Eritrea is ruled by President Isaias Afewerki, who won independence from Ethiopia in 1991. He became a dictator, repressing soldiers then turning on religious dissenters and critics within the party. Today the Eritrean regime tolerates no dissent of any kind. There is no free media, no university, and even the ruling party - renamed the People’s Front for Freedom and Democracy - has not held a party conference for years. Tens of thousands of young Eritreans have fled the country, escaping across the border to Ethiopia or Sudan to face a difficult and uncertain future. Others have attempted to reach Europe, some of them drowning in the Mediterranean Sea on smuggler ships. Eritrea’s 6 million people live under a regime that has earned a reputation as the most repressive in Africa. Exiled human-rights group, Release Eritrea, reports that 1,000+ Christians are currently in detention. The group bases its tally on phone calls to friends and colleagues in the country.

Decklen was born at 22 weeks in California. He was just 10 inches long and weighed 14 ounces. His parents had to choose whether or not to have an emergency operation. They wanted to give Decklen a chance. ‘If he’s a fighter, you know, we want him to fight and make his own decisions,’ his dad said. His words forced journalists in the secular, pro-abortion media to acknowledge Decklen’s value. Meanwhile doctors in Australia have criticised another couple’s decision to allow their conjoined twin girls a chance at life. The girls, born six weeks early, have diprosopus. They share everything and when
the condition appeared on an ultrasound at 19 weeks doctors said, ‘None of the 35 other children born with diprosopus in recorded history is alive today’. But the parents refused an abortion and named the girls Faith and Hope. Doctors now say if the girls can continue progressing for five weeks, they have a good chance of survival.

US President Barack Obama has announced a pull-out plan for Afghanistan that will leave 9,800 troops in the country after 2014, overriding previous plans of a complete withdrawal by the end of the year. He has been insistent that at the beginning of 2015, the war in Afghanistan will officially be over, but leaving almost 10,000 there after 2014 may make it difficult to realise that distinction on the ground. US troops will still be armed and conducting ‘counter-terrorism’ missions. With this announcement the president is reinvesting in his strategy, giving the military what it says it needs but also giving them a timeline. The president says by 2017 the US will only provide the normal numbers that are needed to secure an embassy.

Pakistani Christian woman Asia Bibi's Tuesday appeal hearing on her death sentence for blasphemy was again cancelled - for the fifth time. No new hearing date has been set. Bibi's four previous hearings were also cancelled at the last minute by the court. Bibi, a mother of five, has been in prison since being sentenced to death for blasphemy in 2010. The accusation followed a heated dispute with Muslim colleagues. Blasphemy is a serious crime in Muslim-majority Pakistan and carries the death sentence, but human rights groups say the charges are often trumped up as a means of settling personal scores and vendettas. Anyone accused of blasphemy in Pakistan faces threats to their life from extremists. Relatives often have to go into hiding to escape the same fate, and being behind bars doesn't make the accused any safer. Sometimes extremists march into their prison cell and kill them while the guards turn a blind eye.

A pregnant Christian Sudanese woman who was sentenced to death last Thursday has been spending her days shackled in prison. Meriam Ibrahim, from a Muslim background, was raised a Christian and married a Christian. Meriam was arrested and charged with adultery and apostasy (The government doesn’t recognise the couple's marriage, hence the adultery charge). Her American husband is of South Sudanese origin. The court in Khartoum has delayed carrying out the ruling of death by hanging until Meriam gives birth and nurses her newborn. Her attorney is working on an appeal and a statement from several attorneys associated with the Sudanese high court called for a repeal of the death sentence. Muslims are punished by death if they convert to other religions. Muslim women are prohibited from marrying non-Muslims. ‘I was never a Muslim,’ she told the Sudanese high court: 'I was raised a Christian from the start.’ See also: http://www.meconcern.org/index.php/en/prayer-requests/755-sudan-update-on-believer-sentenced-to-death

Despite an increased security presence, police feel under-equipped to serve as any sort of meaningful deterrent against further attacks. They’re unable to enter into a combat situation with militants armed with heavy machine-guns and rocketpropelled grenades. Residents in Chibok say they are in constant fear of further attacks, with abductions and killings taking place on a regular basis. Amnesty International says Nigerian forces had advance warning of the attack by Boko Haram that led to the kidnapping of more than 276 schoolgirls, but military officials failed to take immediate action. Amnesty said it had verified the information about the abduction with credible sources. ‘The fact that Nigerian security forces knew about Boko Haram's impending raid, but failed to take the immediate action needed to stop it, will only amplify the national and international outcry at this horrific crime,’ said Netsanet Belay, Amnesty International's Africa director. See: http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/5/9/nigerian-governmentbokoharamkidnappedgirls.html

Five people were killed when a suicide bomber struck in the northern city of Kano on Sunday, then on Tuesday explosions in Jos left 118 people dead in a twin bombing. Police said dozens more were injured in the explosions at a bus terminal and market. There are fears more bodies will be recovered from the wreckage of destroyed buildings. The country's president, Goodluck Jonathan, said, ‘The government remains fully committed to winning the war against terror, and this administration will not be cowed by the atrocities of enemies of human progress and civilisation.’ Jos is in an area known as the ‘Middle Belt’ where the largely Christian south and mostly Muslim north meet.

Swedish missionary Miriam Mondragon is working to see transformation in Honduras, one of the world's most dangerous countries. Supported by Tearfund, Miriam is passionate about seeing the Church mobilised to bring peace and reconciliation in a country fractured by civil war, violence and extreme political unrest. In addition to working directly with victims of horrific violence and sexual abuse, her organisation partners with local churches to advocate for justice. They work in reconciliation, supporting pastors and leaders working in difficult and violent areas, coordinating a rescue programme for children who suffering from sexual abuse and coordinating a programme in slum areas helping kids at extreme risk, and their families. They aim to reach the top ten per cent of the most vulnerable of the population, working in the worst areas where everyone is part of a gang. They’re reaching those that no one else wants to work with. The only hope for Honduras is a Church that stands up and demands justice.

The Warehouse was established in 2003 through the parish of St John's, Cape Town, and exists to serve the South African church network in its response to poverty, injustice and division. They work with local churches in all communities, helping them to implement sound, effective and practical acts and renewed attitudes, to see communities where the vulnerable are cared for because the local church is a transformed and a transformative presence. Their vision is to inspire equip and connect churches to effectively address poverty, injustice and division. Please pray for the church leaders to successfully build relationships, making the use of all opportunities, events and media resources. Please pray for those leaders who are changing their lifestyles and have been equipped with theology, theory and tools to transform. Please pray for the church in Cape Town networking across racial, economic and denominational barriers and with government and civil society initiatives in broader society.

The U.N. nuclear watchdog (IAEA) had talks with Iran on Tuesday to advance a long-stalled investigation into Tehran's atomic activities, but it was not immediately clear whether any headway was made, leaving open the possibility agreements might be made later. They were expected to discuss IAEA requests for information about detonators that can be used to set off a nuclear explosive device. How Iran responds is regarded as a litmus test of its readiness to allow investigation into the possible military dimensions of the country's nuclear program. The IAEA-Iran talks were separate from those about to resume between the US, UK, France, China, Russia plus Germany (P5+1) in Vienna to draw up a draft agreement providing comprehensive solutions to the Iranian nuclear issue. These talks will need to overcome differences on Iran's uranium enrichment capacity, the heavy-water reactor at Arak and the possible military dimensions of Iran's nuclear programme. See also http://www.iranwatch.org/weapon-programs/nuclear