Society and Politics

• Christian MP is new Government envoy for freedom of religion. The Christian MP, Fiona Bruce has been appointed by the Prime Minister as the UK Government’s new special envoy for freedom of religion or belief. The role, which is now a permanent one, shows the Prime Minister is ‘resolute in his commitment to freedom of religion or belief”, a government minister stated. Ms Bruce described the opportunity to serve as the Prime Minister’s special envoy as an honour, adding that her post would place her “at the service of some of the most vulnerable people across the world”. Christian agencies have warmly welcomed the appointment. Read more here.
• Shock and disappointment over 'Grooming gang' report. A much-anticipated Home Office report has concluded that there is no credible evidence that any one ethnic group is over-represented in cases of child sexual exploitation in Britain. The two-year study states rather that “research has found that group-based offenders are most commonly White”. This completely contradicts numerous former claims, based on horrific and widely reported crimes committed in places such as Rochdale, Oxford and Telford, that up to 84% of grooming gang offenders were Asian. In October 2018 Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, said “It is a statement of fact that most of the men in recent high profile gang convictions have had Pakistani heritage.” Christian human rights agencies, deeply disappointed with the Report, state that the religious affiliation of perpetrators does not even appear to have been considered, let alone investigated. ‘The Spectator’ called the Report “an exercise in self-deception via the turning of blind eyes”. Just last week, 32 men from West Yorkshire were charged with more than 150 child sex offences against eight teenage girls as young as 13. "A quick scan of the names looks … like 31 of 32 are Muslim names", observed Tim Dieppe of Christian Concern.
• Britain has become ‘kinder’ during 2020, study reveals. A recently-conducted Christian Aid poll shows that the UK public has been showing more kindness to one another as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. There has been a significant increase in the number of people who are reaching out to strangers and offering help to those in need. The poll found that 25 per cent were writing more notes to people they don’t see often, and a similar percentage are saying hello to strangers in the street more than they did before. In addition, the poll found that people have more compassion for what is going on overseas, 18 to 24-year-olds showing the highest percentage of increased concern. Read more here.

World Events

• Little-reported atrocities continue in the Nagorno-Karabakh. Unnoticed by the world – as, infamously, was the Armenian genocide of a century ago – acts of inhumanity against the Armenian people appear to continue. Graphic video footage shows 11 Armenian prisoners of war being killed by their Azerbaijani captors in ongoing fighting over the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Armenia / Azerbaijan. Additionally, more than 70 Armenian soldiers were recently captured by the Azeri army, which had thousands of Syrian Jihadist mercenaries among its militants. Such incidents come amidst allegations of Azerbaijani war crimes committed during that fighting, including the beheading of two elderly men and attacks on a Cathedral in the town of Shushi. The beautiful medieval Armenian monastery complex Dadivank in Nagorno-Karabakh also fell under the control of Muslim-majority Azerbaijan. A Russian-brokered ceasefire agreement, signed in November, had led to an abatement in the conflict, but this appears to have been broken. The agreement requires Armenia to cede large areas of the Nagorno-Karabakh region previously under its control - and including areas with gold deposits - to Azerbaijan.

Israel and the Middle East

• Israeli medics challenge gross over-reaction to Covid. More than 100 doctors have signed a petition against new lockdown restrictions in Israel as a response to curtailing covid-19. They spoke against "the slippery and dangerous slope of violating rights and taking away liberties that the State of Israel is galloping towards". The doctors state that coercive measures were "in conflict with the ethical foundations of medicine, and a devastating violation of basic civil rights…. As far as coronavirus is concerned, coercive measures have nothing to do with the medical profession. The basis for taking them is not medical.” The medics reject the notion that drastic measures are needed to protect hospitals from being unable to cope with the numbers of patients requiring hospitalization: “With proper preparations, the coronavirus cannot bring down the healthcare system in Israel,” they said. There have been just over 3,000 Covid-related deaths in Israel in total, out of a population of nearly 9 million people. Read more here.
• Ritual bath from Jesus' time uncovered in Israel. A ritual bath dating to the time of Jesus has been unearthed at Gethsemane, the place where Jesus prayed just before his crucifixion. The 2,000-year-old bath was found near the site of the famous modern-day Church of All Nations. It marks the first time that Second Temple period remains have been found at the site. Excavators also found the remains of a previously unknown Byzantine period church dating back 1,500 years. The discovery of the ritual bath may even hint at the origin of the place's ancient name, Gethsemane ('Gat Shemanim', oil press). Read more here