Church Issues

• Police apologise to street preacher: A formal apology has been issued to open-air evangelist Dale McAlpine, after he was threatened with arrest and ordered to leave Bath City Centre. Police in Bath have been reprimanded. Read more here.
  
• Ashers Bakery judgment expected: The Supreme Court is expected to hand down a ruling on the notorious ‘gay cake’ case on the morning of Wednesday 10 October. Read more here.

World Scene

• Indonesian children at Bible camp killed by earthquake: The recent earthquake has claimed the lives of more than 80 children studying at a Bible camp. 35 bodies have been recovered and 52 are still unaccounted for. Read more here.
  
• Merkel refuses to toughen Iran policy: During a brief visit to Israel this week, the German Chancellor re-iterated her support for Israel’s safety and her abhorrence of anti-Semitism – but refused to budge on her commitment to helping Iran circumvent US sanctions. Read more here.
  
• Australian researchers repeat calls for ‘after-birth abortion’: Researchers from Monash and Melbourne University have argued that there is no ethical difference between a ‘foetus’ and a newborn baby, therefore arguments about abortion should, apparently, also be applied to newborns (i.e. infanticide). Read more here.

Israel & Middle East

• Lebanese residents warned ahead of time: Anonymous WhatsApp messages believed to be from Israel have been sent to thousands of Beirut citizens warning them that they are in close proximity to a secret Hezbollah missile factory deep in the city’s suburbs. Read more here.
  
• Russian delivery of S-300 to Syria causes concern: The surface-to-air missile defence system will make it more difficult for Israel to defend itself. Read more here.
• Bad week for UNRWA: On the side-lines of the recent UN General Assembly, UNRWA staff raised just $122 million to fill the funding gap left by the US’s withdrawal, far less than what the entity claims to need. Read more here. This week, UNRWA’s Gaza employees were harassed by Palestinians protesting staff cuts caused by the funding crisis. The Mayor of Jerusalem is moving to replace UNRWA-funded services in the city with services from the Israeli municipal authority by the end of the year. Read more here.

Upcoming Events

• Next Moedim (head of the month) meeting (London): Friday 12 October. 6:30-9:30pm, All Souls Clubhouse, London. Hebraic worship and teaching. Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information.
  
• Launch: International Federation for Therapeutic and Counselling Choice (London): Monday 15 October. Speakers from a range of professional bodies will respond to the UK Government’s recent ‘LGBT Action Plan’ and assault on ‘conversion therapy’. Booking essential - click here for more details.
  
• Christian Concern’s 10^th anniversary celebration (Central London): Saturday 20 October. 4-7pm, Emmanuel Centre, Westminster. Join Christian Concern staff and clients to celebrate a decade of ministry, learn about their work, rejoice in past victories and look to the future. Booking essential, though places are free. Click here for more details.
  

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)