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The offices of several firms involved in the oil market hav e been raided by European Commission officials. The commission said it had concerns that ‘the companies may have colluded in reporting distorted prices’. It did not name the firms, and said the raids did not mean the companies were guilty of any charges. BP, Royal Dutch Shell, Norway's Statoil and the pricing agency Platts confirmed that they were working with the authorities in their inquiries. The investigation relates to the pricing of oil, refined products and biofuels. Even small distortions of assessed prices may have a huge impact on the prices of crude oil, refined oil products and biofuels purchases and sale s, potentially harming final consumers,’ the Commission said. As part of the investigation, the Commission said it was examining whether the companies may have prevented others from participating in the pricing process ‘with a view to distorting published prices’.
Pray: that the investigation into the oil market will reveal the truths and bring fair and just pricing. (Lev.19:15)
More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22530379
There has been an alarming rise in the number of children sleeping rough across Europe, which is why the system needs an overhaul, writes Kate Moss. The number of rough sleeping children across Europe is on the rise. These are young people who have mostly run away either from home or from sheltered accommodation. They may also include minors who have made border crossings in search of a better life and improved opportunities or for any number of other reasons. Financed by the EU Daphne programme, the pioneering two-year children rough sleepers research project which we at the University of Wolverhampton are currently leading has been tasked with conducting precisely this study, for which ongoing collaboration is currently underway among a team comprising ten partner countries from around Europe. There is very little information about children who sleep rough. Figures show that 100,000 children go missing every year in the UK.
Pray: against this trend and the dangers that sleeping rough brings to young people. (Pro.22:3)
More: http://www.theparliament.com/latest-news/article/newsarticle/number-of-children-rough-sleepers-on-the-riseaccording-to-new-study/#.UjcNu39kln4
The average Church of Norway member went to church once a year in 2010, Statistics Norway reported in the annual statistical report it sends to the church. Although church attendance has remained the same since 2000, other indicators show dwindling participation in the Lutheran state church in the past decade. A main reason why church attendance remains rather stable is the large number of people attending child baptisms. While these numbers are growing, the number of regular church-goers is dwindling. Of Norway's five million inhabitants, 78 per cent were members of the Church of Norway in 2010, as opposed to 86.3 per cent in 2000. Out of total newborns, 66.3 percent were baptised in the Church of Norway last year, down from 81.4 per cent in 2000. The percentage of 15-year-olds being confirmed edged lower to 64.9 from 68.3. The percentage of funerals performed in church continued to be very high at 91.1, but that was down slightly from 92.5 per cent. Pray: that God would send revival to the church in Norway freeing it from stagnation to life. (Ps.85:6)
In the aftermath of attacks last July that killed 77 and were carried out by a self-described ‘cultural Christian,’ Norwegian Christians and Muslims on Nov. 22 jointly condemned religious extremism as ‘contrary to the teachings of our religions.’ Stating, ‘Religious extremists put themselves in the place of God and believe that they are fighting on behalf of God against the enemies of God. Religious extremism is therefore contrary to the teachings of our religions, especially with respect to the basic dignity and rights of all human beings,’ according to a news release. The statement said that religious extremism is part of the global reality, but notes it threatens the life, welfare, and rights of human beings in many local situations.
Pray: for more religious leaders to publicly adopt a balanced stance stand against religious extremism. (Pr.29:26)
It’s impossible to grasp the pain Norway is feeling today. A tiny country with less than five million people lost 87 precious children on an island purchased to enrich the lives of Norway's poor. In todays ultra-rich Norway we forget that for most of its history Norwegians were mired in subsistence-level poverty. There has been so much poverty in Norway’s history that poverty has been the norm and the rich are looked upon with great suspicion. The Labour Party organized these facilities to enable poor children to have a summer-camp experience and THIS is where the massacre took place. In the days ahead
we will probably read about a lone misfit with a bunch of psychological problems became a mass murderer. What we probably won't read is how neoliberalism creates so many ‘losers’ that in the most prosperous country on earth a serious young man cannot find a way to have a normal life and explodes in madness.
