This last fortnight of Brexit negotiations has been a bit ‘stop-start’, but they now appear to be progressing a little more positively with face to face talks.  Meetings have been held in London, but are now moving back to Brussels for what many hope will be a constructive and productive closing phase which is expected to last about two weeks.

The president of the European Council has meanwhile insisted that negotiations are at their most difficult stage. Charles Michel, who chairs summits of EU leaders in Brussels, said: "Will we get a deal? I don't know – it will depend on what will be on the table."

Michel said the issue of fishing was proving a major sticking point between the two parties. British Cabinet Minister, Michael Gove told the Welsh Brexit minister that Britain could ‘no longer be bound by the Common Fisheries Policy’ and won’t back down on its demands.

Spain and Gibraltar want a last-minute deal to avoid having a hard border after Brexit. However, a Spanish diplomatic source said they have stumbled on ‘a lack of political will’ in London.

Ireland’s foreign minister claimed that a trade deal is now ‘likely’ in the next two weeks, while warning ‘major trade disruption would be the ‘new reality’ even if a UK-EU deal is struck.

Bloomberg is predicting, ‘Brexit negotiators have made good progress in London this week, raising hopes they could ‘inch’ towards a deal by early November, Bloomberg quoted people ‘familiar with the discussions’ claiming the two sides have begun work on the text of an agreement covering level playing field issues, and are close to finalising a joint document covering state aid mechanism.

Please pray for an end to the ‘tactical games’ on final agreements and for the outcome to produce God’s purposes for the nations. (Romans 13:1b)

More at: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-news-live-today-eu-deal-boris-johnson-update-latest-b1391746.html

A Prayer for Brexit:

We come into agreement with Your word in Matthew 17: 20 “you can say to this mountain, ‘move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible to you”.

We declare God desires this nation will display His Kingdom and His Kingship, we decree Righteousness, Justice, Mercy and Truth – moral and spiritual – will be the foundations upon which we will build. God is the Master Planner of heaven and earth, His plans are for good and not evil, greater than every plan of man or of the enemy.

We stand as the Ecclesia in this land, and we speak convergence and completion into all Brexit negotiations, that the next season for this nation will be birthed according to every blueprint held in Heaven, in Jesus Name.

As negotiations move to Brussels for their final phase, we come into agreement with His word in Romans 4:17: He is “The God who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist.”

Over all matters concerning Brexit under discussion, we call forth the strategies and plans of heaven, that will bless both the UK and EU, and we decree His answers to the outstanding areas of free trade, fisheries, security and all other matters. We declare the ground will be prepared for a beneficial relationship between the EU and UK that will prosper everyone in the days to come.

Now Lord, we call business, the haulage industry and exporting companies into a place of preparedness for the exit from EU that movement of goods, services and people will not be hindered.

Father, over all discussions, negotiations and decisions we Hallow your name, praying that across the Continent of Europe Your kingdom will come and Your will be done - across each nation as it is in Heaven.

In the name of Your Son Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.

With thanks to:
Linda Digby / Prayer-Alert.net | Suzanne Ferrett / Passion for the Nation | Ian Cole / IPC Senior Advisor

BAKU/YEREVAN -- Deadly fighting between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces over the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh region has intensified as both sides blame each other for the collapse of a third attempt at a cease-fire.

Azerbaijan and Armenian reported civilian casualties in urban areas on October 28, two days after a U.S.-brokered cease-fire was to go into effect.

Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said 21 civilians were killed and 70 injured in Smerch multiple-rocket system attacks on the city of Barda, located in central Azerbaijan outside the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Four civilians were reportedly killed in another attack on the city on the previous day.

The Armenian Defense Ministry accused Azerbaijani forces of attacking civilian areas in Nagorno-Karabakh, including the shelling of a hospital and maternity clinic in the enclave’s main city, Stepanakert. The rocket attacks caused damage but inflicted no casualties. One civilian was killed and two others were injured in a rocket attack on the nearby town of Shushi (Susa).

Both sides denied the other's claims that civilians were being targeted.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said urban areas had been hit and that one volunteer from the Azerbaijan Red Crescent Society was killed in the shelling. Two other volunteers were injured.

"Alongside thousands of civilians, the ICRC witnessed intense shelling in urban areas on both sides of the front line today, leading to death, destruction, injuries, and desolation," it said in a statement.

"These latest exchanges signal that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict risks spiraling out of control," it warned.

Both sides have claimed the other is targeting civilians during a month of intense clashes that have drawn in world powers seeking to halt the worst fighting the region since a 1994 cease-fire.

More at: https://www.rferl.org/a/armenia-azerbaijan-urged-to-seek-lasting-cease-fire-as-diplomatic-efforts-continue/30916763.html

Pray for the hostilities to cease and for a return to negotiations.

