• Rees-Mogg hits the headlines for upholding biblical views on marriage and abortion: The Tory MP for North-East Somerset, hailed by some as a possible successor to Theresa May as party leader, has nailed his colours to the mast, igniting fresh debate in the press. Read more here.
  
• Lidl apologises after removing crosses from packaging: The supermarket has caused controversy this week after digitally removing a cross visible on an image of a church featured on packaging of its Greek food line. Read more here.
  
• John Lewis children’s clothes go gender-neutral: The department store is facing a backlash over its decision to remove ‘boy’ and ‘girl’ labels from its children’s lines. Read more here.

Church Issues

• Number of British Anglicans collapses: In just two decades the number of Anglicans in Britain has halved, with more than half of Britons now describing themselves has having ‘no religion’. Read more here. However, a significant proportion of these non-religious Brits struggle with the idea of evolution – read more here.
• Open Doors reports church growth in North Korea: The charity’s contact in the closed country says “never before have I seen so many North Koreans come to faith as nowadays." Read more here.

World Scene

• Russian exercise to involve 100,000 troops? Germany has disputed Moscow’s official figure of 13,000 troops being sent to Belarus for a supposed training exercise (beginning 14 September), saying the real number is far higher. Read more here.
• Dramatic rise in Polish anti-Semitism: Polish Jews make up 10% of the country’s population, yet anti-Semitic attitudes are rapidly becoming the norm. Read the European Jewish Congress’s concerns here.
• Gender-neutral passports introduced in Canada: An ‘X’ option will now be offered alongside ‘M’ and ‘F’, thanks to Justin Trudeau’s government. Read more here.

Israel & Middle East

• Israel leads strike on Syrian weapons factory: Early yesterday morning, Israel carried out air strikes on strategic targets in Syria. Read more here. This came just hours after the UN confirmed Syria’s Assad used chemical weapons on his own citizens in April. Israel has long been warning of Iran-sponsored weapons facilities being developed in Syria and Lebanon - read more here.
  
• Palestinians receive four times as much aid as other refugees: A new report shows that the UN spends quadruple the amount per head on Palestinian refugees that it spends on Syrian, Iraqi and African refugees. Read more here.
  
• IDF drill upsets Hezbollah: The 10-day drill, involving tens of thousands of Israeli soldiers staging a mock war with Hezbollah, is Israel’s largest training exercise in 20 years. Read more here. Hezbollah officials have hit back with verbal threats.

Upcoming Events

• Feast of Tabernacles celebration (20-21 October): Emmanuel Centre, Westminster. Join Barry and Batya Segal and Vision for Israel for their annual Sukkot celebration. Click here for more information and to book tickets.

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)
• Family Watch International
• Barnabas Fund
• Kehila News (Israel)