Moadim lesimcha. With thanks to @jonnylipczer, here is a thread of daily inspirational quotes from Rabbi Sacks zt”l as we journey through the Omer. pic.twitter.com/BnyRFxi1UW

— The Rabbi Sacks Legacy Trust (@rabbisacks) March 29, 2021

Let me share with you three things about the life of Luis that I celebrate.

First, there was Luis’ energy. He was a man who, astonishingly, preached as an evangelist for nearly seventy years. In 2015, at the age of eighty-one, he held an outdoor service for 60,000 people in New York’s Central Park and lamented that planning laws hadn’t allowed more attendees. Indeed, when he received news that he had lung cancer, one of his main regrets was that he might have to cancel some of his preaching events. In part, that energy came from his own natural strength but I’m sure a lot of it was asked of God and given by him. Theodore Roosevelt once wrote,

There wasn’t much rust on Luis.

Second, there was Luis’ enthusiasm. One reason that Luis was so good as an evangelist was that he was so openly and wonderfully enthusiastic about the gospel. As anyone who heard Luis will testify, there was joy in what he said. With him the good news sounded good news!

Third, Luis was effective in his evangelism.

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After a 3 year battle with lung cancer, Dad passed away today at his home in Portland, Oregon.

We are heartbroken, yet full of hope and faith. We serve a good God who loves us tremendously. To read more about his amazing life, please visit https://t.co/fWVVnmpU1j
—Kevin Palau pic.twitter.com/PAA8BODNit

— Luis Palau Association (@LuisPalauLive) March 11, 2021

The planet could have a year or less before first-generation Covid-19 vaccines are ineffective and modified formulations are needed, according to a survey of epidemiologists, virologists and infectious disease specialists.

Scientists have long stressed that a global vaccination effort is needed to satisfactorily neutralise the threat of Covid-19. This is due to the threat of variations of the virus – some more transmissible, deadly and less susceptible to vaccines – that are emerging and percolating.

The grim forecast of a year or less comes from two-thirds of respondents, according to the People’s Vaccine Alliance, a coalition of organisations including Amnesty International, Oxfam, and UNAIDS, who carried out the survey of 77 scientists from 28 countries. Nearly one-third of the respondents indicated that the time-frame was likely nine months or less.

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New Covid vaccines needed globally within a year, say scientists https://t.co/3K6RWtOgdh

— The Guardian (@guardian) March 30, 2021

The Taliban’s swagger is unmistakable. From the recent bellicose speech of their deputy leader, boasting of “conquests,” to sneering references to the “foreign masters” of the “illegitimate” Kabul government, to the Taliban’s own website tally of “puppets” killed — Afghan soldiers — they are promoting a bold message:

We have already won the war.

And that belief, grounded in military and political reality, is shaping Afghanistan’s volatile present. On the eve of talks in Turkey next month over the country’s future, it is the elephant in the room: the half-acknowledged truth that the Taliban have the upper hand and are thus showing little outward interest in compromise, or of going along with the dominant American idea, power-sharing.

While the Taliban’s current rhetoric is also propaganda, the grim sense of Taliban supremacy is dictating the response of a desperate Afghan government and influencing Afghanistan’s anxious foreign interlocutors. It contributes to the abandonment of dozens of checkpoints and falling morale among the Afghan security forces, already hammered by a “not sustainable” casualty rate of perhaps 3,000 a month, a senior Western diplomat in Kabul said.

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While the Taliban’s current rhetoric is also propaganda, the grim sense of Taliban supremacy is dictating the response of a desperate Afghan government and influencing Afghanistan’s anxious foreign interlocutors. https://t.co/bvehHT6CIe

— New York Times World (@nytimesworld) March 31, 2021

The state department report included new details about China’s use of forced labour in Xinjiang, the source of a growing trade dispute with the West over the past year. The report noted Xinjiang government documents had revealed a large-scale government plan, known as the “mutual pairing assistance” programme, where 19 cities and provinces, mostly in eastern China, have established factories in Xinjiang and were using forced labour.

