• Education reshuffle: Justine Greening’s departure as Education Secretary may offer a ray of hope for concerned Christians (e.g. see here). However, the Government’s plans to ‘update’ sex and relationships education and make it compulsory look set to proceed. Have your say in the Government’s consultation, open until 12 February.
  
• New transgender guidelines for schools: New national guidelines coming out in March will suggest that schools should support children wanting to change gender and cross-dress, refer to them according to their chosen pronoun and not inform their parents. Read more here.
  
• Tim Farron regrets saying gay sex isn’t sinful: The former Lib Dem leader has spoken out, saying he shouldn’t have bowed to media pressure. Read more and watch the interview here.
  
• BBC ramps up multi-faith output, targets children first: In line with a promise to increase its religious broadcasting, the BBC has started with a CBeebies (children’s) programme called ‘Treasure Champs’, in which the characters explore stories from different world religions and promote values ‘common’ to them all. Read more here.
  
• Northern Ireland’s only abortion clinic shuts down: The Marie Stopes clinic in Belfast opened in 2012 and has been subjected to persistent prayer vigils ever since. Now abortions are only available via NHS hospitals. Read more here.

Church Issues

• Egyptian Christian: Don’t pray for persecution to stop: After a spike of attacks on Coptic Christians in Egypt continuing through the New Year, one brother has spoken out asking fellow believers to be careful with their prayers. Read more here.

World Scene

• Palestinians seek global acceptance: The Arab League is attempting to get official UN recognition of a Palestinian state, with its capital in East Jerusalem, as a latest phase in their backlash against Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Read more here.
  
• Pro-Israel activists charged in Vienna for waving Israeli flag: Three men face a fine or 2 days in prison for displaying an Israeli flag at a pro-Palestine rally in the Austrian capital, with police saying it was ‘provocative’ and ‘offensive’. Meanwhile, rally participants were calling for ‘death to Israel’ and for the massacre of Jews. Read more here.
  
• Charlie Hebdo anniversary provokes more attacks: A Jewish supermarket in Créteil, Paris has been burnt to the ground in a suspected arson attack on the 3rd anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo/Jewish supermarket shooting. The store had recently been defaced with swastikas. Read more here.

Israel & Middle East

• Trump to waiver Iran sanctions: The announcement delays a decision on the controversial nuclear deal, but the US may still withdraw if improvements aren’t made. Read more here. Meanwhile, Iran has been holding meetings with both Russian and EU diplomats to safeguard the deal.
  
• UNICEF tries to blacklist Israel as child rights violator: Watchdog NGO Monitor has exposed a scandalous attempt at the UN to slander the IDF as an abuser of children, while ignoring genuine crimes against children committed by Palestinian groups. Read more here.
  
• Israeli father of 6 killed in drive-by shooting: Rabbi Raziel Shevach, 35, was murdered in an unprovoked attack near the West Bank settlement of Havat Gilad on Tuesday. His death has provoked uproar in the Samarian community. He is survived by his wife, four daughters and two sons, the younger of which is just 8 months old. Read more here.

Upcoming Events

• The P Word Conference (Cardiff): 27 January 2018, 10:30am-4pm, Freedom Church, Cardiff. A practical Christian response to pornography for all leaders. In partnership with CARE. For more information and for tickets, visit pwordconference.com.
• Lobby Day for Israel (London): Wednesday 28 February 2018, 10:30am-5pm. Help make the case for Israel in Parliament this 70^th anniversary year. Click here to book. For more information, email 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..
• Foundations 9 (Cumbria): 19-23 March 2018, Grange-Over-Sands. Theme: 'Into the lion's den: reaching a world gone mad'. Steve Maltz's annual week-long Hebraic conference. £260 per person. Click here for more information and to book.