Syria(b): UN seeks host countries for refugees
The United Nations is asking the United States and Europe to take in thousands of Syrian refugees. Since the beginning of Syria's civil war, more than 1.5 million Syrians have fled the country seeking refuge. UN officials think that number could reach 3.5 million by the end of the year. According to agency spokesman Adrian Edwards, the UN is seeking to relocate 10,000 refugees. On Tuesday Edwards told the Associated Press that ‘resettlement is only one of the tools we use and tends to apply to a very small number of highly vulnerable individuals of any refugee population.’ German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich said Germany has already agreed to take in half. Edwards says the United States and Germany usually offer the most help.
Pray: for all the administration and application associated with this initiative for the dispossessed vulnerable. (Job22:29)
More: http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/June/UN-Seeks-Host-Countries-for-Syrian-Refugees/
Turkey: Questions and answers
Q- Are the riots about trees or something else? A- Protesters are venting pent-up resentment against the Prime Minister. Many secular Turks see him as an authoritarian figure forcing his conservative religious Islamic views on them. He has spoken out against Caesarean births; said women should have at least three children and backed laws to curb the sale of alcohol. Q- Why should other nations care about Turkey? A- Turkey is a largely Muslim nation straddling Europe and Asia, it’s a stable democracy, a key US ally and an important regional influence accommodating tens of thousands of Syrian refugees. Q- Will Turkey see an Arab Spring revolution? A- Turkey holds a presidential election next year in which the current PM will be backed by rural conservative voters (the silent majority) However the daughter of Canadian missionaries in Turkey reported that the 240,000 people protesting against the government are mostly young people looking for change. See http://blog.godreports.com/2013/06/protests-spread-in-turkey-christian-ministry-calls-for-prayer/
Pray: the current situation would bring about a peaceful end to the ‘soft Islamization’ of Turkish society. (Ps.72:14)
More: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/turkey-widespread-protests-19376657#.Ubg-Wpwptr8
Pakistan: Christians abused
Christians are treated like animals and denied the dignity of human beings in Kasur district of Punjab province, a district where a recent rape of a 15 yr. old Christian went unpunished. The NGO Lead (Legal Evangelical Association Development) reports Muslims abusing, mocking, hitting and publicly humiliating Christian men and women, agricultural workers and pastors. Recently a minor encroachment of some flocks belonging to Christians led to Muslim men breaking into the Christian’s home hitting three women, stripping them and then forcing them to run naked through the streets, while they were ridiculed and harassed. The same humiliating treatment was given to two Christian elders when they reported the matter, followed by police raiding their homes and threatening them with a criminal case. The faithful turned to Rev Saleem Gill for help to register a formal complaint. Other Christian families reported abuse and ill-treatment by Muslim landowners, who are their employers. See also Prayer Alert. 17-2013
Pray: that the Christians' complaint will be upheld and the aggressors brought to justice, pray against the rise in physical, psychological and sexual abuse of Christian farmers and agricultural workers in NE Pakistan. (Ps.86:14-17)
USA: Prostitution, drugs alleged in State Department memo
Senior State Department and Diplomatic Security officials may have covered up or stopped investigations of inappropriate/criminal misconduct by staff according to an internal memo from the Office of the Inspector General. The timeline places incidents during former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's tenure. Sometimes the sources are one or more agents who became aware of cases from colleagues in ‘a shared environment.’ The documents provided by a lawyer for a whistle-blower who is a former senior inspector general investigator stated, ‘an active US ambassador routinely ditched his protective security detail in order to solicit sexual favorus from both prostitutes and minor children.’ A member of Clinton's security detail allegedly, ‘engaged prostitutes while on official trips in foreign countries’ and ’prostitution problem was endemic.’ Also In Iraq an ‘underground drug ring may have been supplying drugs to State Department security contractors, but an agent sent to investigate the allegations was prevented from completing the job’.
Pray: for suspected incidents of abuse or corruption to be investigated thoroughly. May all concealed episodes be revealed. (Am.5:7 & 15)
More: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/11/politics/state-department-allegations/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
