A call for prayer

SYRIA: Christians leading aid efforts in the embattled Deir Ezzor region, along with a Norwegian Share Mission Network, are calling for global prayer Friday through Sunday. “This could be a bloodbath here and drag on and on, and concerted prayer is very needed,” said David Eubank, director of Free Burma Rangers, a team of U.S. and Burmese medics and caregivers who have been on the ground near the fighting in Baghuz since Feb. 1. Eubank said more than 15,000 ISIS family members have fled the area in recent weeks of fighting, along with “hundreds of hardened ISIS fighters.” Eubank told supporters and reporters in an email Friday that the next phase “could be another genocide against Kurds, Christians and Yazidis unless the believing Christians raise up in prayer and influence the political and military leaders of Europe and USA to protect this region together with the local forces [Syrian Democratic Forces].”

ISRAEL: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will stand trial for criminal charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust. After a two-year investigation, the attorney general says Netanyahu bribed rich businessmen, media, and a film producer to gain a positive image. The news comes less than six weeks before Israel’s elections, when Netanyahu is set to run for his fourth consecutive term.

JAPAN: A baby boy weighing only 9.5 ounces at birth last August has been released from a Tokyo hospital—believed to be the smallest boy on record in the world to be successfully treated and discharged from a hospital. Now weighing 7 pounds, he is feeding normally.

TURKEY: Protestant leaders say the criminal case against U.S. Pastor Andrew Brunson has triggered an increasing number of attacks on Turkey’s 150 Protestant congregations. The two-year saga led to “insidious propaganda” in state-run media that local authorities have refused to investigate—and church leaders worry if left unrefuted could incite attacks.

BANGLADESH: Officials told the UN Security Council they will no longer accept Rohingya Muslims crossing the border from Myanmar, also known as Burma. An agreement to repatriate to Myanmar the more than 740,000 Rohingya refugees in camps is stalling because Myanmar has not restored security to their villages.

NORTH KOREA: Consensus seems to be that U.S. President Donald Trump was right to walk, as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un wanted total lifting of sanctions for partial denuclearization.

INDIA: The Indian fighter pilot who destroyed documents by eating them is back on home turf, handed over by Pakistani authorities Friday in a dramatic easing of tensions between India and Pakistan this week.

I’M READING: Bringing It to the Table by Wendell Berry.

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