Islamisation through halal products
Christian Concern for our Nation asks, ‘Is the widespread availability of halal products an example of Islamic religious freedom? Or does halal have a deeper effect on society?’ Its new report shows how halal spreads through supply chains impacting laws and economics, and recommends how to deal with the deepening roots of sharia. The report states, ‘The aim of Islam is to create a supreme worldview, whereby all other laws come under Islamic law. Halal food markets, Islamic dress markets, sharia-compliant finance and banking, Islamic education, sharia courts.’ See also article 1 in the Europe section, on sharia law.
Facebook - suicide images - fake news
Matt Hancock, the UK health secretary, has called on social media giants to ‘purge’ material promoting self-harm and suicide, in the wake of links to teenager Molly Russell's suicide. They could be banned if they fail to comply. The 14-year-old took her life after viewing disturbing content about suicide on Instagram. Her father believed Instagram ‘helped kill my daughter’. Instagram owners, Facebook, said they were ‘deeply sorry’. The charity Papyrus, working to prevent youth suicide, had a spike in calls to their helpline after the BBC reported the link between suicide and social media. Meanwhile, Facebook removed 364 ‘fake’ pages (with 790,000 followers) for engaging in coordinated inauthentic behaviour as part of a network that originated in Russia. Facebook said the page administrators and account owners represented themselves as independent news pages or general interest pages, but all were linked to employees of Russian-owned Sputnik and the facts were false. See
Spring Harvest focuses on prayer
In 2019, its 40th anniversary, Spring Harvest’s theme is Unlimited: When You Pray. There will be many stands promoting prayer, and many talks and seminars to encourage people to grow in intercession. Musalaha, one of the exhibitors, will invite people to pray for its work. It is a non-profit organisation promoting reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds. Palestinian Christians will be present on all three sites: manning stalls, participating in seminars, and even appearing the main stage at two venues. Please pray for Musalaha and for all the prayer organisations exhibiting this year. Pray for arrangements to go smoothly, for people to be inspired and responsive, and for a wave of intercession to sweep across the nations. See
Spread of sharia law
In some European territories sharia law is applied, challenging human rights. Greek Muslims in Western Thrace use sharia judicial power to rule on disputes concerning inheritance. Muslims can choose between a mufti or Greek courts. In the UK, the ‘Islamic Sharia Council’ is an independent arbitration tribunal issuing private law decisions and able to grant Islamic divorces. These divorces may also be included in a civil procedure. There are believed to be some thirty sharia councils, affiliated to local mosques. In Russia’s Northern Caucasus: family and property matters are usually judged under sharia law under the guise of ‘tradition’. Women and girls are victims of violence and discriminatory practices such as early marriage, abduction for forced marriage, ‘honour’ killings, female genital mutilation and polygamy, despite the provisions of Russian federal law. In Turkey Muslim religious education is compulsory in schools. The government publicly favours a Muslim viewpoint, linking Turkish nationality with Sunni Islam.
Migrants needing Christ’s compassion
Millions are fleeing tyranny of war, famine, and heartache in the largest movement of people in modern history since WWII. For most, Europe offers the only hope of safety, and many risk the very real threat of death on their journeys. Often these people are seen as a problem, and while our enemy can use people to kill, steal, and destroy, God sees each one as a unique and loved creation. Christian mission agencies working in refugee camps and across Europe want to introduce each refugee to the God who loves them. Meanwhile many European countries are rejecting them, the latest being the Dutch government who refused to accept 47 refugees currently on a ship run by a humanitarian group who rescued them off the Libyan coast over a week ago. Since then it has been sailing through high winds and seven metre-high waves.
