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The much heralded withdrawal of US combat troops from Iraq “as promised and on schedule”, as President Barack Obama said last August is a step in right direction towards disengagement of the United States of America from that war torn and ravaged country.

Weeks have now passed since the shocking August 23 hostage taking and siege by a police of a tourist bus in Manila but the shame, disgust and recriminations remain and grow more intense instead of waning. Eight of the 22 tourists from Hong Kong were killed by the hostage taker, a former highly decorated Manila police officer 55-year-old Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza.

David Alton urges us to pray and act for China’s imprisoned blind human rights activist named by Time Magazine as ‘one of the world’s 100 most influential people’.

Just under a year ago I sat in an imposing office at the heart of China's Foreign Affairs Ministry. Opposite me was Dr. Shen Yongxiang, China's Special Representative on Human Rights Affairs. An intelligent and genial man,  Dr. Shen listened patiently and courteously extended our time together as we discussed a wide range of issues. But there was one case, in particular, which I wanted to explore in detail with Dr. Shen: the case of Chen Guangcheng - the blind human rights activist jailed in 2006 after exposing the forced abortion and sterilisation of thousands of Chinese women.

It’s when the frightening desperate gasping for breath fills the house and the fifty-five year Pedro Galmanan, father of five, struggles to suck oxygen into his lungs to stay alive and his children realize the terrible effects cigarette smoking has on their father.

His addiction to cigarettes cost him his job, drove the family into poverty and his withdrawal symptoms were an agony to witness. They now watch their father slowly die wheezing as the emphysema consumes his life.

We've had a hectic but brilliant time at New Wine the church family event at Shepton Mallet in Somerset. The response to our new Ugandan campaign was tremendous, and we were delighted that the Archbishop of Uganda visited our stand and signed the petition to 'end child sacrifice'.

We were regularly featured on the radio and our Ugandan team members, Samuel Waako and Vincent Mugisha, were extremely popular. Someone driving to work locally, in Somerset, heard us on New Wine FM Radio talking about the petition we had launched to 'end child sacrifice'. He stopped his car, headed to the exhibition grounds, located our stand, and told Vincent, 'I heard you on the radio and was so moved that I had to come and find you. I must do something to help. Where's the petition?'

Our friends at Ethic Trade donated £200 in prizes for a Free Prize Draw open to all guests and delegates at new Wine. This was to celebrate the success of our new online fair trade shop. The winners have now been drawn and we’re pleased to announce them here:

1st prize £100 voucher to spend at our online shop goes to John Rowbotham of Aylesbury.
10 prizes of £10 vouchers will go to ten others.

Do browse our online shop. Please sign the online petition and encourage your friends and church to do the same.



Samuel Waako and Danny Smith at New Wine 2010