Pray for the safety of civilians living in the disputed regions.

Pray that external interference will be brought to light and that this war does not escalate further.

Please, earnestly pray for the people of these countries, so that God's peace may descend on the borders and reconciliation may be established between the neighboring fighting countries.

Al-Qaeda is still "heavily embedded" within the Taliban in Afghanistan, in spite of a historic US-Taliban agreement earlier this year, a senior United Nations official has told the BBC.

Earlier this year, the US signed an agreement with the Taliban committing to withdrawing all American forces from the country by next summer if the Taliban ensured groups including al-Qaeda were not able to use Afghan territory to plot international attacks.

But Edmund Fitton-Brown, co-ordinator of the UN's Islamic State, Al-Qaeda and Taliban Monitoring Team, has told the BBC that the Taliban promised al-Qaeda in the run-up to the US agreement that the two groups would remain allies.

"The Taliban were talking regularly and at a high level with al-Qaeda and reassuring them that they would honour their historic ties," Mr Fitton-Brown said.

He said the relationship between al-Qaeda and the Taliban was "not substantively" changed by the deal struck with the US. "Al-Qaeda are heavily embedded with the Taliban and they do a good deal of military action and training action with the Taliban, and that has not changed," he said.

Eliminating the threat from al-Qaeda and overthrowing the Taliban regime that had harboured them was the original basis for the US invasion of Afghanistan, following the 9/11 attacks. At the time, President George W Bush vowed to hunt the militants until there was "no place to run, or hide, or rest".

Al-Qaeda's strength and ability to strike the West has significantly diminished over the past decade, but its leader Ayman al-Zawahiri is believed to still be based in Afghanistan along with a number of other senior figures in the group. The Afghan intelligence services announced on Saturday they had killed Husam Abd al-Rauf, a high ranking Egyptian al-Qaeda member, in an operation in Ghazni province. Mr Fitton-Brown told the BBC that despite its lower profile, al-Qaeda remained "resilient" and "dangerous".

How the Taliban's relationship with al-Qaeda develops could determine the future of the Afghan peace process. The Taliban's commitments on international terrorism are the most tangible demands that need to be met as part of the US-Taliban withdrawal agreement. However, the issue is likely to prove divisive, with Taliban hardliners thought to oppose any measures cutting their links with al-Qaeda.

It is feared the Afghan peace process is in any case losing its momentum. Despite the beginning of long delayed negotiations between the Taliban and an Afghan government-led delegation last month in Qatar, violence has continued and even intensified in recent weeks.

The negotiations have stalled amid attempts to resolve preliminary issues, with major issues such as a ceasefire or power-sharing arrangement yet to be discussed. There are fears that if US troops are withdrawn next year, before an agreement has been reached, the violence could intensify and the Taliban push for a military victory.

Mr Fitton-Brown warned that, were the peace process to fall apart, al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group could attempt to further exploit "ungoverned space" in Afghanistan.

"Both of those groups have an avowed aspiration to pose an international threat," he said.

More at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-54711452

Extracts from an email received from a humanitarian organization serving the people of Afghanistan:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

While the Taliban are in Doha now since one month to presumable talk about peace with high officials of the Afghan government, the fighting continues unabated and yesterday the Afghan Ministry of Interior (MoI) reported that 180 civilians have been killed and 375 have been wounded over the last month in a spate of violence across Afghanistan.

Many Afghans were expecting that a cease fire would be announced or fighting would slow down, but the Taliban have increased their attacks on the government, Army, police and civilians throughout the country.

“Where is peace? Which peace? While we are going to Doha for talks, you witness a wave of suicide attacks, there are explosions, soldiers are being killed - we do not need this kind of peace,” said Najibullah Kabuli.

Fighting was also reported close to the capital and to the city where our team from the North East is based and also in the west of the country fighting has increased and many other parts. The Taliban try to get into a stronger position as they negotiate with the government.

Please pray that the Taliban would be pushed back and defeated and they would not make any further success!

Please continue to pray also for the so-called peace talks in Doha/Qatar.

The Taliban will definitely try to get a big influence on the present government which could really change the society again into strict Sharia rules.
Please continue to pray for all our foreign and local workers and brothers and sisters for their protection.

China orders hospitals to abort, kill new-born babies of religious and ethnic minorities

Hospitals in Xinjiang were ordered by China’s Communist government to abort and kill all babies born in excess of its mandated family planning limits — including new-borns born after being carried to full term — or face hefty fines, claims a new report.

Hasiyet Abdulla, a Uighur obstetrician who worked in multiple hospitals in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region for 15 years, told Radio Free Asia that maternity wards implemented strict family-planning policies intended to restrict Uighurs and other ethnic minorities to three children.

Abdulla told RFA that babies were aborted even if their mothers were “eight and nine months pregnant,” adding that in some cases, medical staff would “even kill the babies after they’d been born.”

