A spring booster vaccine against Covid-19 is to be available in April to everyone over 75, care-home residents and people aged five and over who are extremely vulnerable, to protect them this summer. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation said hospital admissions for Covid-19 showed the risk of being seriously ill was noticeably higher in people over 75. It is advised that a booster jab be given six months after someone's previous dose. Four different vaccines, made by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Sanofi/GSK and Novavax could be used. The head of immunisation at the UK Health Security Agency said Covid-19 was still circulating widely with recent increases in the numbers of elderly being admitted to hospitals. It is important that those at the highest risk of severe illness do not become complacent, and we encourage everyone who is eligible to come forward once the booster programme starts. Different versions of the Omicron variant have been spreading the most.

Russia is under the microscope for atrocities committed since the start of its war with Ukraine, from the killing and torture of religious leaders to the destruction of houses of worship. One Russian official even used the term ‘desatanization’ to describe the plan to cleanse the nation of many religious groups. Muslim Tatars in Crimea are repressed by Russian authorities, and many sentenced to long prison terms for principled opposition to the occupation. Russian forces attacking Ukraine have desecrated Holocaust remembrance sites and killed Holocaust survivors. It's not just Ukraine. Since the invasion, Moscow has been tightening its grip inside Russia on religious groups. 30% of Russian Jews have fled Russia since the war began with 50,000 emigrating to Israel. In Russia's occupied territories, the Russian military has bombed churches, monasteries, kingdom halls, mosques, synagogues, cemeteries, and other religious sites, and Russian soldiers have abducted and tortured religious figures because of their leadership roles.

Poland announced that it’ll supply Kyiv with MiG-29 fighter jets, the first NATO member to do so. For months President Zelensky has implored America and Europe for warplanes to fight Russia. However, NATO allies have been slow-walking him because that might push the Russians to escalate on the battlefield. Yet the Soviet-era MiGs, of which Ukraine has a few dozen relics, are hardly the modern warplanes Zelensky wants and needs, and they’re no match for Russia’s Su-27s. The Sukhoi Su-27, NATO Codename ‘Flanker’, is a flying Missile Battery. Some believe Poland's action will encourage other NATO countries to follow suit and rethink on sending Ukraine high-tech warplanes. That's exactly what happened weeks ago with heavy tanks when the US and Germany changed their mind.

The World Council of Churches’ General Secretary has condemned an attack that took place in the Church of Gethsemane in Jerusalem on 19 March and has expressed solidarity with the Patriarchate of Jerusalem in calling for international protection of holy sites. ‘This terrible attack – which appears to have purposely targeted religious leaders – is an egregious violation of international law’, he said. ‘We stand in solidarity with the Patriarchate of Jerusalem and all those calling for the protection of holy sites, and we reiterate our calls for such protection during Christian holidays and during all days of importance for all faith communities. We are extremely concerned about the increasing attacks on holy sites in Jerusalem and deem it necessary to facilitate a meeting of key religious leaders in the near future to discuss what can be done to stop these uncalled-for attacks on religious leaders, sacred places and institutions.’

German Cardinal Gerhard Müller and American Cardinal Raymond Burke want the Vatican to put Germany's Roman Catholic bishops on trial for abandoning church doctrine and approving Church blessings of same-sex unions and weddings between divorced Catholics. Cardinal Mueller wants all German bishops who voted to bless same-sex unions to be held to account, tried, sentenced and then removed from their office if they are not accepting the Catholic doctrine. Cardinal Burke has publicly clashed with Pope Francis before and is seen as the leader of the church's conservative wing. He wants sanctions against the German bishops under the Code of Canon Law. British Anglican Chaplain to the late Queen Elizabeth, Gavin Ashenden, said it isn’t just German Catholic bishops who are revising church doctrine; there was an issue of lack of faith across Europe. Polish and Nordic archbishops are also challenging Germany’s path. See

43,000 people died during Somalia’s longest drought on record. 18,000 deaths are expected in the first half of 2023. Christian Aid is urging the UK's government to act immediately and for us to pray the following prayer. ‘Loving God, When Famine stalks the land, nothing grows. Plants cannot, people cannot, ideas and dreams cannot, and everything dies. It is a violent anomaly of your will for the world, and it is multiplied by covid conflict and climate change. God of flourishing fields, there is enough to feed everyone. Call us to that sacred sharing neighbour to global neighbour Your gifts of food, water, a chance to live the life so delicately crafted by your divine spirit. May we turn towards each other with generosity and justice-driven compassion that searches for solutions. Famine stalks the land, so may our outrage grow, may our determination steel itself, and may our solidarity spur us into action. Help us feed each other. Amen’

There are about 30-40 million Nomads, moving their cattle to find pasture in Africa, Tibetan yak herders, Siberian reindeer herders. Service nomads travel to offer their wares and labour. Gipsies are the most common example. Other nomads travel with funfairs or portable shrines. The Indian Lohar are blacksmiths. Many Gypsies have turned to Christ in Western Europe, yet they are culturally isolated from their fellow believers in settled communities. Pray that the Gospel may dwell in the hearts of nomadic people who have no permanent dwelling. Pray for more labourers to work among them, and for discipleship programs among them, especially ones that will empower indigenous Christians to reach their own people. Pray for Christ to bring peace and understanding between settled peoples and nomads. Pray for nomads to find a way of life that suits the 21st century. Many are isolated from health and education provisions.

From France to Zimbabwe and America to Chile, water shortages drive social and political conflicts. Rich countries can’t ignore it as a poor country's problem. So, between March 22 -24 the UN held its first water conference in 50 years. 6,500 policymakers, NGOs, water experts, and private sector groups attended the wake-up call to action. Water supply and demand is expected to reach 40% in eight years, making life as we know it virtually impossible for millions, possibly billions, of people. Governments and companies were asked to make ambitious commitments to form a ‘Water Action Agenda’. Progress on pledges and targets will be monitored over time, with the hope of significantly reducing the supply-demand gap by 2030. Pray for governments to upgrade ageing infrastructures, effectively fix system leaks, and improve tracking and billing capacities. Pray for the provision of incentives to ramp up research on water stress, and wastewater treatment solutions and develop new technologies.

We’re facing mountains of plastic pollution. 2 billion people have no safe way to dispose of rubbish, and its people in poverty who are suffering the worst impacts of the rubbish problem. They must live and work among piles of waste, which releases toxic fumes, floods communities and causes up to a million deaths annually. During 2023 and 2024, nearly 200 governments are meeting to develop the first-ever global treaty on plastic pollution. But it’s not a done deal, so Christians from six continents are calling people to take bold action and petition their leaders who are responsible for food and rural affairs or the environment, plus all who are negotiating on the plastics treaty - To create an effective, binding plan that holds big polluters to account, reduces plastic production, supports the vital work of waste pickers, and ends the impacts of plastic pollution on people living in poverty. See

Imagine you’re looking for a new job. You come across an advert online for a well-paid, dream role. You get the job and move to a different country, full of excitement for this amazing opportunity. But when you arrive, you realise you’ve been sold a lie. It's too late. You’re trapped inside a compound, forced to scam people with fake romance or investment opportunities. You’re electrocuted if you don’t hit your targets. This nightmare of cyber-scam slavery is a reality for thousands of people in Southeast Asia. Pray for God to give success to the people who are tirelessly working to free the captives from these walled compounds. Pray for the traffickers to be caught and convicted so that those who were deceived and entrapped receive justice.