Displaying items by tag: USA

Kim Yong Chol, a top lieutenant of Kim Jong-Un, is meeting with US secretary of state Mike Pompeo in New York, in one of three sets of parallel talks aimed at salvaging a summit between Kim and Donald Trump. Lower-level officials have been meeting at the inter-Korean border and in Singapore for other pre-summit negotiations. South Korea's president said, ‘Kim Jong-un believes a face-to-face meeting with US President Donald Trump could put an end to the history of war between the two nations.’ Pray that this hope is realised. He also said that Kim had reaffirmed his commitment to ‘complete’ denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula when they had a surprise meeting at the demilitarised zone. Pray for Pyongyang and Washington to agree on a roadmap of talks that will resolve their differences.

ACT for America, an Islamophobic lobby group, has published a 129-page booklet ‘The Art of Chapter Leadership’ which includes advice on how to ‘map’ kindergarten to 12th grade school boards for suspected Islamists, and how to monitor Muslim activities in universities, particularly in political science departments and Middle East studies departments which they say ‘have a real likelihood of being funded by the Saudis and have professors who are pro-Sharia, anti-America and anti-Israel.’ A former FBI agent, who provides counterterrorism training to US law enforcement, was secretly filmed telling police officers that Muslim students in universities pose a threat of ‘jihad’ and that a prominent civil rights group is a front for ‘terrorist’ organisations. He also stated publicly that Muslim Americans should not have the same rights as other citizens, and claimed he was in direct and regular contact with attorney-general Jeff Sessions, who serves under Donald Trump.

President Trump cited 'tremendous anger and open hostility' from North Korea as reasons for cancelling a landmark meeting with Kim Jong-un on 12 June in Singapore. In a letter to Kim he said, ‘It is inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting. The world and North Korea have lost a tremendous opportunity for lasting peace and great prosperity and wealth. This missed opportunity is truly a sad moment in history.’ His announcement came two days after he hosted South Korean president Moon Jae-in in Washington for talks widely seen as a salvage effort to ensure the summit went ahead. A statement from Pyongyang referred to vice-president Mike Pence as a ‘political dummy’, and said it is just as ready to meet in a nuclear confrontation as at the negotiating table with the United States.

On 16 May, President Trump was asked whether his summit with North Korea would still take place after the communist regime had threatened to call it off. ‘We haven't seen anything, we haven't heard anything’, Trump said. When asked if Kim was bluffing when he threatened to cancel the planned summit on 12 June, he replied, ‘We'll see what happens’. Pyongyang’s statement blamed the annual military drills between the US and South Korea that had started two days earlier, adding: ‘The USA must carefully contemplate the fate of the planned summit amid the provocative military ruckus that it is causing. We will keenly monitor how the authorities react.’ China has urged North Korea to go forward with the summit. Its foreign ministry says the two countries should make sure that the meeting runs as planned and yields ‘substantial outcomes’.

Fears are growing that Hawaii's Kilauea volcano is heading for a major eruption. The US Geological Survey has raised the alert from orange to red, meaning that a major volcanic eruption is imminent or very likely. The volcano is one of the world's most active, and its activity level has increased substantially over the past twelve days. A 300m-long fissure has opened on the volcano's side, releasing more lava and gas and sending a plume of ash and smoke as high as 12,000 feet. There were reports of ash and vog (volcanic air pollution) falling as far as 18 miles downwind, the USGS said. Dozens of homes and swathes of farmland in that area have been destroyed. US president Donald Trump declared it to be a disaster on Friday, following a request from Hawaii's governor, David Ige.

Three US citizens have been set free from prison by North Korea, according to a tweet on 9 May from US president Donald Trump. This is viewed as a goodwill gesture before a historic summit between Mr Trump and Kim Jong-un. Mr Trump greeted the men when they returned with secretary of state Mike Pompeo, who was in Pyongyang to arrange a date and location for the planned talks. Missionary Kim Hak-song, humanitarian worker Tony Kim, and pastor Kim Dong-chul boarded the plane ‘without assistance’, the White House said. They had been jailed for alleged anti-state activities and placed in labour camps.

A day after Donald Trump said he was withdrawing from the Iran weapons deal, he created further anxiety by threatening Iran with ‘severe consequences’ if it restarted its nuclear programme. He is also preparing to impose new sanctions, perhaps as early as next week. His comments came as officials in Iran and leaders across Europe scrambled to see if they could continue to operate the 2015 deal negotiated by Barack Obama. France’s foreign minister claimed that the deal could yet continue, but Iranian president Hassan Rouhani told Emmanuel Macron that Europe had only a ‘limited opportunity’ to preserve it.

In India, a dust storm affecting three districts in Rajasthan state and Uttar Pradesh has killed 111 and injured hundreds more, with numbers still rising and more storms forecast. Electricity is disrupted, hundreds of trees uprooted, hundreds of houses damaged or destroyed, and livestock killed. Many of the dead were sleeping when their houses collapsed after being struck by intense bursts of lightning. Dust storms are common in this part of India during summer, but loss of life on this scale is rare. Pray for hospitals and emergency services without electricity. In Kenya, over 100 people died and 200,000+ have been displaced by four weeks of floods, landslides and heavy rains. The Red Cross described it as a humanitarian disaster. Severe weather hit central USA on 2 and 3 May, with unusually violent thunderstorms, tornadoes and tennis-ball-sized hailstones taking down trees and power lines. See

In 2010 Capitol Ministries began a Bible study for representatives, which now has almost fifty members. When four of the group were elected to the Senate, they asked for a senators' Bible class, which began in 2015. Two months after Donald Trump took office, the same process led to a group for cabinet members. Trump started appointing to his cabinet all the men who were in the House and Senate bible study, men who were known to be believers. Unlike secular media, Christians noticed that the appointees had something in common - they were strong in Christ. Jeff Sessions (former health secretary), Tom Price, and others then started a cabinet Bible study. For the first time in 100 years, the US Cabinet has a Bible study group.

Proposals for dialogue between North Korean and American national leaders in the midst of increasing tensions, conflicts, and fear of war have inspired International Prayer Connections (IPC) to call on Christians to pray for a just and peaceful resolution. Pray for wisdom for political, diplomatic and military leaders as they work through differences toward a goal of peace, security and freedom. Ask God to bless the efforts of citizens who seek to bridge the vast differences between these countries. Pray that, however profound the differences between their governments, Americans and North Koreans will not view each other as enemies, but on the contrary desire only the best for each other. May the decades of business, humanitarian and education contact between the two countries now bear fruit by putting a human face on those who are characterised as enemies.