Babies who had been born at the hospital outside of family-planning limits weren’t safe either, she said, adding doctors would “kill them and dispose of the body.”

“They wouldn’t give the baby to the parents — they kill the babies when they’re born,” she said.

“It’s an order that’s been given from above, it’s an order that’s been printed and distributed in official documents. Hospitals get fined if they don’t comply, so of course they carry this out.”

In June, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom argued that the forced sterilization of Uighur Muslims is “evidence of genocide.”

“It’s evident from the Chinese government’s own data that the Communist Party’s policies are clearly designed to prevent population growth for the Uyghur, Kazakh, and other Turkic Muslim peoples,” USCIRF Commissioner Nury Turkel said in a statement.

“We urge the State Department to investigate whether the Chinese authorities’ deliberate and systematic attempt to genetically reducing the Turkic Muslim population in Xinjiang meets the legal definition for genocide as contemplated in the Genocide Convention.”

In a statement to Fox News, Morgan Ortagus said the U.S. State Department is “extremely concerned by reports of forced abortions and sterilization in Xinjiang.”

"These reports are consistent with an overwhelming and growing body of information that exposes the Chinese Community Party’s campaign of brutal repression targeting Uighurs, ethnic Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang. We reiterate our call on the PRC [People's Republic of Chinahttps://www.christianpost.com/news/xinjiang-hospitals-forced-to-abort-kill-newborn-babies-born-outside-family-limits.html">https://www.christianpost.com/news/xinjiang-hospitals-forced-to-abort-kill-newborn-babies-born-outside-family-limits.html

Pray: for this ruthless and inhumane killing of unborn and newly born babies by the Chinese government to be stopped.

Pray: for an immediate cessation of the forced sterilisation and population control.

Pray: wisdom, authority and protection for those who are campaigning and advocating for the Uighur people and other ethnic groups.

On 21 July 2020, 27-year old university student Pınar Gültekin (pictured) was murdered by her ex-boyfriend, becoming another victim of Turkey’s wave of femicides. Gültekin was declared missing for six days before she was found dead, strangled to death for refusing to reconcile with her former partner.

The news of Gültekin’s murder sparked protests across the country, with women taking to the streets in more than ten cities. The largest demonstrations took place across various neighbourhoods of Istanbul, gathering thousands of people. Smaller-scale protests also took place in less-populous Turkish cities including İzmir, Edirne, Mersin and Malatya.

On more than one occasion, women protesting gender-based violence were met with violence themselves. In İzmir, police officers brutally intervened in the protest and several women were beaten. Videos from the event captured scenes of women being manhandled and dragged away by police officers. 12 were taken into custody, although they were later released.

Since the news of the murder of Gültekin, 11 women have met a similar fate. These tragic murders are, unfortunately, in no way isolated incidents. They form part of a larger pattern that has been emerging in Turkey under the country’s increasingly authoritarian Justice and Development Party (AKP) government.

Under the AKP, the number of women killed by men has increased rapidly. Since 2010, more than 3,000 women have been murdered as a result of male violence, with the figure more than doubling over the years. The vast majority of these women were killed for making decisions about their own lives – breaking up with a partner or rejecting men’s advances.

The government’s attempt to turn the Istanbul Convention into a wedge issue has backfired. There is no clear segment of society against it, and according to an opinion poll by Turkey Report only 8.8 percent of the population want to withdraw, and 51.7 percent are not even aware of its contents.

While the number of femicides has steadily increased, the Turkish government has failed to implement measures to protect women or introduce any reforms to tackle gender inequality. According to the Judicial Records statistics in 2019, most of the complaints made by women of sexual and physical violence do not result in a prosecution. This year, Turkey ranked 130th out of 153 countries in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index. Women’s rights activists are outraged by the deteriorating situation that is worsened by the proposal to withdraw from the treaty, with many arguing that it was never properly implemented in the first place.

Source: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/mec/2020/08/17/populism-and-femicide-in-turkey/

Pray that Turkey's wave of violence against women and femicides would stop immediately

Pray that the current Turkish government would take more actions and responsibilities to prevent these murders

Pray that all Turks would find the true women's right and equality in Jesus Christ and His Gospel of peace

We have exciting news for you! We will continue reaching people with the Gospel in 2021!

GO 21 is the first step in our efforts to reach the whole world with the Gospel and the kick-off of the GO Decade (2021-2030). After what we have seen with GO 2020, we believe it is possible to reach the whole world by 2030!

We are dedicating the month of May 2021 to prayer and evangelism to reach people with the Gospel. Many denominations and ministries have agreed to be part of GO 21 to mobilize 100 million believers to reach 1 billion people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Please help us to get the word out!

