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

Society & Politics

• Supreme Court refuses pro-life appeal: A mum from Ealing protesting a ban on prayer near Ealing’s abortion clinic has had her appeal turned down by the UK Supreme Court. She may pursue her case to the European Court of Human Rights. Read more here. Also this week, the EHCR has refused to hear the case of two Swedish midwives who are being prevented from working because they refuse to perform abortions.
  
• Gender-neutral passports case fails: A woman claiming to be without gender has lost her case at the Court of Appeal to force the Government to introduce gender-neutral passports. Read more here.
  
• BBC promotes breast-binding: In a programme aimed at young people, the BBC openly supported the decision of a teenage girl to use breast-binders and referred viewers to gender clinics and pro-trans activist groups for advice on the issue. Read more here.

Church Issues

• Christian charity calls for believers to unite with secular feminists: Christian Aid has called for people of faith to come together with feminist activists in the fight for gender equality. Its report claims that faith leaders must recognise the way religion has contributed to ‘toxic masculinity’ around the world. Read more here.

World Scene

• Disney’s first movie with gay character flops: The poor performance of ‘Onward’ at the box office is thought to stem from boycotts and petitions protesting Disney’s open promotion of homosexuality, and not the coronavirus outbreak. Read more here.
  
• Biden establishes clear lead over Sanders: Presidential hopeful Joe Biden won five out of six primaries this week, pulling ahead of Bernie Sanders. Read more here. There are 27 primaries yet to go in the race for the Democratic nomination.
  
• UN religious freedom ‘expert’ proposes reinterpreting religion: The special rapporteur argued that in order to protect the freedoms of all (including LGBTQ+ people), traditional interpretations of some religions might need to be curtailed and ‘progressive’ re-interpretations promoted. Read more here. Also this week, a Pew survey shows that Europeans are more likely to care about free internet than freedom of religion. Read more here.
  
• ISIS out of control in Africa: A US General has warned that national and international efforts to curb the spread of Islamic extremism in Africa are failing, and that a new caliphate may soon be established in the continent. Read more here.

Israel & Middle East

• Common enemy to unite Israel’s political foes? Israeli President Reuven Rivlin is expected to ask incumbent PM Netanyahu and his rival Benny Gantz to form a unity government this weekend, as calls grow for an emergency government to fight the coronavirus outbreak. Read more here.
  
• Syrian civil war enters tenth year: With no end to the conflict in sight, read the Times of Israel’s summary of the last nine years here.
  
• Coronavirus hits Iran badly: Iran has the third highest number of cases globally, after China and South Korea, but a lack of action from its leaders is prompting speculation that the virus is being allowed to spread deliberately. Read more here. The future of the regime may be at stake as the pressure of the outbreak is worsened by a sharp decline in oil prices, on top of existing sanctions. Read more here. One outcome of the crisis is expected to be the release of tens of thousands of Iranian prisoners, possibly including persecuted Christians. Read more 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: