London Latest News June, 2009

UK 'cocaine capital of Europe'

The UK is the cocaine capital of Europe, the UN has said.

The UK has more than one million regular cocaine users according to the UN. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime said the UK is Europe's largest cocaine market - with more than one million regular users. But its report revealed the quality of the Class A drug has declined dramatically in recent years. A crackdown on traffickers has pushed prices up and led to dealers cutting even more. Some seizures by police revealed substances being passed off as cocaine that were only 5 per cent pure. The UN found dealers diluting their product with cutting agents such as dental and veterinary anaesthetics that mimic the effects of cocaine but are much cheaper. The World Drug Report 2009 revealed that cocaine use increased dramatically in the UK from the mid-90s, but remained stable over the last two years. Data given to the UN by the UK's Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) shows wholesale prices have risen to record levels. The cost of a kilogram of cocaine has increased by 50 per cent from £30,000 to £45,000 since 2007. There are estimated to be 860,000 cocaine users in England and Wales and around 140,000 in Northern Ireland and Scotland combined. The report states: "The UK thus continues to be - in absolute numbers - Europe's largest cocaine market, with its second highest cocaine use prevalence rate." The report revealed a concentration of "problem drug users" in the capital, with around a quarter of all problem users in the UK living in London - a total of 74,000 people. That means around one person in 100 in the capital has a drug problem. The report also details the supply routes that bring drugs to the UK. Cocaine is shipped here via the Caribbean or - increasingly - the west coast of Africa. Heroin comes from Afghanistan on land routes through the Middle East to Europe before it is re-packaged and smuggled in to Britain. MORE

UK Youths Trip to Kenya                

Centre Youth Club

Memorial Community Church,

(Former Memorial Baptist Church)

395-387 Barking Road,

London, E13 8AL

The Project: Kenya 2009

Councillor Clive Furness, who is one of the Swift Youth Club Co-ordinators/Leader and a Deacon in Memorial Community Church, Plaistow, will be the Leader of the 11 youths travelling to Kenya.

The Project, 'Kenya 2009', will take 11 young people from The Memorial Community Church,  Swift Centre Youth Club, (the former Memorial Baptist Church), plus one leader to Nairobi, Kenya from 8th August - 29th August 2009.

This is an opportunity for young people from East London to engage in an overseas expedition with the following

Aims:

• To foster good relations with people from a different culture and environment by working together on a community project.                                             
• To gain a better understanding of the world and of the conditions under which people in different countries live and work.                                      
• To share in a work experience with young people from Kenyan Churches.

Activities:                                             

• The youths will be working with young people from one of three Churches in Nairobi, Kenya on community projects. These projects will involve working with children who are orphaned because of AIDS; we will assist in the painting and refurbishment of a community centre and we will work on the ‘clean up’ of an area of Nairobi, clearing litter and rubbish.

• Additionally, they will be playing four football games against local youth teams and visiting a game park and a Masai village.                                                                                                                                                                                                             

                                                                                                                  Mr. Peter N. Kiruthi, (right), well known as 'Misterseed', presenting some donations towards the youths' trip to Kenya to the Minister-in-Charge of Memorial Community Church, (the former Memorial Baptist Church), Rev. Mark Janes.

               Robber 'escaped in cigarette break'                 

Serial armed robber John Slavin escaped from a secure mental hospital to resume his life …More

John Slavin, 44, who was originally arrested after holding up a hotel receptionist and a woman bookshop worker at knifepoint, returned almost immediately to the scene of his last robbery to force another terrified staff member to again empty the till. Slavin is being tried in his absence at London's Southwark Crown Court on charges including robbery.

The court was told four days later he struck at a vintage clothes store and, still wielding a knife, robbed two women workers of a laptop. As he left he allegedly warned: "If you phone the police I will stab someone in the street."

Slavin, of no fixed address, is being tried in his absence on four counts of robbery involving cash and property worth several hundred pounds between March 25 and November 21, 2008. He is also accused of possessing an offensive weapon and escaping from lawful custody. Judge Stephen Robbins told jurors the defendant's mental illness meant he was not fit to plead, stand trial or give evidence. Jurors were told he had been arrested and sent to the medium secure Shaftesbury Clinic in Springfield Hospital, Wandsworth, south-west London. But after eight months he allegedly escaped as he and 11 other prisoners were allowed to leave their ward for a cigarette break in an enclosed yard.

Father's Day lacks Mother's Day fuss

Laura Capitano, a columnist. 

London, Sunday 21st June 2009.My years working in the restaurant industry taught me that the Mother's Day shift was far more lucrative than was Father's Day. The waiting list runs all Mother's Day long at respectable restaurants, as tables turn over with corsage-clad matriarchs escorted by devoted children, grandchildren, husbands and fathers. I've yet to see boutonniere one on Father's Day.

Please help these girls

Please help these girls After posting this story and the appeal for help, one lady was touched so much that she swung into action with a deliberate aim of helping the two girls. Wambui Kamau of Virginia was able to get a contact in Nairobi who has been assisting in monitoring the girl’s situation and delivering the immediate help needed. Read more>>

HELP THIS BOY

A couple at an IDP transit camp in Eldoret Kenya is agonising over their three-year-old child who suffers from a rare ailment.Read more

Put God in your card this Fathers' Day

The Church of England is making a bid to put God into Fathers’ Day with a prayer for children to include in their cards on June 21, asking God to help dads grow in love and wisdom. The Bishop of Worcester, the Rt Rev John Inge, said, “Let’s celebrate Fathers’ Day in our churches, honouring those fathers who have shown us something of God’s love, praying for fathers to be given strength in their crucial role and remembering that God, who is our Father in heaven, loves us more than we can grasp.”  Children ‘lost for words’ this Fathers’ Day are encouraged to paste or write in their cards a prayer specially written for the occasion, thanking dads for their love and support and asking God to support and guide them.“I have always believed in my head,” said Bishop Inge, “that God loves me unconditionally but it was only when I became a father myself that I began to understand it with my heart.” The prayer is backed up by a new page on the Church of England website with more prayer material. Churches are offered a sample service to customise for Fathers’ Day, a podcast in which Bishop Inge explains how becoming a father gave him a new understanding of God’s unconditional love, and a link provides a gateway to the WhatDadsAdd website created by the Church or England and the Mothers’ Union.“I have never known a love quite like the love of being a father and I rejoice in the great gift of fatherhood,” said Bishop Inge. “I rejoice in it because of my children, to whom I am devoted. But I also rejoice in it because it helps me to understand more profoundly how God loves me, and how nothing can separate me from that love.”

For God so loved the World…”   - John 3.16

A Prayer for the World

Lord Jesus Christ,

We lift our voices in unison with believers from Africa and Asia,

from the Middle East and Europe, from North and South America,

and fromAustralia and Pacific Islands.

May people from every tribe and language become Your followers,

so that Your blessing brings tranformation among all peoples.

Let Your kingdom be established in every nation of the world

so that government will rule with righteousness and justice.

May Your Name be great, from the rising of the sun to its setting.

Amen.

                                               A specially written GDOP prayer for the world and the Lord’s Prayer was prayed by Churches  in London in their Sunday services,  while GDOP prayer gatherings took place in each of London’s 33 boroughs in the afternoon. A praying gathering of Christians is seen in the above pictures praying for the world at Elim Church, Barking. 

The fourth Global Day of Prayer London, which was held on the Pentecost Sunday, 31 May 2009, saw Christians cover London in prayer as they met across the capital in their churches. In the morning, churches prayed a specially written GDOP prayer for the world and the Lord’s Prayer in their Sunday services, while GDOP prayer gatherings took place in each of London’s 33 boroughs in the afternoon. Over 50 prayer celebrations took place throughout all 33 London boroughs and greater London. We joined together with Christians in 220 Countries, (every nation under the Sun!!) in lifting Jesus as Lord over the whole Earth.  

It is reportedly, the largest Prayer meeting the World has ever seen. Here in the Capital, we had an unprecedented river of prayer running through every one of London’s boroughs in numerous locations; in prison, on high streets, in parks, churches and various venues around the M25 ring road.

