Displaying items by tag: Australia

Nine women and seventeen children are taking the Australian government to court, arguing that Australia has ‘effective control’ of their detention and the power to set them free from Syria’s Roj refugee camp. These Australian wives, widows, and children of slain or jailed IS members claim a legal right to return to Australia. Most are in squalid and violent detention camps, some held for four years. Children have untreated shrapnel wounds, malnourishment, and serious mental illnesses. Some were born in the camp and know no life outside it. Save the Children Australia say that legal action was a last resort, but they were left with no choice but to take Australia’s government to court. Pray that the US-backed Kurdish SDF army and the refugee camp officials will actively cooperate in the release of these Australians as they did for other countries, including Denmark, USA, Germany, France, Sweden, and the Netherlands.

Every week in Australia, babies survive abortions and are left to die without medical assistance or even pain relief because it has been decided by adults that they do not deserve to live. In response to this, three senators have presented a bill to parliament calling for legal protections to ensure that babies born alive after a termination procedure are given the same medical treatment and pain relief as other babies born at the same gestational age and clinical condition. The Australian Christian Lobby has drafted an email to the prime minister and the federal senate, requesting their support for this bill and are encouraging people to add their name to the document.

Severe tropical cyclone Ilsa has intensified to a category five system and will hit Port Hedland late at night on 13 April. A red alert has been issued across the region. Northern Australia is no stranger to cyclones, but this storm will be the strongest to hit the region in fourteen years. The very destructive core of the storm will bring extreme wind gusts of 195mph, 15.7 inches of rain and abnormally high tides, with the storm's impact felt across a 370-mile region. The Meteorology Bureau said, ‘There is a threat to lives and homes. You are in danger and must act immediately.’ Port Hedland’s 15,000 residents have been ordered to shelter inside, staying away from doors and windows. ‘It is too late to leave. Stay indoors until the authorities give the all clear’, the red alert warning states. Pray for those unable to get to evacuation centres, for those in remote communities, and for the frail and elderly.

Blac Chyna (real name Angela White), the popular OnlyFans model, shut down her $240 million porn channel when she became a Christian. Her conversion is significant because of the influence she had over millions of teens and her exposure of the manipulative nature of influencers. Angela is one of many ‘influencers’ discovering the hollow core of lavish lifestyles of sin and turning to Jesus. ‘God said, you don’t need to be doing this, I didn’t put you here, to degrade yourself’, she says on social media. ‘I’m just going by faith. Just letting God lead me. I have my church home helping me along.'

The US, UK and Australia have unveiled details of their plan to create a new fleet of nuclear-powered submarines, aimed at countering China's influence in the Indo-Pacific region. Under the AUKUS pact Australia is to get its first three nuclear-powered submarines from the US. The allies will also work to create a new fleet using cutting-edge tech, including UK-made Rolls-Royce reactors. The deal will create thousands of jobs in the UK's Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria, Derby and elsewhere. Beijing has strongly criticised the significant naval deal. Its foreign ministry accused the three nations of ‘walking further ‘down the path of error and danger.’ China's UN mission had earlier accused the Western allies of setting back nuclear non-proliferation efforts. Mr Biden said the deal would not jeopardise Australia's commitment to being a nuclear-free country.

Australia has a huge domestic violence problem and police spend more time responding to that crime than any other. Recently 648 people were charged in a four-day police blitz targeting ‘dangerous’ domestic violence offenders in New South Wales. Some 1,153 charges for domestic violence, drugs and weapons were made during the operation, and an array of illegal items, such as guns, daggers, a sword, metal knuckle dusters, and drugs were seized. During ‘Operation Amarok’ 164 of those charged were among the state's most wanted domestic violence offenders. Some had warrants out for their arrests; others had breached court-issued protection orders. The UN has said violence against women in Australia is ‘disturbingly common’, but experts say it is not notably different from other developed nations. The new strategy of targeting high risk offenders is aimed at stopping violence before it escalates to homicide.

There is a move to change Queensland’s Anti-Discrimination Act, and the Queensland Human Rights Commission (QHRC) has recommended removing the right of Christian schools to exclusively hire Christian teachers. They released a Report containing 46 recommendations, four of which relate to religious bodies, one of these recommendations would narrow the 'genuine occupational requirements' so Christian schools cannot require all staff to be Christian. Only certain roles would meet that criterion, like the principal or chaplain. A science teacher, for example, would not be required to be a Christian. This dramatically undermines a Christian school’s ability to fulfil their ethos. Christian schools are places where students practise their faith along with teachers and staff. The idea that staff are not required to live according to the school’s religious ethos is at odds with faith-based learning.  The Australian Christian Lobby is encouraging Australians to write to their MPs and the Minister for Education to express their concerns.

While explosions rocked a Crimean ammunition depot, disrupting railway services and causing 2,000 people to be evacuated from a nearby village, the Russian defence minister claimed Ukrainian military operations were being planned by the Americans and British while NATO increased its troop deployment in eastern and central Europe ‘several times over’. Vladimir Putin also said the bloc of Australia, UK, and the USA had the potential to develop into ‘a political-military alliance’. Meanwhile Russia’s Black Sea fleet struggles to exercise effective sea control, with patrols generally limited to the waters within sight of the Crimean coast, according to British intelligence reports. The fleet continues to use long-range cruise missiles to support ground offensives, but is keeping a defensive posture. Britain is training 10,000 Ukrainian raw recruits in marksmanship, battlefield first aid, and urban warfare. Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Nordic nations are also providing training.

The Meeting House church in Oakville, Canada has had ‘substantiated’ sexual abuse allegations against its former leader, Bruxy Cavey. In June, he was charged with one count of sexual abuse after an internal investigation. Then the church announced two further investigations, as more accusations of sexual abuse against him and former pastor Tim Day were submitted: see In Australia the Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission launched an investigation into the Hillsong megachurch in March after a former employee alleged financial malpractice, including using tax-free money for ‘large cash gifts’ to former Hillsong global leader Brian Houston and his family. See also

Devastating flash floods have killed 37 people and hundreds are still missing in eastern Kentucky’s worst disaster for decades. The death toll will continue to rise. Hundreds of homes and businesses have been destroyed. People are sitting on their porches, hoping somebody is coming to save them. See  In July, Sydney in Australia was hit with a month’s worth of rain in five days; people are still cleaning up three feet of swirling mud. Pakistan has 7,000+ glaciers, but rising global temperatures are causing them to melt rapidly, creating thousands of glacial lakes that might burst and release millions of cubic metres of water and debris, flooding villages in just a few hours. Worsening Indian monsoons cause Mumbai residents to commute on Venetian gondolas and inflatable dinghies. This year residents are being asked to tweet details about floods in their neighbourhoods. The data is then used to issue immediate geographically-specific flood alerts.