Nigeria: Boko Haram threat displaces 30,000
Fear of renewed attacks by Boko Haram is prompting the exodus of 30,000+ people from the town of Rann. UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch told reporters in Geneva on 29 January that the town's population ‘seems to be panicking; they are on the run as a pre-emptive measure to save their lives.’ Rann, near the border with Cameroon in northern Borno state, has already seen an exodus of 9,000 people to Cameroon after a Boko Haram attack on 14 January, killing 14 people. Baloch said that Cameroon had sent back the 9,000 refugees, and initially deployed troops as part of a multinational task force to protect the town, but that task force has now left. A recent upsurge in violence in northeastern Nigeria has driven more than 80,000 civilians to seek refuge in already crowded camps or in towns in Borno state, ‘where they are surviving in tough living conditions’. The hostilities have strained humanitarian operations there and forced aid workers to pull out from some locations.
What next for Venezuela?
With their country in turmoil, both Nicolás Maduro and Juan Guaidó claim to be president, and neither has any incentive to back down. Guaidó has huge popular support, and is backed by many western powers (including the EU), but has little control over the levers of power. Although Maduro is still backed by allies such as Russia, Turkey, and Cuba, he is under unprecedented international pressure. Military top brass still support him, but there have been defections by junior officers. If he is to survive, he will need to keep the army loyal, which means finding a way to keep the ordinary soldiers paid. Another solution - but not one that would benefit ordinary people - is a military coup, but that might well mean a return to kleptocracy, mismanagement and authoritarianism. In any case, a change at the top would not placate the opposition, now emboldened and set on restoring democracy. Maduro has nothing to gain and everything to lose from stepping down, as he would probably be called to account for his authoritarian rule. Guaidó has promised an amnesty for any members of the armed forces who ‘contribute to the reestablishment of democratic order’. Another possibility, even if very unlikely, would appear to be outright conflict with the USA. Donald Trump, who publicly supports Guaidó, has just imposed sanctions on the country’s state-owned oil company.
Gender-based violence against Christians
Afghanistan, Libya, North Korea, Pakistan, and Somalia are the five worst places for women to live, according to the 2019 World Watch List of ‘50 most difficult places to be a Christian’. The list reports that, in contexts which restrict women’s legal rights to equal representation, minority Christian communities are especially vulnerable to having their women and girls sexually attacked, forcibly married, subjected to domestic abuse, stripped of their inheritance, or even killed - all with impunity. Sexual violence is used as a means of power and control against Christian women. Discrimination based on stereotypical roles of men and women is one of the most widespread human rights violations worldwide. It can assume cruel forms and deprives many women and girls of their rights to life, freedom, and respect for human dignity. In Afghanistan, ‘women found to be married to new converts from Islam and sharing their husbands’ Christian faith, are punished by being raped. The same happens with children of converts who are at risk of child abuse.’
Brazil: dam collapse
On 25 January Brumadinho dam, at an iron ore mine in south-eastern Brazil, collapsed. This caused a sea of sludge to bury a workers’ cafeteria, homes, hotels, cars, buses, and a train. At the time of writing, the death toll is 99, with at least another 250 unaccounted for. 192 people were rescued alive. The chance of finding anyone alive now is minimal. Israeli engineers, doctors, and members of an underwater missions unit joined the search team. The Brazilian police arrested three employees of the giant mining company Vale, and two engineers working for a German company which inspected the dam last year. Many residents were evacuated as a safety measure. The first funerals were held on 27 January. Having a body to bury may be a twisted privilege, with hundreds of people buried and colossal challenges to find them. Greenpeace said it was ‘a sad consequence’ of lessons not learned by the government and mining companies.
North Korea: secret money
Lim II went to a construction site in Kuwait, where he worked day and night for five months, but was not paid. His salary was sent straight to Pyongyang. Over the years, an estimated 150,000 North Korean men and women have been recruited and sent abroad to work for the ruling Kim family. Toiling in factories and on construction sites around the world, they have generated billions of dollars for the pariah state. Reporters in a documentary met defectors who confirmed that the cash earned overseas was going directly to fund the development of the country’s nuclear missile programme. A former high-ranking official spoke of Office 39, which manages thousands of companies and factories overseas and provides half of the country's gross domestic product. ‘Our main goal was to make foreign cash, and this foreign cash business is a complete secret.’