In Newham hundreds of young people held a special prayer celebration, while in Southwark and Camden, Christians celebrated in the open air, like Hounslow did on their high street! The churches in Brent used the Global Day of Prayer as a prayer meeting to launch a borough-wide mission campaign. This was mirrored by the churches in Croydon. There was widespread prayer for the Mayor, Boris Johnson MP and the Prime Minister Gordon Brown, both of whom gave personal endorsements for the Global Day of Prayer. Tens of thousands of Christians across the capital used the world prayers in their Sunday services.

The Global Day of Prayer London also saw new borough-wide prayer initiatives formed. Hackney has embarked on a years programme of prayer along with Greenwich, Barking and Dagenham. The ten days running up to Pentecost saw scores of churches involved with 24 hour prayer vigils and joint prayer services around the M25 and across the capital. Pentecost Sunday witnessed collaboration between the historic denominations, Evangelical, Charismatic and Black Pentecostal churches. Prayer celebrations took place in key churches like St Barnabas in Barnet, St Michaels in Camden, City Temple Holborn, New life Christian Centre Croydon, New Wine Church Greenwich, the Round Chapel Hackney, Christ Church Spitalfields, Salvation Army Notting Hill, All Saint Woodford Wells, KICC Walthamstow, Trinity Chapel Newham, and many others including one of the capital’s main prisons.

We are encouraging ALL Christians in our capital and the counties around to keep on praying for the church, the workplace, the community, the city, and our nation. That they keep with the nice habit of praying the Lord’s Prayer at 12 noon. We are encouraging every church to hold a service of prayer, a half-night of prayer or even join in with the 24 hour chain of intercession which is in its third consecutive year. This will cascade into a wave of intercession leading up to the national day of prayer at Wembley in 2011.

The Elim Church, Barking where the forth Global Day of Prayer was held on 31st May 2009

Story & Pics by Courtesy of Freelance Photo Journalist, Duncan K.Kamanu

Detroit triplet gives birth to her own set of 3

Amber Ali, center, is flanked by her triplet sisters Asia, left, and Ashley, right, as she holds her newborn triplet sons, from left: Amir, Armann, and Amari Whitaker, in the Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit at Sinai-Grace Hospital in Detroit, Friday afternoon, May 29, 2009. A Michigan woman who's one-third of a set of triplets is celebrating the birth of her own three babies.

DETROIT (AP) — A Michigan woman who's one-third of a set of triplets is celebrating the birth of her own three babies. Amber Ali delivered Amir, Armann and Amari Whitaker on May 26 at Sinai-Grace Hospital in Detroit. The 23-year-old woman tells The Detroit News she's relieved the boys arrived safely. The children remain hospitalized, and Ali says she's looking forward to playing with them. She says: "It's going to be fun." Amir was 4 pounds, 5 ounces at birth; Amari was 4 pounds, 3 ounces; and Armann was 3 pounds, 12 ounces. The babies' 25-year-old father, Andre Whitaker, says that naming the triplets "took forever." The couple live with Whitaker's mother in Detroit. Amber Ali's triplet sisters, Asia and Ashley, live in nearby Redford Township.

The First Interaction of the Newest Member of Your Family with the Church...'Baby Dedication'

The arrival of a new baby is a time of rejoicing for any family. The newness of life often brings a special freshness toward all of life. Often, during this time, parents want to do something in the church building to celebrate their joy with others and to present their child to God for blessing. Children are a gift from God, and like everything good in life, they come from God and they belong to him. Parents are caretakers of the children God has given to them. The joy of Jesus' birth was shared with the people of God in the house of God, and like most Jewish parents in those days, Joseph and Mary brought Jesus to the temple to be presented to God. Long before this time, godly parents presented their children to God. And to this day, parents bring their children to God, asking for his blessing. Recently, Rev. & Mrs Anthony Gichuhi of Remnant Christian Centre, Stratford, London, and two other parents had their children dedicated at a very colourful ceremony in the Christian Centre on 31st May 2009.

Pastor Anthony Kimani, left, of Likewise Christian Church, Ilford, dedicating Rev. & Mrs. Anthony Gichuhi's son, Abenezar Kimani Gichuhi and to entertain the guests were the Remnant Christian Centre Sunday School Children, right.

Pastor Kimani, who also, dedicated Mr & Mrs Micheal Njenga's, son, Vincent Mara, left, and Mr & Mrs Daniel Nginyo's daughter, Angela Nyambura, right, said that dedication of children before God and the Church means that you realize that the Church should have a large part in the spiritual growth of your family. 'The church should know you and your child so that they can give prayer support, assist in Bible teaching, and provide opportunities, facilities and workers through which you and your child can enter into the fullness of Christian faith, he added.

Mrs Kimani, 4th left, guests and Church members raising their hand in a blessing-prayer to the newly dedicated children during the dedication ceremony.

Some Christian churches baptize infants by sprinkling them with water. In those churches the covenant of baptism is seen as being similar to the Old Testament covenant of circumcision. Other Christians don't baptize infants. Instead they dedicate babies to God. There are several reasons for this. First, there are no clear incidents of infant baptism in Scripture. Baptism seems, instead to be an evidence of Christian faith. Additionally, while some groups suggest that baptism imparts a special grace to children, there is no real scriptural support for this. Finally, in our society, often adults who were baptized as children desire to be baptized again as an expression of their decision to receive Christ as their Savior and Lord.

TI ranks Kenya third most corrupt Sub-Saharan country

Nairobi, Monday 8th June, 2009. Kenya is the third most corrupt country in sub-Saharan Africa, says a global corruption survey released by Transparency International on Sunday. And in the sea of corruption, only one in four Kenyans who reported paying a bribe bothered lodging the complaint with the authorities, raising serious doubts about the effectiveness and the legitimacy of the public offices charged with anti-corruption efforts.

While the survey identifies the private sector as a key source of bribes, greasing hands to influence public policy, laws and regulations, the police in Kenya were highlighted as the key source of bribe demands. Political parties, Parliament and the Civil Service were also identified as domains of corruption. MORE

The Proclaimers Sanctuary "Grays Essex" Celebrates Kiswahili Open Day in Style

The Proclaimers Sanctuary "Grays Essex" Kiswahili Culture Group celebrated their Open day on Saturday, 30th May 2009, at the Grays Methodist Church, Hathaway Road, Essex.

The ' Kiswahili School' children performing in Swahili language during the Proclaimer's Sanctuary "Gray Essex" Kiswahili Culture Group Open Day. The Children, whose ages varies between 1yr 9 months and 15 yrs +, danced and sang in Swahili, left, and staged a cultural-fashion show, right. Their 'attires'-dresses etc, were made by the Cultural-fashionable lady, Agnes wa Karanja.

The Group's Open day Celebrations, which were supported by the Local Authority in Thurrock and made possible through a funding from Community Cohesion Board, (CIB), were attended by many people from all walks, including, the projects main funds-provider, T.R.U.S.T, Local Councillors, representatives of Community Cohesion Board, Corporation Diversity in Thurrock, parents and Men of God, among others. It was a colourful day which was full of fun and presentations of achievements from the children and adult Swahili Classes.

The Swahili Cultural Group programme, which is open to the local community in Thurrock and its environs, has been running for some time, and has been very well embraced by the local communities. 'We are not only teaching children from  East Africa, but also from South and West Africa and British people from the UK', said the Swahili Programme co-ordinator, Rev. Karanja.

The 'Kiswahili' School, which has enlisted children and adults in Diaspora from America, Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Ghana and British Nationals, has a fully qualified teacher with proper Swahili teaching facilities and technics.

The programme, which is open to all and attracts 'Swahili Students' from Basildon, Dartford, East London and the environs, is conducted fortnightly in Grays with conjunction with Proclaimers Sanctuary.

"Kiswahili is one of the fastest growing languages in the world and can currently be taken by children sitting for their G.S.C.E in the United Kingdom", Rev. Karanja added. ‘We believe in passing the torch of promise to this generation', he concluded.

Rev. Karanja, the Kiswahili Programme Co-ordinator, left, and the Swahili teacher, Mr. Godfrey Gichuki, right, addressing the parents and the guests during the Kiswahili Programme Open Day.

To grace the occassion was Rev. Karanja's parents, Mr & Mrs Jonathan Karanja from Kenya, left picture, and on the right is Rev. Karanja with local friends.

