Your sure provisions gracious God
attend me all my days;
oh, may your house be my abode,
and all my work be praise.
- My Shepherd Will Supply My Need
The UN envoy for Yemen has said that recent developments in the Red Sea, Israel and inside the country “show the real danger of a devastating region-wide escalation.” In a briefing to the United Nations Security Council on the situation in Yemen on Tuesday, Hans Grundberg warned of the danger of an escalation following new Houthi attacks on commercial shipping and the first confirmed Israeli air strikes on Yemen in retaliation for Houthi drone and missile attacks on Israel. “I remain deeply concerned about the continued targeting of international navigation in the Red Sea and its surrounding waterways,” Grundberg said. “Recent developments suggest that the threat against international shipping is increasing in scope and precision.” The Houthi attacks on Israel and the Israeli strikes on Yemen’s port of Hodeidah and its oil and power facilities represent “a new and dangerous level” of violence, he said. Commercial ships have been sunk and damaged, disrupting trade, civilians have died, the Houthis still detain the crew of the Galaxy Leader, a cargo ship they hijacked in November, and the United States and the United Kingdom continue airstrikes on military targets in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, he said.
Lord God almighty, we pray fervently for the calming of tensions in the Middle East. This risks incredible destruction and violence that would devastate so many communities, families, and children. For the peacemakers who have the strength and vision to carry their nations to peace, we pray.
More than 200 people have been killed in two landslides in southern Ethiopia, authorities said.
The first landslide, triggered by heavy rains in a remote region of Gofa zone, occurred on Monday and was followed by a second one that buried people who had gathered to help, state officials said on Tuesday. Alemayehu Bawdi, Southern Regional State representative, confirmed the death toll and said “search and rescue efforts are ongoing”. Five people were pulled alive from the mud and were receiving treatment at medical facilities, the government-owned Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC) reported earlier. It cited local administrator Dagemawi Ayele as saying that most of those killed were buried after they went to help the inhabitants of a house hit by an initial landslide. “Those who rushed for live-saving work have perished in the disaster including the locality’s administrator, teachers, health professionals and agricultural professionals,” EBC quoted Dagemawi as saying. Gofa is part of the state known as the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’ Region (SNNPR), located about 320km (199 miles) southwest of the capital, Addis Ababa.
For Gofa, we offer our prayers. For Gofa, our hearts break. We pray for those who have lost their life - we pray they might be received into your arms, Lord God. For those that remain, we pray for courage, strength, and the resources needed to rebuild, recover, and renew.
Multiple wildfires in the Canadian Rockies' largest national park sent up to 25,000 visitors and residents fleeing west over the last open mountain road Tuesday, navigating through darkness and soot following a government alert during the area's busiest tourist time of the year.
“It’s wall-to-wall traffic,” Carolyn Campbell, an Edmonton resident, said by phone from her vehicle. “(The smoke) is pretty thick. We’ve got masks in the car.” She said it took hours to move just seven kilometers (about four miles), and worried about others who fled with little gas in their tanks. Hundreds of wildfires are burning in western Canada, and those fleeing Jasper National Park and Jasper town — home to 4,700 residents — in Alberta province were given the unusual order later Tuesday to make a vast U-turn east if they needed a place to stay. To the west, British Columbia province already had more than 300 wildfires of its own. Stephen Lacroix with the Alberta Emergency Management Agency said Jasper town estimated about 10,000 people, including seasonal workers, were there when the evacuation call went out. Lacroix said police were going door to door to make sure everyone had left. He also said Parks Canada estimated about 15,000 people had been in the park.
Creator God, you are the one who sets the stars and calms the seas. Your creation burns day after day in the Canadian Rockies. Lord our God, may you equip and empower firefighters, first responders, and all who are navigating this crisis.
More than 150,000 people have fled the Gazan city of Khan Younis since Monday, two UN agencies have said. Khan Younis, which is situated in the south of the Gaza Strip, has been the focus of a new Israeli military offensive which it says is aimed at combating “efforts by Hamas to reassemble its forces there". The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) issued an evacuation order for eastern parts of Khan Younis on Monday. It also reduced the size of the designated al-Mawasi humanitarian zone, which it claimed was being used by Hamas fighters to carry out "terrorist activity and rocket fire". At least 80 Palestinians have been killed in the area since the Israeli operation began, according to figures from Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry. An official from UNRWA - the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees - told the BBC’s Today programme that an estimated 150,000 people had fled Khan Younis since Monday, when the latest evacuation order was announced. "Over 80% of the Gaza Strip has been placed under evacuation orders or designated as no-go zones by the Israeli military," Louise Wateridge said.
We pray for dignity, peace, and mercy for all who are caught up in this ongoing violence. We pray for the safety of Palestinians and Israelis. For bombs to cease and hostages to return home, we pray. Turn the world’s eye to this ongoing catastrophe, Lord, so that we might help it end with haste.
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