Donald Trump's Re-election

• Trump exerts authority with slew of executive orders. Despite having omitted to place his hand on the Bible when taking his oath of office as 47th as President of the United States, in his inauguration speech Donald Trump declared his second term with a divine mandate, repeating that God had saved him from last year’s assassination attempt so that he could “make America great again” and pledging that his administration “will not forget our God.” Executive orders on the first day of a new Presidency are historically rare, but Trump sensationally signed scores of such orders. Some of the most radical and controversial include:
      • Lifting US sanctions imposed by Joe Biden on Jewish ‘settlers’ in the Israeli-occupied West Bank;
      • Leaving the World Health Organization (for which he's already been been threatened with a lawsuit). Read also;
      • Withdrawing the US from pro-abortion Paris Climate Agreement (read also here);
      • Creating a policy recognising only two genders (which, among other things will ban men from women’s prisons, and remove gender-confused troops from the US military). Read also;
      • Promising to reinstate military members who objected to Covid vaccinations, with full back pay;
      • Severing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies in the federal government by laying off all DEI employees immediately (read also);
      • Declaring an emergency at the southern US border with Mexico, Other immigration-related policies include ending birthright citizenship by targeting automatic citizenship for US-born children of immigrants in the country illegally (read also);
      • Rescinding 78 Biden-era executive actions, including at least a dozen measures supporting racial equity and combating discrimination against gay and transgender people;
      • Issuing pardons and commutations for as many as 1,500 offenders related to the January 6 attack on the Capitol, including rioters who violently attacked police officers.

Israel – Hamas Ceasefire

• Hamas still in control of Gaza. In exchange for 3 Israeli hostages, Israel has already released 90 Palestinian terrorist prisoners (69 women and 21 teenage boys) and has agreed to release 1,800+ more as part of the ceasefire agreement with Hamas. The Palestinian Authority claims the deal shows that hostage-taking truly works – and will be a precedent for future conflict with their enemies. Israeli media are stating that despite much of Gaza lying in absolute ruins, Hamas – which does not accept Israel's existence – is emerging “to show that it never lost control of most of the area despite fifteen months of war.” As Spiked columnist Tim Black put it, "The greatest trick these vicious Islamists ever pulled was convincing the world they didn't exist." Hamas is also striking hard against looters, including armed gangs, shooting those caught stealing flour or bread and torturing others in prison.
• Palestinian prisoners to be freed. While a number of those Palestinians due for release have been held on remand without charge, some are also serving multiple life sentences for murders or terror attacks. Mahmoud AbbasOne is Mahmud Abu Warda, who is serving 48 life sentences for plotting multiple terror attacks, including in Jerusalem 1996, when 45 Israelis were killed in two bus bombings. Also, Ahmed Barghouti, who was sentenced to 13 life sentences for his role in terror attacks in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem that claimed the lives of six people including a police officer. PA leader Mahmoud Abbas has called the terrorist prisoners "heroic" role models – “a model of nobility, honour and purity. They are the most noble among us all".
• Unpopularity of Hamas in Gaza. Thousands of Hamas-run police in uniform re-emerged in Gaza following the ceasefire deal, making their presence known even in the most heavily destroyed areas. Hamas apparently recruited and trained thousands of fighters during the 15-month Gaza war, possibly as many as they have lost in Israeli attacks. Yet pre-ceasefire opinion polls consistently show that well less than half of Palestinians support Hamas. One European aid worker in Gaza said, “I have yet to come across any adult who openly supports Hamas or claims it can bring a solution.” A recent survey indicates that just 16% of Gazans would vote for Hamas if elections for a Palestinian parliament were called.

Society and Politics

• Ongoing controversy over assisted suicide Bill. A Committee formed to scrutinise Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide proposals has met for the first time this week. The Bill intends to allow those in England and Wales Kim Leadbeaterdeemed to be terminally ill and with less than six months to live to receive help to kill themselves. But newly-released official figures have revealed that terminally ill patients given six months to live often survive for three years, fuelling fresh concern over the Bill. A number of doctors are preparing to speak out against it, while some have noted that the Bill Committee does not fairly represent a range of views on assisted suicide, as promised – being unfairly weighted 14-9 in favour of those in support, including the 2 government ministers representing palliative care and the courts. Worse, only 3 of the ‘Against’ MPs have more than 6 months experience in Parliament, and 5 had never made public statements in opposition to assisted suicide before November. Read also here, and this fascinating testimony.
• Number of ‘wrong gender’ children surges 50-fold. Research suggests there has been a 50-fold rise in children who think they are the wrong gender in just 10 years. Analysis of GP records suggests there were 10,000 diagnoses of gender dysphoria in England in 2021 – up from fewer than 200 cases in 2011. The University of York study shows a sharp rise in the number of girls with such concerns, with twice as many cases as in boys. More than half of those with a gender dysphoria diagnosis had anxiety or depression or had self-harmed, the research published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood found.

Church Issues

• Death of Arthur Blessitt, the cross-carrying evangelist. US evangelist Arthur Blessitt, well-known for carrying a large cross across entire continents, has died at the age of 84. He was deeply influential during The Jesus People Movement of the late 60s when he began a coffee house ministry in Hollywood’s Sunset Strip. One day he felt led to take down the large wooden cross he had nailed to his coffee house, and start carrying it around the world in the hope of sparking conversations with strangers about the gospel. He took the call seriously, and during his lifetime he reportedly walked with his cross throughout virtually every sovereign nation on earth. He crossed seven continents and earned the Guinness World Record for the longest ever pilgrimage. He has shared the Gospel with politicians like George Bush, leaders like Yasser Arafat and musicians like Bob Dylan and Jannis Joplin, as well as countless thousands of ordinary folk. A friend and colleague called Arthur, “one of the most humble, kind, warm and inviting evangelists I have ever met.”

Antisemitism

• Australia in the grip of staunch anti-Semitism. Last Monday night, a Sydney childcare centre was firebombed and sprayed with anti-Semitic graffiti. Last weekend, two masked figures attempted (and failed) to burn down a synagogue in the suburb of Newtown. In December, a synagogue in Melbourne’s historic Jewish suburb was burnt to the ground. Last week, in eastern Sydney, two cars were set alight, many more were graffitied with anti-Semitic slogans, and the former home of a leader of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry was doused in red paint. These are only some recent major incidences of rising antisemitism in the country. There have also been myriad more ‘minor’ incidents. Australia’s Labour government has often taken a lenient approach to these appalling race offences. But Jewish Australians are more aware than ever – anti-Semitism now pervades their society.

World Events

• The most dangerous countries for Christians get more violent. The number of Christians subjected to violence worldwide increased in 2024, researchers have said, and among the 50 countries where persecution is most severe, 29 reported an increase in violence. While North Korea, Somalia, Yemen, Libya and Sudan are listed as within the ten most dangerous countries to be a Christian currently, the list of nations where violence against Christians is most severe is somewhat different – showing Nigeria, Pakistan, India, Myanmar and Sudan as the worst five, in order of severity.
• Attacks in India and Vietnam. As a recent example, a Christian woman in Jagdalpur, central India suffered a miscarriage, after tribal relatives who practise traditional religion beat and strangled her. And in Communist-run Vietnam, believers have been experiencing “severe persecution,” including being forced to flee their homes, and violent attacks on church services that killed a Christian leader and his wife and injured a pastor. Read more in this fascinating report.