"Sasa tunakuja" - here we come! says the Swahili youngsters during the Open Day celebrations while being escorted by Mrs Damaris Karanja, right picture, and on the left picture, from left, are Pastors Wangaruro, Karanja, Mr Tom and Pastor Kamweru jovially enjoying the children's entertainments.

"Kiswahili tunakijua, tunakielewa na tunakifahamu" says the Swahili Class youngsters, left picture, while their parents, picture on the right, seem to be saying, 'Hiyo yote tulijua zamani', stays put enjoying the children's show.

Hata 'Kienyeji' ilikuwapo and Mrs. Dmaris Karanja is seen busy serving the parents and the guest, right picture, while the children are enyoying the sweetness of the dishes.

Maize flour price set to stay stable

Titus Mulinge sells dry maize to a customer at the Gikomba market.

The price of maize flour is likely to remain stable as the government has extended a tax waiver for the importation of maize to December. In his speech at Monday’s Madaraka Day celebrations, President Kibaki directed the Finance ministry to extend tax-free concessions for imported maize. The extension means that the price of maize flour is likely to remain stable but the buying price of maize from farmers is likely to fall as harvesting of the crop begins in September. However, Cereal Millers Association head Diamond Lalji said prices might not fall as it could be cheaper to buy locally. “It would not be in the best interests of millers to import given that maize is available locally at almost the same price,” said Mr Lalji. Currently, he said, it costs Sh2,500 to import a 90-kilogramme bag. Tax waivers were earlier announced by the Finance ministry in January as the country grappled with the deteriorating food situation. According to the Kenya Bureau of Standards, 17 companies have imported 335.6 million kilogrammes of maize this year from South Africa, India and the United States. Are protected Meanwhile, large-scale farmer Timon Busienei has cautioned the State against haphazard food importation. Mr Busienei, a North Rift Cereal Growers Association member, said the government should ensure local farmers are protected. “Though we consider food security paramount, local farmers need to be taken into consideration because flooding the market with imports might lead to a reduction of acreage under maize and other crops leading to a long term deficit,” he said.

Five Britons among 228 passengers on Air France plane that vanishes en route from Brazil to Paris

Five Britons and three Irish citizens were among 228 passengers and crew feared killed today when a packed Air France jet ran into strong turbulence off the coast of Brazil and vanished from radar screens.

The Brazilian Air Force has launched a search and rescue mission after the plane disappeared shortly after take-off in Rio de Janeiro

As the airline faced up to the worst disaster in its history, it confirmed the chances of anyone surviving the catastrophe were zero. It is believed Flight AF447 was either brought down by a lightning strike after hitting the severe weather or suffered a devastating mechanical failure. MORE
 

Saudis to push Obama to get tough with Israel

Saudi Arabia will seek assurances that Washington is ready to get tough with Israel in Middle East peace talks when US President Barack Obama makes his first visit to the Muslim kingdom on Wednesday.

