Pastors in prison and other tragedies

MYANMAR: A crackdown on Christians in Wa state has landed Chinese missionary pastor John Cao in prison with scant outside intervention—despite a history of successful church and school plantings in Myanmar. Cao, married to an American with two sons attending U.S. colleges, is a Chinese citizen and therefore not eligible for formal U.S. consular services.

TURKEY: Caught at the center of a NATO crisis involving terrorism and Middle East policy, American pastor Andrew Brunson withstood the isolation of prison and the threat of a death sentence with an honest internal battle and a forceful public declaration of his faith. Brunson is WORLD’s 2018 Daniel of the Year.

AFGHANISTAN: Taliban designates for the first time took part in a Russia-led peace conference, but Taliban leaders at the same time reiterated the militants’ longstanding refusal to negotiate with the Afghan government.

UNITED STATES: Ian David Long, 28, the former Marine who opened fire in a California bar on Wednesday night, killing 12, served in Afghanistan and likely suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. Police came to his home seven months ago because of a disturbance, but a mental health expert said he did not meet the criteria for involuntary commitment.

SYRIA: In northwest Syria, the army has seized key positions at Hama, killing at least 22 militants, in what was supposed to be a demilitarized zone under a September agreement to prevent all-out fighting in Idlib province. In the Northeast near the Iraqi border, Islamic State (ISIS) elements have had success fighting U.S.-backed forces in Deir Ezzor, despite controversial U.S. airstrikes.

YEMEN: Aid organizations are not equipped to feed an entire nation, reports one aid worker on the ground in Hodeidah, where airstrikes and fighting are moving toward the city’s center.

MEXICO: Drug cartel leader Juan Francisco “Kiko” Trevino Chavez was sentenced to five life prison terms plus 20 years in U.S. federal court in Waco, Texas, on Thursday and fined $4 million. The hefty punishment followed his July conviction as leader of a drug gang that has, over the past 10 years, shipped $1.8 billion in cocaine into the United States.

I’M READING The Desert and the Sea: 977 Days Captive on the Somali Pirate Coast by Michael Scott Moore.

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