Displaying items by tag: Mourning

After Prince Philip’s death on 9 April, Justin Welby said, ‘He consistently put the interests of others ahead of his own and provided an outstanding example of Christian service’. He was multi-talented, he supported charities tirelessly, and spent seven decades by the Queen’s side, supporting her at significant moments. The royal family is observing two weeks of mourning. On 13 April the Queen conducted her first in-person royal duty since he died, when she hosted a ceremony for the Lord Chamberlain to stand down.

Crews battling a deadly wildfire in northern California have managed to hold their containment lines, the state fire service says. They have contained 30% of the fire, stretching over 125,000 acres, but do not expect to complete the process till the end of November. The official death toll in the state currently stands at 59, with another 130 not yet accounted for. In the ruined town of Paradise, forensics teams are continuing to search for human remains. Many victims in the town are believed to have been elderly residents or people with mobility issues who would have found evacuation more difficult. President Donald Trump has paid tribute to the emergency crews' ‘incredible courage in the face of danger’. He added, ‘We mourn the lives of those lost, and we pray for the victims.’

A day of mourning has been declared for the victims of killings in Kaduna, which is to be observed on Sunday, 8 January, 2017. This is following a massacre that occurred on the evening on Monday, 26 December, 2016, in the Sanga Local Government Area of the state. The Secretary General of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Musa Asake, made the call for a special prayer for the victims, reported to be 38 in number. ‘In view of the present predicament, the president of CAN has directed that Sunday, 8 January, be declared a national day of mourning by all Christians. We are to pray fervently for our southern Kaduna brothers and sisters who are victims of these wanton killings and also for the peace of our dear country, Nigeria.’ Asake thinks the presidency is not doing anything substantial in response to the mass killing of innocent people. ‘While we commend President Muhammadu Buhari for waging war against the Boko Haram fundamentalists since his assumption of office, his silence in the ongoing genocide in the last few weeks speaks volumes over the perceived official endorsement of the dastardly and ungodly acts. The security operatives in the area appear to be turning blind eyes to the killings.’