A general view shows the Saudi capital Riyadh

After working since January to revive its 2002 Arab peace initiative, Riyadh wants to confirm that Obama is willing -- unlike former president George W. Bush -- to put muscle into efforts toward a two-state peace pact between the Israelis and Palestinians, analysts said. "The only thing that can move the Israelis is the Americans," said Mansour al-Mansour, director of the Centre for Strategic Studies in Riyadh. "If the US is determined to do it, with a strong president, they can do it," he told AFP. The Saudis say they are hopeful of sealing a budding partnership with Obama's administration after what some call the "lost years" of Bush. "Obama and his team are coming with a lot of credibility," said a Saudi government policy advisor. "We are on the same wavelength." But the way ahead for the world's leading superpower and a leader of the Arab bloc remains fraught with challenges. The United States has to wrestle with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's refusal to accept the two-state solution or halt expansions of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. And Obama is likely to press Saudi King Abdullah to make diplomatic overtures toward Israel and to add juice to efforts to pull rival Palestinian factions together, diplomats and experts in Riyadh said. While strongly backing peace efforts, the Saudis have been weak at on-the-ground follow-through, such as uniting Palestinian factions in talks, a task which has been left to Egyptian mediators. On the regional front, both the Americans and Saudis are struggling to come up with a workable strategy to deal with Iran, Riyadh's Gulf rival which is suspected of seeking nuclear weapons. Both sides agree, though, that a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians is a keystone to hemming in Tehran, the policy advisor said. Obama will arrive in Riyadh on Wednesday for discussions and a meal with Abdullah, before heading to Cairo for a long-promised major address to the world's Muslims. The Saudis have warmed to Obama after relations became strained with Bush over the US "war on terror" and the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq. They have been impressed with Obama's appointment of former Northern Ireland peace negotiator George Mitchell, who has made two "listening visits" to Riyadh so far this year, as a special envoy for Middle East peace. Abdullah has actively sought to be certain he can trust Obama, even making a point of asking visiting Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva about the US leader's character at a May 17 meeting, a Lula aide said. Riyadh expects the Cairo speech will reiterate US backing for the two-state solution set out in the Arab peace initiative, for which the Arab League renewed its commitment at a March summit. The initiative offers blanket Arab recognition of Israel in return for the creation of a Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders, with both sides sharing Jerusalem for their capitals. Saudi foreign ministry spokesman Osama Nugali said it is too early to get excited about a possible peace deal, given Netanyahu's defiance during his meeting with Obama last month in Washington. "What we have been seeing is negative statements coming out of Israel, which are of great concern for the whole peace of the region," Nugali said. Obama and the king are also expected to address security issues, as well as Saudi-Iraqi relations, Pakistan, oil prices and the more than 200 remaining Guantanamo detainees. Washington, which aims to remove all US troops from Iraq by the end of 2011, has been perturbed by Abdullah's refusal to embrace Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and to open an embassy in Baghdad, diplomats said. Riyadh worries that Maliki is too close to Iran, and that when US troops withdraw the two countries could become a powerful Shiite Muslim bloc in the majority Sunni region. "We don't believe that Iraq is viable without a substantial American presence," said the Saudi government advisor. Obama is also expected to urge Abdullah to accept some of the roughly 100 Yemeni detainees at Guantanamo into the Saudi rehabilitation programme for Islamist militants. Officials of the programme have been reluctant, stressing that its success in turning former militants into productive citizens is deeply rooted in Saudi family culture. "It's a bad idea, because they didn't grow up there," Christopher Boucek, an expert at the Carnegie Endowment in Washington who has studied the programme, told AFP.

Major manhunt launched as police reveal 16 of the world's most wanted men are on the run in the UK

Four of the world's most wanted criminals are on the run in the UK, it has been revealed today. The dangerous fugitives, all Eastern Europeans who have entered Britain perfectly legally, have been named and pictured in a public appeal to find them.  They are among 16 foreigners who are thought to be hiding out in this country.  Those on the run in London are three Poles and a Lithuanian wanted for violent sexual assaults, drug trafficking, people smuggling, fraud and robbery.
 

Foreign fugitives: Giedrus Jankauskas (left) is wanted for robbery and sexual assault while Radoslaw Kawa, 2nd left, is wanted for sexual assault.Tomasz Galas (3rd left) is wanted for drug trafficking offences while Piotr Bielecki (right) is being hunted for sexual assault. Police have warned that all are considered to be dangerous and some may have access to weapons.Under European Union rules, they would have been able to enter the country without a visa. Some of those on the wanted list may, however, have entered the country illegally and are now living under false identities. The shocking list will increase pressure on Home Secretary Jacqui Smith as critics will ask how such dangerous criminals are able to slip into Britain. MORE

WORLD WEIRDEST ANIMALS/CREATURES

Slender loris

The Slender Loris, so-called because of its long, thin limbs, is very much a nocturnal animal. It spends most of the day sleeping in a tight ball up in a tree before foraging in its forest habitat for food at nightfall. Although it mostly eats insects it does also eat fruits, eggs and even small mammals, birds and reptiles. They are found across Sri Lanka and Southern India.

TRINITY CHURCH DALLAS    

Trinity Kenyan Ministry is an outreach ministry of Trinity Church in Dallas, Texas, the only Church which preaches in ‘KIKUYU VERNACULAR' in whole of Texas State of USA. MORE