The number of people in any form of legally registered partnership in England and Wales is the lowest on record, new statistics from the 2021 Census show.

The latest 2021 figures, published by the Office for National Statistics, show that less than half the adult population (46.9 per cent) are either married, in a civil partnership, or separated, compared with 58.4 per cent in 1991.

The total number of adults who have never married or been in a civil partnership has increased every decade, from 26.3 per cent in 1991 to 37.9 per cent in 2021. The rise is most pronounced among 25- to 35-year-olds: in 1991, 2.7 million were unmarried; today, that figure is more than double, at 5.8 million. Among women aged between 25 and 29, however, the proportion has decreased from 27.8 per cent in 2011 to 17.5 per cent in 2021.

The Census, which was the first since same-sex marriage was introduced in 2014, showed that adults in same-sex marriages and all civil partnerships make up less than 0.5 per cent of the population. Same-sex-married is the largest group, at 134,000 people; 67,000 are in same-sex civil partnerships; and 36,000 are in opposite-sex civil partnerships.

Read it all.

The number of people in any form of legally registered partnership in England and Wales is the lowest on record, new statistics from the 2021 Census show https://t.co/MNErr268ZO

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) February 27, 2023

The promise and perils of America’s counterterrorism campaign were on full display at a remote training base in central Somalia.

It was graduation day for 346 recruits who would join an elite Somali commando unit trained by the State Department, advised by U.S. Special Operations forces, and backed by American air power.

Since last August, the unit, called Danab, has spearheaded a string of Somali army victories against Al Shabab, an Islamist terrorist group that is considered the deadliest of Al Qaeda’s global branches.

“We’re more dedicated than ever,” said Second Lt. Shukri Yusuf Ali, 24, who joined the unit two years ago as one of its few female members and was recently selected to attend the U.S. Army infantry training course at Fort Benning, Ga.

Read it all.

Nearly two decades after the rise of Al Shabab, Somalia is the most active front in the “forever wars” that the United States has been waging against Islamist extremists since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks https://t.co/MImvQabjRM

— Eric Schmitt (@EricSchmittNYT) February 27, 2023

The 2023 ADOSC Convention Begins in 10 Days!

Our Diocese will gather at the Cross Schools in Bluffton March 10-11 for our 2023 Convention. This gathering is always a time of connection, inspiration, worship and fellowship! We’ll get an update from the leadership on the state of the Diocese, hear an inspiring message from our Bishop, elect those who will serve in the coming years and more.

As Bishop Edgar noted in a message to clergy and convention delegates, we are streamlining the Convention this year. The Bishop’s address and a video update on the churches in transition will be part of Friday evening’s events. The elections, presentation of the budget and business portion of the meeting will be held on Saturday. Learn more. View the nominations booklet. 

Read it all.

The Latest Edition of the #Anglican Diocese of #SouthCarolina Enewsletter 'Our Diocese will gather at the Cross Schools in Bluffton March 10-11 for our 2023 Convention' https://t.co/q32upenGLA [Cross Schools Blufton website photo] #parishministry #religion #BluftonSC pic.twitter.com/kL9zGCu31s

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) February 28, 2023

There is also a downloadable option there.

James Tissot, The Pardon of the Good Thief (Le pardon du bon Larron), 1886-1894 #brooklynmuseum #europeanart https://t.co/Vb9QB8koGZ pic.twitter.com/v0djHocGIH

— James Tissot (@artisttissot) February 10, 2023

Almighty God, who didst inspire thy servant Anna Julia Haywood Cooper with the love of learning and the skill of teaching: Enlighten us more and more through the discipline of learning, and deepen our commitment to the education of all thy children; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

#OnThisDay in 1964, Black feminist activist, scholar, and educator Anna Julia Haywood Cooper died at age 105.

Born in Raleigh, Anna Julia Haywood Cooper was one of our state's early, outspoken suffragists. (1/3) pic.twitter.com/WA0BMb7FD3

— NC Museum of History (@NCmuseumhistory) February 27, 2023

O Lord our God, grant us, we beseech thee, patience in troubles, humility in comforts, constancy in temptations, and victory over all our spiritual foes. Grant us sorrow for our sins, thankfulness for thy benefits, fear of thy judgment, love of thy mercies, and mindfulness of thy presence; now and for evermore.

Good morning from the Lowcountry.. have a great day everyone!.. @ChasCountyGov @ChasChamber @CityCharleston @chswx @weatherchannel @NWSCharlestonSC @chasscene @Justin_Zepperi @SimonBooks @southernliving #sunrise #charlestonsc #WaterfrontPark @morningmika @JoeNBC @Nikon pic.twitter.com/M1aaEJXjVX

— Wendy Mogul Photography 📷 (@WendyMogulPhoto) February 28, 2023

Therefore, holy brethren, who share in a heavenly call, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession. He was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in God’s house. Yet Jesus has been counted worthy of as much more glory than Moses as the builder of a house has more honor than the house. (For every house is built by some one, but the builder of all things is God.) Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ was faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house if we hold fast our confidence and pride in our hope.
Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,

“Today, when you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
on the day of testing in the wilderness,
where your fathers put me to the test
and saw my works for forty years.
Therefore I was provoked with that generation,
and said, “‘They always go astray in their hearts;
they have not known my ways.’
As I swore in my wrath,
“‘They shall never enter my rest.’”

–Hebrews 3:1-11

Beautiful 💚💦 pic.twitter.com/BxOaGEpsHc

— Aleksandar Mitrovic (@Aleksan52094351) February 28, 2023

Oh King of grief! (a title strange, yet true,
To thee of all kings only due)
Oh King of wounds! how shall I grieve for thee,
Who in all grief preventest me?
Shall I weep blood? why thou has wept such store
That all thy body was one door.
Shall I be scourged, flouted, boxed, sold?
‘Tis but to tell the tale is told.
‘My God, my God, why dost thou part from me? ‘
Was such a grief as cannot be.
But how then shall I imitate thee, and
Copy thy fair, though bloody hand?
Surely I will revenge me on thy love,
And try who shall victorious prove.
If thou dost give me wealth, I will restore
All back unto thee by the poor.
If thou dost give me honour, men shall see,
The honour doth belong to thee.
I will not marry; or, if she be mine,
She and her children shall be thine.
My bosom friend, if he blaspheme thy name,
I will tear thence his love and fame.
One half of me being gone, the rest I give
Unto some Chapel, die or live.
As for thy passion – But of that anon,
When with the other I have done.
For thy predestination I’ll contrive,
That three years hence, if I survive,
I’ll build a spittle, or mend common ways,
But mend mine own without delays.
Then I will use the works of thy creation,
As if I us’d them but for fashion.
The world and I will quarrel; and the year
Shall not perceive, that I am here.
My music shall find thee, and ev’ry string
Shall have his attribute to sing;
That all together may accord in thee,
And prove one God, one harmony.
If thou shalt give me wit, it shall appear;
If thou hast giv’n it me, ’tis here.
Nay, I will read thy book, and never move
Till I have found therein thy love;
Thy art of love, which I’ll turn back on thee,
O my dear Saviour, Victory!
Then for thy passion – I will do for that –
Alas, my God, I know not what.

–George Herbert (1593-1633)

In 1980, the Church of #England designated #otd 27th February as a commemorative day for George Herbert #poet

(City of London Corporation) pic.twitter.com/EI7W6lpDE0

— John McCafferty (@jdmccafferty) February 27, 2023

Thirdly, and most fundamentally of all, Bishop Christopher [Cocksworth] admits that the cart was effectively put before the horse. Speaking of the “Pastoral Guidance” the bishops are supposed to be now producing in relation to Prayers of Love and Faith, he writes: “We promised pastoral guidelines on the practical outworking of the provision, with all their complex legal and theological questions, at a later point, rather than offering them alongside the liturgical provision. The result was that the response and prayers raised more questions than they answered…”

In other words, the Bishops came up with the prayers first rather than the theology. But how can you write prayers if you are not sure what the underlying theology is? Not only is it putting the cart before the horse, but arguably the horse has bolted and it is too late to shut the stable door as no-one knows where the stable is anyway. Don’t explore that mixed metaphor too closely but you get the idea…

In other words, the Bishops came up with the prayers first rather than the theology. But how can you write prayers if you are not sure what the underlying theology is? Not only is it putting the cart before the horse, but arguably the horse has bolted and it is too late to shut the stable door as no-one knows where the stable is anyway. Don’t explore that mixed metaphor too closely but you get the idea…

The bishop admits things have been done in the wrong order elsewhere when he lists some of the theological questions still to be answered by the bishops. He says these include: “Is the provision genuinely consistent with the doctrine of the Church of England?” (yes, you read that right!) and “What [are the draft prayers] saying or implying about the permissibility or otherwise of sexual intimacy in relationships of the same sex, and in opposite sex relationships that the Church does not recognize as marriage, and what is its theological case?” So the prayers were written before the answers to the key theological questions on which they rest were considered.

Read it all.

Good grief begins with honest reflection, however difficult.https://t.co/voCNxVJRmM

— Will Briggs (@WillBriggs) February 27, 2023

Sometimes, to appreciate where you are, it’s good to remember where you’ve been. And just over six months ago, Erik Ten Hag had debuted with consecutive Premier League defeats (2-1 at home to Brighton and 4-0 away to Brentford). Cristiano Ronaldo was still around, angry supporters were showing up outside new chief executive Richard Arnold’s house and there was a sense that things could easily slip from bad to abject.

Many, including yours truly, questioned how Ten Hag’s brand of football was going to be effective with this group of players (starting with Ronaldo). And the club’s insistence on signing players who, other than Casemiro, all seemed to be either Eredivisie alumni did not bode well. But here we are.

The League Cup is what it is, but psychologically it matters because it’s the first piece of silverware the club have won since 2017, snapping the longest trophy drought at Old Trafford since the early 1980s. And no, it’s not a bauble won in isolation. United are third in the Premier League, and they just knocked LaLiga leaders Barcelona out of in the Europa League.

Read it all.

Erik ten Hag’s record in finals for Manchester United:

2022/23 Carabao Cup Final – Winners 🏆

“Eras come to an end”. 🔴 pic.twitter.com/E2zUmXVdfF

— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) February 26, 2023

Thirty years ago today, terrorists left a bomb weighing more than a half-ton in a rented van parked beneath the World Trade Center, a workplace for tens of thousands. Its smoldering fuse took about 12 minutes to close the gap between the everyday and the horrific.

The lunchtime blast left a crater several stories deep, sent acrid smoke up the center’s north tower and killed six people. More than 1,000 others were injured that day, including a dark-haired trader just yards from the underground detonation.

Eight years later, that same man, Tim Lang, fled Lower Manhattan as terrorists struck the World Trade Center again, this time with jetliners. He saw the first of its two towers buckle and fall in an attack that killed nearly 3,000 people, including those dear to him.

Mr. Lang is 69 now, with shock-white hair and photos of grandchildren stored in his smartphone. He describes himself as an unremarkable man. Yet he is also an everyman through-line between two remarkable events: the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, which upended world politics, and the bombing of Feb. 26, 1993, which is less indelibly burned into collective memory but stands as ominous prelude.

Read it all.

Thirty years ago on Sunday, Tim Lang was injured in the first attack on the World Trade Center — an ominous but often overlooked prelude to 9/11.

"Just about everybody forgets about it," he said. But he does not. https://t.co/dGR8lVXEyr

— The New York Times (@nytimes) February 26, 2023

Our God and King, who didst call thy servant George Herbert from the pursuit of worldly honors to be a pastor of souls, a poet, and a priest in thy temple: Give unto us the grace, we beseech thee, joyfully to perform the tasks thou givest us to do, knowing that nothing is menial or common that is done for thy sake; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Today the Church of England celebrates George Herbert, Priest, Poet, 1633 https://t.co/mSm4mfIMSY

Image: Panel depicting Herbert in the Anglican Window (C.E. Kempe & Co., 1923) in All Saints', Cambridge. Photo via https://t.co/znkJLsdgR9 pic.twitter.com/LBfMtFaDux

— The Anglican Church in St Petersburg (@anglicanspb) February 27, 2023

Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan: Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations, and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Comme un air de printemps, Lac de la Brèche 💖💙💛🇨🇭#valais #suisse #switzerland #schweiz #ineedswitzerland #landscapephotography #landscape #photooftheday #photography #paysage #mountains #naturebeauty #lake #reflections @MySwitzerland_e @Veronique_Kanel @valaiswallis pic.twitter.com/WTQarMnsPh

— Délèze Dominique (@DelezeD) February 27, 2023

“Take heed lest you forget the LORD your God, by not keeping his commandments and his ordinances and his statutes, which I command you this day: lest, when you have eaten and are full, and have built goodly houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply, and your silver and gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage…

–Deuteronomy 8:11-14

Hazy sunrise over the Holy City! #chswx pic.twitter.com/9GEaEWuNAq

— Joey Sovine Live 5 (@JoeySovine) February 27, 2023

‘Mercy goes beyond justice, it does not undercut it. If I forgive you the hundred dollar debt you owe me, that means I must use one hundred dollars of my own money to pay my creditors. I cannot really make you a hundred dollars richer without making myself hundred dollars poorer. If the debt is objectively real, it must be paid, and if it is my mercy that repays your debt, I must pay it. That is the reason why Christ had to die, why God could not simply say ‘forget it’. Instead he said ‘forgive it’ and meant that if we did not pay it, he had himself.’

–Peter Kreeft, Back to Virtue: Traditional Moral Wisdom for Modern Moral Confusion (San Francisco, Ignatius Press. 1992) pp.113f, cited in the morning sermon

Blessed Lord, who wast tempted in all things like as we are, have mercy upon our frailty. Out of weakness give us strength; grant to us thy fear, that we may fear thee only; support us in time of temptation; embolden us in time of danger; help us to do thy work with good courage, and to continue thy faithful soldiers and servants unto our life’s end.