It said the labour was provided by detainees in the internment camps who were subjected to forced labour in the factories “producing garments, hair accessories, and electronics and in agricultural production, notably picking and processing cotton and tomatoes”.

The report said there was credible evidence of the forced transfer of Uighur detainees to work in technology, clothing, and automotive factories and in the production of personal protective equipment. It noted reports that transfer schemes led to forced labour of nearly half a million people in the Xinjiang cotton harvest.

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China is guilty of genocide, says US report https://t.co/YjdOZsPItl

— Pamela Almaz (@palmaz2112) March 31, 2021

About six weeks ago, millions of homeowners across Texas suddenly found their water to be possibly contaminated—or lost access to it entirely—when freezing temperatures and the state’s decrepit infrastructure led to widespread blackouts.

Last week, on the other side of the planet, Taiwan cut water supplies to areas including a key hub of semiconductor manufacturing, thanks to the worst drought in decades.

These back-to-back crises are emblematic of a global catastrophe that is only now getting the attention it deserves. And unlike other calamities that may recede over time, this one is only going to get worse. The World Health Organization estimates that in less than four years, half of the world’s population will be living in water-stressed areas.

“These risks are only expected to grow as climate change effects intensify,” said Thomas Schumann, the founder of Thomas Schumann Capital, a firm that’s created investable water indexes for the U.S. and Europe. “Not only that, but the business costs associated with these risks are projected to be $300 billion…or five times greater if left unaddressed.”

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The world is in a water crisis, & children’s lives and futures are at risk. Today, over 1.42 billion people – including 450 million children – live in areas of high or extremely high water vulnerability.

New @UNICEF publication address water insecurity 👉https://t.co/uEgjVfGNfO pic.twitter.com/YxIda3hzx0

— UN-Water (@UN_Water) March 29, 2021

The consecration of Onyango—59 years old—comes 32 years after the election of Bishop Barbara Harris in the Episcopal Church in Massachusetts in the USA. Harris was the first woman bishop in the worldwide Anglican Communion, while Onyango is the second female Anglican bishop in Africa after Bishop Ellinah Wamukoya of the Anglican Church in Southern Africa. Wamukoya was elected in 2012.

“The journey to join the ministry has been a long one with wonderful memories such as the fear that I would not manage to carry the Chalice and administer Holy Communion. (I) am grateful to my family, my late parents…. and…. sisters and brothers…. who provided all the support I needed to grow in ministry,” said Onyango in her acceptance speech.

She said the bishop had appointed her as an assistant to help build a vibrant and well-managed church in line with the diocese’s vision and mission.

“It’s a great challenge, but I want to do things in a different way to bring about change,” Onyango, mother of two, said. “I hope my work can inspire more women to take leadership in the church.”

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Dr Emily Awino Onyango has broken a record. She is the first female bishop of the Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) in East and Central Africa. A crown bestowed on her when the church recently appointed her assistant bishop in the Diocese of Bondo.https://t.co/Q1pOInia02

— Nation Africa (@NationAfrica) March 11, 2021

O Lord Jesus Christ, who didst cleanse the temple courts, and didst teach, saying, My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations: Cleanse thy Church, we beseech thee, of all evil, and so sanctify it by thy saving grace, that in all the world thy people may offer unto thee true and acceptable worship; for thy name’s sake.

The sunrise looks like a painting this morning! @wgme @StormHour #MyMaine pic.twitter.com/0l10jSvcge

— Katie Sampson (@KatieWGME) March 31, 2021

Therefore, my brethren, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.

I entreat Eu-o′dia and I entreat Syn′tyche to agree in the Lord. And I ask you also, true yokefellow, help these women, for they have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let all men know your forbearance. The Lord is at hand. Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, do; and the God of peace will be with you.

–Philippians 4:1-9

Monte Fitz Roy / Cerro Chalten – El Chalten, Argentina by Therese Beck pic.twitter.com/CvwtvL0Das

— Kazuhito Kidachi (@kazuhito) March 31, 2021