A selection of the week's happenings to aid your prayers.

Society & Politics

• Labour leadership contender in abortion controversy: Rebecca Long-Bailey, professing Catholic and a front-runner in the race to replace Jeremy Corbyn, expressed her opinion that the abortion limit for disabled babies should be reduced to the general abortion limit of 24 weeks, which is not the official party line. Read more here. Also this week, other MPs have spoken out against the imposition of abortion liberalisation on Northern Ireland.
  
• Same-sex marriages legalised in N. Ireland: The Westminster vote in July 2019 in the absence of Stormont’s devolved government has come into effect this week, with same-sex marriages now legally recognised in Northern Ireland. Read more here. A consultation is due to take place later this year on the role of churches in the issue.
  
• Boris dismisses second Scottish referendum: The Prime Minister has rejected Nicola Sturgeon’s calls for a second referendum on Scottish independence, saying that the results of the 2014 vote must be respected. Read more here.
  
• Birmingham pastor convicted for gross child abuse: A self-styled prophet and his wife have both been convicted after it emerged that he raped several children repeatedly over two decades at their house ‘church’. Read more here.
  
• Sir Roger Scruton dies: The influential conservative thinker has died from cancer at the age of 75. Read more here.

Church Issues

• Welby hopes to ‘draw a line under’ sexuality dispute: The Archbishop of Canterbury has expressed hope that the upcoming 2020 Lambeth Conference will allow clergy to move on from division over sexuality to ‘bigger issues’, like climate change. Read more here.
  
• Abortionist honoured in cathedral: Leading abortion proponent Ann Furedi was awarded an honorary doctorate for her work from the University of Kent in a service in Canterbury Cathedral. Read more here and here.

World Scene

• 15 million more Christians at risk of persecution: Open Doors has published its 2020 ‘World Watch List’, saying that the global number of Christians facing high levels of persecution has now exceeded 300 million. Read more here. 123 MPs attended the cross-party Parliamentary launch of the World Watch List earlier this month. Read more here. Also this week, French President Macron has been meeting with several African heads of state to discuss the spread of Islamic extremism across the continent.
  
• Putin proposes constitutional re-write, cabinet resigns: After the Russian President announced his plans to radically overhaul the constitution to help him hold onto power, the Prime Minister and cabinet handed in their resignations, seemingly in support of the move. Read more here and here.

Israel & Middle East

• Iran nuclear deal dispute mechanism triggered: The UK, France and Germany have jointly triggered a dispute mechanism which, if not properly resolved, could mean the re-imposition of sanctions on Iran for violating the 2015 nuclear deal. Read more here and here. The IDF has warned that Iran could enrich enough uranium for a nuclear bomb by this spring, though it would take a further two years to weaponise. Read more here.

Events

• Children of the Holocaust Exhibition (N. Wales): 26-29 January, Deeside. An exhibition focusing on the 1.5 million children who perished in the Holocaust. The young victims’ stories will be told by children, with Stephanie McMahon Kaye (a retired Holocaust educator from Yad Vashem, Jerusalem) as guest speaker. Father’s House Sabbath Congregation, Shotton. For more information, call 01244 823378.
• Our Kids Are Being Taught What?! Part 2 (London): 22 February. The second in a series of conferences on sex, gender, relationships and young people, with a particular focus on how parents can respond to popular messages being levelled at children and teens. St Luke’s Church, Wimbledon Park, 10:30am-5:30pm. 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 recommend the following news services for regular updates from a Christian perspective: