htm
Pray: that the bill in its present format will not be enacted. (Ps.103:6)
More: http://archbishop-cranmer.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/theresa-may-seeks-to-outlaw-christian.html
'Mother ship' traffickers arrested off Libya
The Italian navy has arrested 16 human traffickers aboard a so-called ‘mother ship’ in international waters off Libya. The ship was located some 500 kilometres southeast of Sicily, near Libya, the Navy said on Sunday. Submarine surveillance ahead of Saturday's raid was ‘of particular importance, notably for gathering proof’ against the traffickers, the Navy said in a statement. The fishing boat served as a staging area from which the traffickers dispatched their clients - Syrian migrants seeking asylum or a better life - aboard smaller, often rickety vessels to destinations in southern Europe. The boat had been under surveillance, including by drones, hi-tech radars, night-vision equipment and the submarine, under stepped-up operations launched after two shipwrecks last month claimed some 500 lives.
Praise: God for the success of the Italian Navy in bringing these traffickers to justice. (Pr.21:15)
'Mother ship' traffickers arrested off Libya
The Italian navy has arrested 16 human traffickers aboard a so-called ‘mother ship’ in international waters off Libya. The ship was located some 500 kilometres southeast of Sicily, near Libya, the Navy said on Sunday. Submarine surveillance ahead of Saturday's raid was ‘of particular importance, notably for gathering proof’ against the traffickers, the Navy said in a statement. The fishing boat served as a staging area from which the traffickers dispatched their clients - Syrian migrants seeking asylum or a better life - aboard smaller, often rickety vessels to destinations in southern Europe. The boat had been under surveillance, including by drones, hi-tech radars, night-vision equipment and the submarine, under stepped-up operations launched after two shipwrecks last month claimed some 500 lives.
Praise: God for the success of the Italian Navy in bringing these traffickers to justice. (Pr.21:15)
Somebody Cares for Malawi
Theresa Malila began her ministry with nothing more than a small jar of oil. She would walk to communities on the outskirts of Lilongwe and began to pray for those who were critically ill. Today she is the founder and executive director of Somebody Cares, a charity that ministers to women and girls among the poorest of the poor in 22 slum zones in Malawi, covering a population of 450.000 people. She is affiliated with 1500 pastors, chiefs in 260 villages, and 550 volunteers. When asked what ingredient made all the difference in her work, she immediately replies: ‘It’s the Gospel. It’s transforming lives. There was a time when we had 15 patients dying every day of AIDS and other diseases. Today we have 3 per week. Once we smelled death and depression as we entered the slums, but today we smell life everywhere.’
Praise: God for the faith and efforts of Theresa that has blessed so many with life. (1Sam.26:25)
Somebody Cares for Malawi
Theresa Malila began her ministry with nothing more than a small jar of oil. She would walk to communities on the outskirts of Lilongwe and began to pray for those who were critically ill. Today she is the founder and executive director of Somebody Cares, a charity that ministers to women and girls among the poorest of the poor in 22 slum zones in Malawi, covering a population of 450.000 people. She is affiliated with 1500 pastors, chiefs in 260 villages, and 550 volunteers. When asked what ingredient made all the difference in her work, she immediately replies: ‘It’s the Gospel. It’s transforming lives. There was a time when we had 15 patients dying every day of AIDS and other diseases. Today we have 3 per week. Once we smelled death and depression as we entered the slums, but today we smell life everywhere.’
Praise: God for the faith and efforts of Theresa that has blessed so many with life. (1Sam.26:25)