Over the years, terrorists have used sports drinks, shoes, and even underwear to hide explosive material. Now, authorities in Spain say three terror suspects were experimenting with ultra-light planes. Spanish authorities believe the terrorists intended to use pleasure craft for far deadlier purposes. They also believe they were linked with al-Qaeda, long known for its obsession with arming aircraft. Today a judge in Spain's National Court will question the suspects and decide whether they'll remain detained. They include a Russian, a Russian of Chechen descent, and a Turk. Authorities arrested the Turk in the southern town of La Linea and picked up the other two in the central town of Ciudad Real.
Pray: for the continued vigilance of the authorities in the face of the variety of ways that terrorists use to attack. (2Tim.4:18)
Tensions have escalated between Spain and Gibraltar over long delays at the border crossing because of increased vehicle searches. The British territory has claimed the recent tough measures on the border by its northern neighbour was because of the creation of an unpopular artificial reef. Some say Spain is blowing this ongoing situation out of proportion to take the voting Spaniard minds of of serious problems closer to home. Prime Minister David Cameron and the Foreign Office have said they are concerned about comments made by Spain's Foreign Minister. Jose Manuel Garcia who has suggested a 50 euro fee for crossing the Spain-Gibraltar border could be imposed. There have also been complaints about excessive border checks causing delays in and out of Spain. The latest tension has flared up around an artificial reef, which Madrid claims is harming their fishermen. The Catholic Bishop of Gibraltar the Rt Rev Ralph Heskett urges people to pray for harmony.
Pray: for wisdom and harmony for the governments as they seek a solution to this situation. (Ex.18:19b)
More: http://www.euronews.com/2013/08/06/spain-and-gibraltar-border-crossing-dispute-continues/
Spain and France bust people-smuggling ring
16 Aug 2013Scores of people have been arrested in Spain and France in a crackdown on a gang smuggling Chinese nationals into Europe and the United States. Spanish police said on Saturday that 51 people had been arrested in Spain, with another 24 arrests were reported in France, following a two-year joint investigation. The bosses of the operation were arrested in Barcelona. The Spanish interior ministry said the gang charged up to $66,700 to transport mainly Chinese and Malaysian nationals to the US, Britain, Spain, France, Greece, Italy and Turkey. Some of the people trafficked ended up in the sex trade, the ministry said. The gang's main European hub was Barcelona airport. It allegedly used the city as a stopping-off point for Chinese while false documents were prepared. A total of 81 false passports from South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia and Japan were recovered in raids, as well as fake immigration stamps, Chinese and European currencies, and weapons including a handgun.
Pray: for the continued success of the authorities in bringing those to justice who organize such crimes. (Ps.11:7)
More: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2013/08/201381013145843784.html
The Financial Times reports that the EU's largest data protection authorities have launched a joint action against internet giant Google, in a move to force the company's compliance with EU privacy rules of which it is allegedly in breach. The paper says that the decision is the EU's first coordinated and formal procedure by member states against a single company and highlights growing frustration with Google. The Washington Post reports that Google faces possible fines after six member states - France, UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands - held meetings with the internet search engine company which yielded ‘no changes’.
Pray: for a just outcome in this action against a multi-national company that believes it has all the rights. (Ecc.5:8)
Serbian churches have been targeted in Kosovo
24 Jan 2013Serbian Orthodox Christians in Kosovo struggle with a ‘sharp rise’ in threats and vandalism against their churches and other religious sites, human rights investigators told BosNewsLife on Tuesday. During the past month Orthodox Christmas assailants attacked a monastery, set on fire a chapel and wooden crosses, and destroyed over 100 Orthodox tombstones, reported Belgrade-based Balkan rights group Centar 9. The clashes are linked to anger within Kosovo's mainly Muslim Albanian population about the removal of a memorial to fallen fighters in neighbouring Serbia. Thousands of ethnic Albanians protested after some 200 masked Serbian police officers backed by armoured personnel carriers removed the monument last Sunday in the town of Presevo. It bore the names of 27 ethnic Albanian fighters killed during the 2000 conflict in the Presevo Valley, a spill-over from the 1999 war in Kosovo, Serbia's former province.
Pray: that Christians and Muslims will be able to put aside their differences and learn to live together in peace. (Eph.4:3)
Serbia's Parliament has apologized for the massacre of 8,000 Muslims by Bosnian-Serb forces in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica in 1995. But, the declaration does not directly call the crime ‘genocide’, as survivors had demanded. After 13 hours of debate Serbia's Parliament adopted a resolution condemning Europe's worst massacre since World War II. Two-thirds of the lawmakers voted for a declaration that analysts said ends years of denial by Serbian politicians about the scale of the killings. About 8,000 Muslim men and boys were killed after Bosnian-Serb forces overran the Bosnian town of Srebrenica in 1995. The text of the resolution says, ‘The Parliament of Serbia strongly condemns the crime committed against the Bosnian-Muslim population of Srebrenica in July, 1995.’ Lawmakers also expressed ‘their condolences and an apology to the families of the victims because not everything possible was done to prevent the tragedy.’
Pray: that this apology will bring a start to the healing process for all those affected. (Ps.79:8-9)
Russian Ministries launches ‘Summer of Hope’
05 May 2011
Russian Ministries has launched an appeal to provide a Summer of Hope to thousands of needy children who’ll be attending their life-changing camps across the former Soviet Union, reports Peter Wooding of ASSIST News Service. After the success of Russian Ministries’ series of Easter outreach programmes, their teams of Next Generation Christian leaders are already busy preparing to coordinate summer camps, which they believe provide the real hope of Christ to the lives of these vulnerable children. ‘After these outreach programmes at Easter, summer is coming pretty soon and our young teams are already getting ready to do some follow-up ministry and the most effective is summer camps,’ said Russian Ministries’ President Sergey Rakhuba. Each Russian Ministries’ summer camp has a long-lasting impact for thousands of children. Pray: God for Russian Ministries as they prepare for the summer camps and that they would bring much fruit. (Gen.28:3)
Russia: The Black Widows - Brides of Allah
19 May 2010The Black Widows is what Russian journalists call female Islamist suicide bombers who have participated in more than 30 attacks that have killed about 900 Russians in eight years. The Black Widows are the creation of notorious Chechen rebel military commander Shamil Basayev, the mastermind of the Beslan school massacre, a three day hostage taking in a school in North Ossetia that left 334 hostages dead. Basayev’s theory is that when the Russian authorities are on alert for potential terrorist attacks, a young woman in jeans, or an older woman in a frock, attracts less suspicion than a dark-skinned young Chechen man in a cheap jacket. Basayev dubbed his battalion of suicide seekers Riyad us Saliheen, an Arabic reference from the Koran meaning Garden of the Righteous. It was composed of men and women, but it was the women who fascinated the Russian media. There have been two more suicide bombings in Dagestan see:
Pray: that God’s righteousness would overcome all dishonourable plans to rule and oppress. (Ps.3:7)
More: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/03/30/f-russia-black-widow.html#ixzz0jkFhogeS