Society & Politics

• Government drops plans to inspect Sunday Schools: In a welcome move, the Government has responded to a public consultation by shelving its plans to force church groups to register with Ofsted and so be subject to inspection. Read more here.
• Abortion safe zone agreed by Ealing Council: The council becomes the first in the UK to enforce a buffer zone around its abortion clinics, setting a dangerous precedent, though campaigners say they will not stop their peaceful vigils. Read more here.
• Howard Jacobson says ‘profound depression’ amongst UK Jews: The Jewish novelist has spoken out about the rise of anti-Semitism (including in the Labour Party), saying that he feels we are back in “that lightless swamp of medieval ignorance where the Jew...is the author of all humanity’s ills”. Read more here.
• Israeli Labor Party cuts ties with Corbyn: The Israeli opposition party has severed their relationship with the head of the UK Labour Party due to concerns about anti-Semitism. Read more here.

Church Issues

• Clergy call for CofE to lose equalities exemptions: A bishop and senior clergyman have called for the CofE to lose its legal exemption to refuse certain job candidates based on sexuality, gender identity and marital history. Read more here.
  
• ‘Multitudes’ in Egypt coming to Christ: A year on from the 2017 Palm Sunday bombings of Coptic Christians in Egypt, church leaders are rejoicing at the harvest they are witnessing for the Kingdom. Read more here.

World Scene

• Inside the White House Bible study group: A peek inside what may be the most top-level Bible study in the world, involving ten Cabinet members. Read more here.
• Terrible plight of Christians in Darfur: The Barnabas Fund has this week published news of the martyrdom of a pastor and his family in Sudan, highlighting the awful persecution faced by its believers. Their report is distressing. Read more here.

Israel & Middle East

• News agencies illustrate Israeli air strike with photos of chemical weapons victims: Multiple national and international news agencies erroneously illustrated reports on the Israeli strike on an Iranian military base using pictures of child victims of the Assad chemical weapons attack. Read more here.
  
• Iranian threats put Israel on high alert: Iran’s threats in the wake of an Israeli strike on one of its air bases in Syria have put the Israeli military on high alert and heightened tensions along the northern border. Read more here.
  
• 80% Gaza border deaths so far are terrorists: The IDF has announced that 26 of the 32 Palestinians killed so far in the Gaza border protests were known terrorist operatives or expressed terrorist loyalties, showing the accuracy with which the IDF has responded to the clashes. Read more here.

Upcoming Events

• Moedim evening (London): Friday 20 April, All Soul’s Clubhouse; 6:30-9:30pm. An evening to introduce Christians to the Hebraic mindset, with Richard Teideman and Steve Maltz. Free entry. Click here to find out more.
• March for Life (London): Saturday 5 May, departing Connaught Rooms, London, 1:30pm. Join the annual pro-life march, the theme of which for 2018 is 'Every Life Deserves Love'. Find out more about the march and associated events through the day by clicking here.
  
• Israel 70: Celebration of Land and Life (Central London): Wednesday 9 May, Central Hall, Westminster, 7pm. Hosted by Tim Vince, friends including Gordon Pettie, Tunji Adebayo, Jacob Vince, Canon Andrew White. Tickets £12, click here to book.
  
• Celebrating Israel’s 70^th (Central London): Saturday 12 May, Emmanuel Centre. Praise and worship, prayer and teaching, hosted by Vision for Israel. Find out more and book tickets here.

Recommended Sources

At Prophecy Today UK we are aware that the world is moving very quickly and it is difficult to keep up with all the latest developments – especially when the material circulated by our mainstream media is increasingly far from reality and definitely not devoted to a biblical perspective!

Though we are not a news service, we want to help keep you informed by passing on updates and reports as we are led. This will be a selective, not an exhaustive, round-up, which we hope will be helpful for your prayers. Click here to browse our News archive.

We also recommend the following news services for regular updates from a Christian perspective:

• Christian Concern (UK)
• Christian Institute (UK)
• JNN News (Barry and Batya Segal, Israel)
• Worthy News (Israel)
• Family Watch International
• Barnabas Fund
• Kehila News (Israel)