Church Issues

• Bradford church-mosque ‘twinning’ scheme praised: The leaders of 16 places of worship in the city, representing several different religions, have received praise from the Lord Mayor for their growing co-operation and agreement to honour one another’s beliefs. Read more here.

World Scene

• Californian Jewish woman murdered while protecting rabbi: A 60-year-old Jewish lady was shot dead last weekend and several others were injured in a synagogue shooting in San Diego. The lady reportedly died shielding the rabbi. The 19-year-old attacker is in custody. Read more here and here. Researchers have found that violent attacks against Jews spiked significantly last year, particularly in Europe and the US. Read more here and here. Also this week, Israel came to a standstill to remember Holocaust victims, while 10,000 joined the March of the Living at Auschwitz.
  
• NYT anti-Semitic cartoons condemned: Following the publication of two New York Times cartoons of Israeli PM Netanyahu, both with anti-Semitic overtones, a furore has broken out over the paper’s apparent ‘numbness’ to anti-Semitism. Read more here and here. The Israeli Ambassador to the United States has condemned the paper as a “cesspool of hostility to Israel”. Read more here.
  
• Alabama approves abortion ban: The Alabama House this week approved a bill 74-3 outlawing abortion in most cases. The bill will likely get struck down in subsequent court hearings, but represents an ongoing pro-life attempt to reach the Supreme Court and overturn the 1973 Roe vs. Wade ruling that legalised abortion nation-wide. Read more here.
  
• Christians shot dead in Burkina Faso: A pastor and five of his congregants lost their lives to Islamic militants, last Sunday, 28 April. The attackers rounded up the group in their own church courtyard and murdered them in cold blood when they refused to convert to Islam. Read more here.
  
• Tropical cyclones hit Africa and Asia: Barely a month after Cyclone Idai killed more than 900 people in the region, Mozambique has been further devastated by Cyclone Kenneth. Read more here. Also this week, a million people were moved into storm shelters in India in anticipation of Cyclone Fani, with Bangladesh ordering a further 2.1 million evacuations. Read more here.

Israel & Middle East

• Saudis offer Palestinians $10bn to accept Trump peace plan: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s offer of $1bn a year for 10 years was turned down by PA President Mahmoud Abbas, who described the condition as personal political suicide. Read more here. Facing impending financial collapse, Abbas has been seeking international funding, though has rejected an offer from the EU. Read more here.

Events

• March for Life UK (Central London): Saturday 11 May, 2pm, starting outside Westminster Church House. Click here for more information about the march, pre-march events, tickets and transport.
• 'Legislating Morality' lecture (Central London): Monday 13 May, 6-7:30pm, at Christian Concern, Marylebone. Join Christian Concern for the first in a new series of lectures on 'Gospel issues in today's society'. Tim Dieppe opens the series. Click here for more information, future dates and to book tickets (£5).
• JustOne Belfast: Saturday 2 June, CS Lewis Square, Belfast. Bring friends to hear the Gospel preached at this one-day event. Find out more on the JustOne website.
• Wilberforce Academy 2019 (Oxford): 9-14 September. Applications are open until 7 May for Christian Concern's flagship young leaders' conference. Click here to find out more.