* SUDANESE PRESIDENT ACCUSED OF GENOCIDE - The prosecutor at the International Criminal Court on Monday formally requested an arrest warrant for Sudan’s president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity committed during the last five years of bloodshed in his country’s Darfur region.

Announcing the request, the prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, said that Mr. Bashir "masterminded and implemented" a plan to destroy the three main ethnic groups in Darfur, the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa.
"His motives were largely political," the prosecutor said. "His alibi was a counterinsurgency. His intent was genocide."

Mr. Moreno-Ocampo, of Argentina, charged that, having failed to defeat a rebellion, the Sudanese president turned against civilians. "Al-Bashir organized the destitution, insecurity and harassment of the survivors," he said. "He did not need bullets. He used other weapons: rapes, hunger and fear. As efficient, but silent."

At a news conference at the court in The Hague in the Netherlands, he said that he handed over his evidence on Monday morning to the three judges who will decide whether to issue an arrest warrant. An answer to the request is expected in the fall, lawyers at the court said.

Genocide charges are the gravest any court can bring, and the prosecutor is expected to implicate others at the top of the Sudanese government.

But the request for a warrant against Mr. Bashir, whose regime has repeatedly ignored international requests to stop attacking civilians, seemed unlikely to lead to his arrest in the short term.
Mr. Bashir has scoffed at two arrest warrants the court has already issued against two other Sudanese officials, even promoting one of them to minister of humanitarian affairs.

The government of Sudan immediately rejected the accusations and said it would fight the charges through legal means.
(New York Times, 15 July 2008) (to index)

* ‘ACCEPTABLE’ DIVORCE STILL HURTS CHILDREN - Children suffer if their parents split up just as much now as they did when it was less socially acceptable, a major study shows.
Research conducted over several decades shows that children of divorced parents are consistently more likely to end up on benefits, without qualifications, suffering from depression or experiencing the breakdown of their own marriages.

Until now, liberal academics claimed the negative consequences were due to the ’stigma’ of divorce rather than the fact of family breakdown
But new research published today shows that changing attitudes towards divorce have not diminished its impact on children’s lives.
The National Child Development Study periodically looks at 17,000 people born in the same week in 1958 and compares their lives with those born earlier and later.
Researcher Kathleen Kiernan comments: "It might be expected that as divorce has become more commonplace, its effects might have reduced. Yet a comparison with children born in 1970 shows that this is not the case."

Divorce has "repercussions that reverberate through childhood and into adulthood," the report concludes.
"Children from disrupted families tend to do less well in school and subsequent careers than their peers. They are also more likely to experience the break-up of their own partnerships."
(The Christian Institute, 9 July 2008) (to index)

* SEARCHING FOR THE ELUSIVE MAN FROM MARS - The Phoenix Mars Lander has successfully arrived and is, as of this writing, examining the surface of the Martian planet. The objective of the Phoenix Lander is two-fold: first, to explore geological evidence for water; and second, to find a "habitable zone" between soil and ice that may contain microbial life. The five previous successful American landings on Mars have produced no evidence of life or even the conditions that may support life, but scientists are evidently optimistic that it must be there somewhere.

We have spent millions of dollars in our efforts to gather more data about other planets. Now we are spending millions more to look for life on Mars. Because the planet has been discovered to be inhospitable to any life, our expectations have been lowered dramatically. Whereas once we were entertaining thoughts of Martians invading earth, now we have relegated our investigation to merely looking for evidence that Mars may have once supported living organisms.

Why would we stubbornly keep looking for life forms that refuse to materialize? Consider these events. First, Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859. Within ten years, the evolution revolution took hold and academicians began teaching that all life originated not from God, but from nature itself. When you add to this the concept that the universe is vast and might contain countless planets to accompany its countless stars, the ingredients or a recipe for alien life are in place. Also, since Mars is relatively similar to the earth in size and distance from the sun, why not begin the search with Martians?

Certain visible features (and perhaps some wishful thinking) led many early astronomers to believe that liquid water, a key ingredient for life as we know it, was on the surface of Mars. However, the first official demotion of alien expectation was in 1965, when the Mariner 4 performed the first flyby of the planet. The "aquatic" features turned out to be nothing more than mirages.

Since then, we have discovered that Mars has an average surface temperature of -50° F, compared to earth’s average of 57° F. Mars is cold. The Martian atmosphere contains 96 percent carbon dioxide (CO2), 2.7 percent nitrogen (N2), and only 0.2 percent oxygen (O2). This is in stark contrast to earth, which has 78 percent N2, 20 percent O2, and 0.04 percent CO2.

