Brazil: dam collapse
On 25 January Brumadinho dam, at an iron ore mine in south-eastern Brazil, collapsed. This caused a sea of sludge to bury a workers’ cafeteria, homes, hotels, cars, buses, and a train. At the time of writing, the death toll is 99, with at least another 250 unaccounted for. 192 people were rescued alive. The chance of finding anyone alive now is minimal. Israeli engineers, doctors, and members of an underwater missions unit joined the search team. The Brazilian police arrested three employees of the giant mining company Vale, and two engineers working for a German company which inspected the dam last year. Many residents were evacuated as a safety measure. The first funerals were held on 27 January. Having a body to bury may be a twisted privilege, with hundreds of people buried and colossal challenges to find them. Greenpeace said it was ‘a sad consequence’ of lessons not learned by the government and mining companies.
North Korea: secret money
Lim II went to a construction site in Kuwait, where he worked day and night for five months, but was not paid. His salary was sent straight to Pyongyang. Over the years, an estimated 150,000 North Korean men and women have been recruited and sent abroad to work for the ruling Kim family. Toiling in factories and on construction sites around the world, they have generated billions of dollars for the pariah state. Reporters in a documentary met defectors who confirmed that the cash earned overseas was going directly to fund the development of the country’s nuclear missile programme. A former high-ranking official spoke of Office 39, which manages thousands of companies and factories overseas and provides half of the country's gross domestic product. ‘Our main goal was to make foreign cash, and this foreign cash business is a complete secret.’
Pakistan: Christians sentenced to death
Two Christian brothers have been sentenced to death for blasphemy. Qaisar and Amoon Ayub have been held in jail since their arrest in 2014, allegedly for posting ‘disrespectful material’ on their website. A legal aid centre, CLAAS-UK, which represents the brothers, has said it plans to appeal the sentence, taking it to the Lahore High Court. CLAAS-UK stated on its website, ‘In this case the trial judge did not apply his judicious mind and convicted the accused in a very casual manner’. The story dates back to 2011 when Qaisar, following a quarrel at his office, started to receive death threats, and the brothers had to flee the country. They were arrested on charges of blasphemy on their return four years later. For their full story, click the ‘More’ button; also see
Central African Republic (CAR): new peace talks really matter
90% of CAR’s population are Christian; Islam is practised by 9%. All the people are suffering. As a new round of peace talks between armed groups and the government began on 22 January, the UN’s top humanitarian official in CAR warned that continued violence could push the country closer to famine. Around 2.9 million people (63% of the population) need humanitarian assistance and protection. Of those, 1.9 million require acute and immediate aid. Food security and protection are the main concerns. Increasing levels of violence drive the ongoing crisis, with near-constant conflict since 2012. Although a peace agreement was reached in 2013, rebels seized the capital two months later, forcing President Bozizé to flee. Rival militias have fought each other ever since. Much of the country is overrun with armed groups, despite the 2016 election of President Touadéra.
Do watch, and share the links to these excellent new videos entitled ‘Reaching the Unreached – Prayer that Empowers Missions’ - that focus us on the need to pray for the 4,700 unreached peoples' groups. They were produced by the acclaimed Videographer / Director, Michael Lienau, a friend of IPC: 