We encourage you to share this flyer with the cause of reaching people with the Gospel with your whole network. Please help us to spread the news. Let's stand together to mobilize as many believers as possible.

The main goal of Global Outreach is to train, equip, and mobilize believers to share their faith and develop an evangelistic lifestyle.  This effort can't be accomplished with just one organization. We all know that only together can we achieve this goal.

Download the Info Pack | Download the Flyer

Werner Nachtigal - Global Outreach Day / GO 21 / Go Decade

Are you ready to spiritually contend for an increase of mission mobilization in the global Church?

In the midst of a global pandemic, God is provoking His global Church to pray and prepare for a great advance in cross-cultural mission. The Holy Spirit is orchestrating circumstances to rearrange the global Church’s priorities, aligning her with His own vision and will in this hour.

This includes increasing an emphasis on mission mobilization across His global Church, enabling denominations, church networks, and sending agencies from every nation to mobilize, equip and send laborers to the unreached and unengaged peoples, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom and multiplying Church Planting Movements.

Contend! is a 21-day prayer campaign seeking God for a breakthrough in His global Church surrounding an increase of mission mobilization vision across ministry structures, moving mission from the periphery in the Church to its rightful place at the core.

Watch the Promo Video

More info, Resources and Sign Up: https://www.globalmmi.net/contend-prayer-campaign

We feel the Lord’s jealousy over the United States of America and its Godly destiny.

We know the results of their upcoming national elections will carry reverberations on a global scale. We want to stand in prayer with our family in America for His will to unfold this November.

We invite you to join us on Tuesday, November 3rd at 5:00AM PT (Vancouver) as we gather to align with all that is being declared over America from the gates of Heaven at this hour.

More at: https://watchmen.org/upcoming/2020/11/3/standing-with-america

Cover Africa in Prayer - from Cairo to Cape Town and from Madagascar to Cape Verde -

As part of the International Day of Prayer for Africa, One God – One Day – One Africa and its partners from all around the world will pray for Africa from 06:00 to 22:00 CAT (Central Africa Time).

We are so excited because a week later the One God – One Day – One Africa celebrations will take place.

On 12-15 November our partners will host large Gospel crusades in almost every country of Africa. They will be broadcast all over the continent. Additionally, thousands of African evangelists committed to bringing the Good News to remote villages during that time.

Join, pray with us!

Set time aside to pray with us on 6 November. Let's storm the heavenly throne room and ask for breakthroughs in every nation of Africa. Let's pray for an end to the pandemic, an outpouring of the Holy Spirit and of course many open hearts to receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour.

Download Africa Flyer Download International Flyer

Make a commitment to pray for an African country NOW at www.1GDA.org/prayerday

‘Lifting up a fire wall and rampart over Iberoamérica’

Nations are in the midst of a global shakeup, a global hiatus due to the Crisis caused by the Covid-19 Pandemic. Many people in the nations are afraid and look for answers. Now more than ever it is time to pray for people, attend to their needs and share the Gospel in the Nations of the Earth.

We recognize that historical moments of crisis have created the perfect atmospheres for the GREAT REVIVALS and the Uprising of the Great Harvests of souls for our beloved Jesus Christ and the expansion of his Kingdom throughout history.

We believe that this is the moment when the Church must arise and take its role as The mouth, the feet, the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ to respond to a humanity that has no hope, that is in total confusion, and that awaits a resolution of their leaders or rulers.

We are living one of the most important prophetic moments in this decade , we see how in the midst of the shaking of the Nations, in a Global Pause, our precious Holy Spirit is moving strategically, bringing Revival in the midst of families, communities and nations . It is time to complete the Great Commission assigned by our Master. The Harvest is ready in the fields, the Angels have already been sent (Mark 13:39) .

The Latin American Prayer Council (CLAMOR) as part of the World Prayer Council (International Prayer Council) invites you to participate in a continuous Continental Vigil that will begin on April 24, and will be held every last Friday of each month until the end of the year 2020.

We want to agree to pray all the nations of Latin America in UNANIMITY , as a single VOICE; believing that something powerful will begin to happen this April. We will pray that the Redeeming gift of the Father, in the intervention of Jesus Christ and in the power of his Holy Spirit, hears our Prayer, receives our repentance and heals our lands. 2 Chronicles 7: 13-14.

We believe that this is the time of the Resurgence of The Ekklesia, a time to give hope to the needy, to the unreached groups of our continent, of the fulfillment of promises, of the manifestation of His mercy, forgiveness, grace. It is the divine time of the spiritual, economic, political and social restart of our peoples.

We cannot lose the window of opportunity that Covid-19 and the World Crisis is providing us to lift the harvest of souls in the fields that are already ready ... IT'S TIME TO PRAY CONTINENTALLY!

More info and sign-up: https://vigiliaunanime.clamor.global/index.php/en/