On earth, the N2 is inert, so it does not react with sensitive lung tissues. The CO2 and especially H2O vapor provide a vital greenhouse shield. Mars does not have this, nor does it have enough oxygen for life. In fact, it has none of the unique atmospheric attributes essential to life on earth, including an ozone layer. Radiation is so intense on the planetary surface that aside from the cold anoxic environment, this alone would suffice to destroy the very molecules of life. That is why researchers are digging deeper to look for life…or at least an extinct incubator for a life that is long gone.

A straightforward reading of Genesis 1 describes a universe with life that is bound to earth. In it, the earth is described as uniquely constructed to support life. Scientific investigation has confirmed this; the prospects for Martian life appear slim. On our home planet, however, there is strong evidence for a well-designed, robust atmosphere and a planetary makeup that is just right.

Evolutionary scientists will keep looking for extraterrestrial life because their theory predicts that it should exist. But why is there such a conspicuous lack of evidence for it? The Genesis account of creation remains consistent with what we observe and is the only satisfactory explanation for the presence of life…on earth.
(Institute for Creation Research, July 2008) (to index)

* TRIBAL PEOPLE IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA OVERCOME FEAR AND RECOGNIZE GOD'S TRUTHS - Linda Krieg has been away from Papua New Guinea, but is still eager to share the news of what is happening between the villagers and teams of missionaries in the Siawi and Bagwido tribes.

The teaching from Romans is underway and although they are moving slow through the book, the Siawis are starting to gain a better understanding of God's Word.
"Loving one another is still a truth talked about, but evidently not yet being practiced, at least to any great extent," Linda wrote. "What is encouraging is that the tenor of the questions is changing a bit."

One Siawi man, Someliae, wanted to know more about strengthening others and how he could, in return, be strengthened. "Are we able to follow this road today? How do we do that?" Someliae asked missionaries Tom and Danielle Brendle.
The Siawis in this village are starting to recognize that God calls His people to look out for others and to not selfishly look inward.

"John 3:16 and Romans 1:7 tells us God loves us. It tells us how … God loved us and sent His son to bind us back (with God)," Imen, another Siawi, said. "Today, how do we do love like that? I am asking because it is easy to like my own clan and the people in my own family. I usually only think of them."

For the Bagwido people, the task at hand is overcoming the fear of evil spirits they believe lurk in the dark or hang from the trees. One morning, after a Sunday morning worship service, Mark Woodard heard a story that displayed God's wisdom and strength through the faith of Kingsley, a four-year old Bagwido boy.
"Last night after dark, little Kingsley was walking by himself on the thin trail that winds through the village. Kesu [a Bagwido man] saw him and asked, 'Where are you going?'" Holly Woodard wrote. "'I'm going to see my grandpa,' he answered (his grandpa lives on the other side of the village). Kesu asked, 'But aren't you afraid of the nshonm (bad spirits that lurk in the dark)?' Little Kingsley replied, 'What nshonm? My dad told me that talk about bad spirits is not true talk. What do I have to be afraid of?'"

Kingsley's parents, Donald and Caroline are teaching their children truths from God's Word. "Last week, Caroline told Holly that as they sit around the fire at night, they tell their little ones the stories of the Redeemer and thank God for the things He made," Mark wrote.

Please pray that God continues to show His glory through the tribal people in Papua New Guinea and shows them they have nothing to fear when they place their faith in Him.
(New Tribes Mission, 14 July 2008) (to index)

* CHINA’S CONTINUING 1-CHILD HOLOCAUST DOCUMENTED - China's coercive one-child policy has resulted in sex-selection abortions of some 40 million baby girls and leads to about 70,000 children being sold every year, reveals a new undercover documentary to be show next Monday.

"China's Stolen Children," narrated by Ben Kingsley, was made by filmmakers posing as tourists and tells of the after-effects of the country's strict population-control limit of one child per couple through the personal stories of several families.

Headed into its 30th year, the one-child policy is characterized as "the world's largest experiment in social engineering." It focuses on the plight of children sold out of fear of government punishment or stolen because of the nation's unnatural shortage of offspring.

Because of the Chinese government's obsession with being accepted as a member of the community of civilized nations, Beijing is portrayed as more interested in covering up the epidemic of child theft than in addressing the problem.
(WorldNetDaily, 12 July 2008) (to index)