Society & Politics

• ‘Islamic’ Bolton, Dewsbury and Blackburn like 'a different universe'. A Muslim author who made a personal investigation of mosques across Britain has shared many worrying insights. The former Islamic radical found that Islam in Britain is dominated by an ultra-orthodox sect promoted by the Deobandis, who control over half of Britain's mosques. He claims that certain areas of Blackburn are complete ‘no-go’ areas to whites; and that locals fear Bradford may become an “apartheid state” within 30 years. The author compared Muslim Dewsbury to “a different country and century”. Meanwhile, Didsbury mosque, once a beautiful large church, now houses a 'Sharia Department', which deals with divorces and marriages under Islamic, rather than UK law.
• Disabled patients not to be resuscitated by NHS during pandemic. Patients with mental illness and learning disabilities were given “do not resuscitate” orders during the pandemic, it has been discovered. On multiple occasions – as often as 20 times a month – medics decided that patients with these conditions should not be resuscitated if their heart stopped. MPs and campaigners have strongly condemned the practice, which goes against NHS guidelines.
• Major TV news rival for ‘woke’ BBC. A new British TV news channel will launch this Sunday evening, 13th June, the first big newcomer to TV current affairs since Sky News in 1989. GB News is seen as a major rival to the increasingly ‘politically correct’ media of the BBC, ITV and Channel 4. Compared to the Beeb’s 6,000 staff, GB will have a staff of just 150, including presenters such as political analyst Andrew Neil, former ITN newsreader Alastair Stewart, Mail-Online columnist Dan Wootton and Scottish historian Neil Oliver. GB News can be viewed at Freeview channel 236 (although you may need to retune your television to access it).
• Oxford professor sued by Museum of the Bible. A former Oxford University Classics professor was arrested last year for allegedly stealing ancient bible fragments from the Sackler Library at Oxford University. He is now facing a £5 million lawsuit for selling the 13 priceless fragments to the Museum of the Bible in Washington DC. The associate professor in papyrology and Greek literature has been released while police continue their investigation. “These are early fragments of the gospels or biblical fragments” noted a papyrus expert. “They are testament to Egypt's early Christian heritage and are early evidence of biblical scripture. We don't value them monetarily but they are priceless and irreplaceable”.
• ‘Unseaworthy Noah’s Ark detained at Ipswich. Coastguards have impounded a 230ft replica ark in Ipswich because it does not have the paperwork to prove it is seaworthy. The £2.6 million vessel was towed across the North Sea from the Netherlands, but now its owner, a Dutch TV and theatre producer, wants it returned to Holland. His negotiations with coastguard officials have reached a stalemate, meaning the large wooden vessel has been stuck for nearly 18 months on the waterfront of the docks in Ipswich. The floating museum is considered to be around half the size of the ark in the Bible, and is full of sculptures of biblical characters.

Church Events

• The strong Christian faith of NI’s DUP leaders. Arlene Foster recently stepped down as both N. Ireland’s First Minister and leader of the Democratic Unionist Party. Foster is a committed Christian, as are most DUP leaders. She is being replaced by Paul Givan as First Minister, and by Edwin Poots as leader of the DUP. Both men are staunch evangelicals; Girvan recently testified, "My faith determines my values; it's intrinsic to who I am”. Edwin Poots has long been criticised for his “creationist, anti-gay views”, but was strongly defended by Ian Paisley, MP, who recently attacked the BBC for mocking his Christian values. Watch the remarkable 1-min video clip here.

World News

• Covid tragedy for Church in India & Nepal. International relief charity, Barnabas Fund claims that Christian leaders in India and Nepal are dying of Covid-19 at such a rate (over 2,000 so far) that scores of Christian ministries are in danger of closing because there is no one to lead them. Black fungus now poses an additional deadly threat in India. Both India and Nepal are said to have lost many of their church leaders to the pandemic, leaving their sick, frightened and hungry congregations without pastoral care. In addition, at least 40 ministries in India are in danger of closing down, simply because their leaders have died and there is no one able to replace them.
• Chinese Christians in no-man’s land. 60 members of a Chinese house church, considered illegal in China, fled persecution to South Korea in 2019. Since that time the group – which includes 30 children – has been living in a small rented house on an island to the south of the country, struggling to earn a living. Not only do they have little hope of returning to their homeland, but also little chance of getting asylum in S. Korea. Last year, South Korea reviewed about 12,000 refugee applications, but only 0.4% of them got approved.

Israel & The Middle East

• Forest fire threatens messianic village in Israel. The Messianic Jewish village of Yad Hashmonah was threatened by a major forest fire just west of Jerusalem on Wednesday. Residents of several communities had to be evacuated as dozens of teams of firefighters and at least 10 firefighting aircraft battled the blaze. Days earlier, a wildfire threatened the town of Tzur Hadassah just south of Jerusalem, as did another yesterday (Thurs) near the religious Jewish settlement of Beitar Ilit. Authorities increasingly suspect that the fires are deliberate acts of terrorism against the Jewish state.
• UN finds Hamas tunnel beneath Gaza school. The United Nations has admitted that Hamas appears to have placed one of its tunnels under a UN-operated school in Gaza. The “cavity and a possible tunnel”, located 7.5 metres below the Gaza school, is further evidence that Hamas uses Palestinian children as human shields. “Hamas doesn’t care about protecting its civilians, it only cares about killing Israel’s”, former US Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley claimed.
• Sharp drop in support for Israel among young US Christians. A recent Barna poll found that support for Israel among younger evangelical Christians is falling. Since 2018, backing for Israel dropped from 75% to 34% among evangelicals aged 18-29. Asked where they place their support in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, 34% said with Israel, 24% said the Palestinians and 42% said neither side. 45% of respondents support the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, 35% said they are neutral on the issue, and only 20% oppose the idea. The same poll found that while 12% of young evangelicals say they hear about the importance of Israel every week, 65% say they seldom or never do. Younger evangelicals are thought to be significantly influenced by the anti-Israel stance of colleges and universities.