This week 45,000 junior doctors took part in the first all-out strike in the history of the NHS. Junior doctors and Telegraph readers on both sides of the debate shared their views in the Telegraph newspaper. There were many interesting submissions. Some key themes were: –people feel used, burned out, ill-treated and are showing it; some patients and even some senior doctors are even angrier. –polls show there is an even split between those in favour and those who think it is dangerous, arrogant, and wrong. –it's not clear how this contract will actually help the seven-day NHS come into being. Certainly it isn't enough on its own. Instead, it may merely be a way of cutting costs. –it’s not clear how the new contract will endanger patient safety, or lead to doctors being more tired than they are now, even though many doctors say this.

Christian Concern's Director of Islamic Affairs reported that prison imams are distributing extremist literature to prisoners. This follows various recent reports of radicalisation from hard-line Islamists in a number of UK prisons. He emphasised the need for major changes to prevent imams from routinely distributing extremist pamphlets and CDs which encourage the murder of apostates and ‘contempt for basic British values’, which are freely available at more than ten prisons. There are around 200 full-time and part-time Muslim chaplains working in jails; 70% of them were taught at Deobandi institutions (a branch of Islam with known links to extremism). 80% of all British imams are Deobandi-trained, and over 40% of British mosques Deobandi-controlled.

Germany’s intercessors are taking an interest in the UK referendum. Their May prayer letter says, ‘Thank you for all your support in prayer for the European Union of Prayer meeting in The Hague in Holland in April. It was a great success! Prayer topics were Israel, and also the UK referendum on EU membership and the consequences for the EU’. The letter also says, amongst other things, that Christians from Europe are taking part in 40 days of prayer and fasting through the European Union of Prayer. They are asking God to protect and preserve His great gift of peace and freedom for Europe (Isaiah 26:3-4) and for a clear majority in the UK referendum on EU membership on 23 June (Psalm 33:13-15). See

Beijing ‘strongly opposes’ the European Union making irresponsible accusations about Hong Kong affairs, and ‘warns foreign governments not to interfere in the city’s affairs’. Hua Chunying, from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, made these remarks at a press conference a day after the European Union released a highly critical annual report on Hong Kong. The report described the case of five booksellers who were abducted last year and later surfaced on the mainland as ‘the most serious challenge’ to the governing principle since the city’s return to Chinese sovereignty, and warned it could undermine Hong Kong’s standing as an international business centre. Christians in China continue to face persecution because the Party wants to control all activities deemed to be a threat to the officially atheist government. See