Church says more than 50 Boko Haram attacks in Nigeria over 6 months went unreported

A Christian denomination in Nigeria has reported that Boko Haram terrorists carried out over "50 different attacks on different communities between the end of 2019 to June 2020," most of which were "unreported or under reported by both the print and electronic media." The Ekklesiyar Yan'uwa a Nigeria (EYN, Church of the Brethren in Nigeria) is the largest Christian denomination in northeast Nigeria, where the Boko Haram factions operate. Consequently, it is the denomination most impacted by terrorist violence.  Most of the 276 school girls abducted from their school in Chibok in April 2014 are EYN members, and over 300 of the denomination's 586 churches have been either burnt or destroyed, "with uncountable numbers of houses belonging to our members looted or burnt." In a statement read out on 2nd July by EYN National President Rev Joel Billi during a press conference in Yola Adamawa, the Church also revealed that over 700,000 church members have been displaced, eight pastors and over 8,370 lay people have been killed, and an unknown number of people have been abducted by the terrorist factions. "Only seven out of 60 District Church Councils […] were not directly affected by the insurgency." In his Democracy Day speech on 12th June, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari stated that the former inhabitants of local government areas (LGAs) previously overrun by Boko Haram had long since been able to return to them. Describing this assertion as "unfortunate, misleading and demoralizing," the EYN President clarified that the four EYN District Church Councils (DCCs) which existed in the Gwoza LGA of Borno State prior to the insurgency are no longer there.

How fear of a US retreat from the Mideast is driving Netanyahu toward annexation

Why is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu so keen on annexation? Theories range from the psychological — he’s seeking a legacy — to the political — to distract the public from his corruption trial — to the ideological — he’s an expansionist ideologue empowered by a right-wing American administration. Some have spoken about the “window of opportunity” represented by the remaining months of the Trump presidency — assuming, as most Israelis do, that Donald Trump is not reelected. The question is a good one, if only because the downsides of annexation are so glaring and significant. For example, a unilateral annexation will make it harder for Israel’s longtime defenders to continue to insist that the Jewish state seeks peace with intransigent Palestinians. Israel, its detractors will say, was only ever interested in expanding its hold in the West Bank and has no intention of letting the Palestinians live free of Israeli control.