Pray:for all the hearts that ache and minds that cannot believe it has happened to them (Ps.23)
More: http://real-economics.blogspot.com/2011/07/norways-pain.html
The Lutheran Church of Norway in the next five years will be implementing a plan to enhance the role of the indigenous Sami people in church life. ‘We want Sami church life to be an equal and natural part of the church, and the Church of Norway to be a multicultural fellowship,’ said Jens-Petter Johnsen, director general of the Church of Norway National Council. The Sami are indigenous peoples in northern Norway, Sweden and Finland, and on the Kola Peninsula in Russia. There are an estimated 50,000 to 65,000 Sami in Norway, leading their traditional life in rural areas, but also living in Oslo and other cities. The Sami language belongs to the Finno-Ugric family. Ways to enhance the role of the Sami in church life from 2012 through 2016 will be the creation of new posts for pastors, deacons and other church workers, teaching of the Sami language and programs of recruitment, liturgy, Bible translation and church history.
Pray: for a powerful anointing on this initiative and protection for everyone involved in building God’s church in this region. (Ps.65:2)
More: http://www.eni.ch/news/
An ex-Muslim Convert to Christianity was attacked with boiling water and acid by Muslims at an 'asylum reception centre' in Norway last Friday, reports the Iranian Christian news agency (Mohabat News). An Asylum seeker in an immigration centre in Jaeren, Norway, had boiling water poured over him after he converted to Christianity and would not comply with Ramadan fasting rules. He and the other converts at the centre now fear for their lives. ‘If you do not return to Islam, we will kill you’ was the message from the other asylum seekers at the Asylum Reception in Hå, in the Jaeren region of Norway. He refuses to disclose his real name for fear of further reprisals from them. If Afghan authorities found out about the incident and he were to be subsequently deported he risks being sentenced to death by stoning, he claims. He survived the incident, but has been left with a severely disfigured back.
Pray: that such attacks on believers would cease, for their protection and that God would hold the hand of the enemy. (Ps.5:11)
Bishop Munib A. Younan, President of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), has called Norway a beacon of hope and inspiration for the way it has dealt with the horror and pain of last year's massacre. Younan was speaking on 30 July at the week-long St Olav Festival in Trondheim, which runs from 28 July to 5 August, according to a report from Lutheran World Information, the LWF's news service. He spoke following the one-year anniversary of Norway's deadliest attack since the Second World War, where an anti-Muslim extremist on 22 July 2011, killed 77 people in two separate attacks in Oslo and on the island of Utoya where a youth camp was gathered. ‘You have shown, in the way you have processed the horror and pain of 22 July 2011 that you do not accept violence as a means of obtaining social and political change. You represent today - in our tested, pluralistic world - values of social justice, multiculturalism and unity in diversity,’ he noted.
Pray: that Norway will continue to shine as a beacon of hope. (Job.27:8)
On 10.10.10 the new leader of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Irenjy, was enthroned at the Patriarchate in Pec. The two-and-a-half-hour service was a unique blend of a highly formal and informal Orthodox liturgy. Three hundred people gathered in the church, which holds only 100 comfortably. Patriarchates from all over the Orthodox world were represented, from Moscow, Athens, Jerusalem, and elsewhere, alongside invited Roman Catholic and Protestant leaders, three Serbian Islamic muftis, and two Anglicans: Canon Jonathan Goodall, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Ecumenical Secretary, and Canon Donald Reeves. The Pec Patriarchate, seat of the Patriarchs of the Serbian Orthodox Church since 1217, is regarded as its spiritual centre. However Pec is in the independent Republic of Kosovo, not Serbia. No Kosovo Albanians had been invited to the service. To have done so would have been to acknowledge Kosovo as an independent state, no longer part of Serbia. Pray: for reconciliation between the Serbs and Kosovans through the Church in the Balkans. (Ac.7:26)
The newly appointed General Secretary of the European Evangelical Alliance says revival is essential for Europe's traditional churches. Rev Niek M Tramper was appointed to his new post at the EEA's annual conference in Turkey on April 22. Rev Tramper, of the Netherlands, said there were many challenges facing the Church in Europe, including the need for greater cooperation between new and traditional forms of Church, a growing Muslim population, and tensions between the rich and poor. ‘The Church and Christian movements need each other in advancing the Kingdom of God,’ said Rev Tramper. ‘Traditional churches cannot continue without revival. Profound theology and missionary zeal are complementary. In places with few historic churches, the EEA is of great value for facilitating the replanting of churches in countries like Kosovo, Albania and Turkey, as well as in Central Asia.’
Pray: that the Lord directs Rev Tramper’s energy and vision in ways that promote Christ’s kingdom. (2Ti.3:9-11)