☘️Guten Morgen ☀️
wünsche euch einen
friedlichen Sonntag 🕊️☀️🕊️ pic.twitter.com/9X6LCuwNDR

— 💫Stein_harmonie🍀🧚‍♀️ (@SteinHarmonie) February 26, 2023

O God, thou art my God, I seek thee,
my soul thirsts for thee;
my flesh faints for thee,
as in a dry and weary land where no water is.
So I have looked upon thee in the sanctuary,
beholding thy power and glory.
Because thy steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise thee.
So I will bless thee as long as I live;
I will lift up my hands and call on thy name.

–Psalm 63:1-4

Morning Oxford. pic.twitter.com/ilISjoDK7P

— Trisha Greenhalgh (@trishgreenhalgh) February 26, 2023

Vote counting is under way in Nigeria’s tightest presidential election since military rule ended in 1999.

Voting was marred by long delays as polling stations failed to open on time in some areas because of logistical problems and security incidents.

Turnout appeared to be high, with many young, first-time voters arriving before dawn to cast their ballots.

The elections are the biggest democratic exercise in Africa, with 87 million people eligible to vote.

Read it all.

Andy Vermaut shares:Nigeria election 2023: Votes are counted but final results may take days: The elections are the biggest democratic exercise in Africa, with 87 million people eligible to vote. https://t.co/qQSps3iuLV Thank you pic.twitter.com/LGYkf4uUFT

— Andy Vermaut (@AndyVermaut) February 25, 2023

John Roberts was born on March 31, 1853, in Wales. His interest was serving the church in the missionary field, and he was sent to Nassau in the Bahama Islands. It was there that he was ordained to the priesthood. However, Roberts yearned for a greater challenge. His opportunity came when he met Episcopal Bishop John F. Spalding who served Colorado and Wyoming. Spalding assigned him to work with the Shoshone in Wyoming.

Roberts’s trip there was a memorable one. He took the train to Green River and then traveled the last 150 miles by stage. . This journey came in the midst of a blizzard with temperatures nearing 60 degrees below zero. The journey took eight days; on February 10, 1883, he finally arrived at his new home. While serving in the Bahamas, Roberts had become engaged to a young church organist named Laura Brown. They kept up their relationship by exchanging letters until she was able to come to Wyoming. She arrived by train in Rawlins on December 24, 1884. Roberts met her there. They were married on Christmas Day at Saint Thomas Episcopal Church. They would raise five children during their years together.

At Fort Washakie, on the reservation, Roberts quickly went to work serving the people. He became the first superintendent of the government school. School attendance was compulsory for Indian children. Many attended against their will. In 1885, Roberts established The Church of the Redeemer that would serve the Shoshone people and other area residents.

The reservation wasn’t the only place where an Episcopal presence was needed. Roberts proceeded to organize congregations in Lander, Dubois, Crowheart, Riverton, Thermopolis, Milford, Hudson and Shoshoni. All but the latter three have active congregations at the present time. “Father Roberts,” as he became known, spent countless hours visiting those fledgling churches, traveling by horseback in all kinds of weather. He officiated at numerous baptisms, communion services, weddings and burials.

Read it all.

The Episcopal Church also commemorates John Roberts, Priest, 1949

John Roberts (1853-1949) was a Welsh Anglican priest & missionary, initially in the Bahamas, later in the USA, ministering from 1883 to the Shoshone & Arapahoe tribes in Wyoming https://t.co/bXvS8Q7isu pic.twitter.com/wQ4k55DEuU

— The Anglican Church in St Petersburg (@anglicanspb) February 25, 2019

Almighty God, who didst raise up thy servant John Roberts to be a witness among the Shoshone and Arapahoe peoples: May we, inspired by his example and prayers, invite all people to the riches of thy grace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

#OTD January 22, 1949
Death in Wyoming of John Roberts, Episcopal priest and missionary to the Shoshone and Arapahoe Indians of Wyoming. He had been notable for his efforts to preserve the culture and languages of the tribes, translating the Bible into two Indian languages pic.twitter.com/NXhbxhaABw

— ☧ Today in Christian History (@HistoricalRook) January 22, 2023

O God, who by thy Son dost marvellously work out the salvation of mankind: Grant, we beseech thee, that, following the example of our blessed Lord, and observing such a fast as thou dost choose, we may both be subjected to thee with all our hearts, and united to each other in holy charity; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

Happy weekend all! pic.twitter.com/KKEYNzkvhO

— David (discovering light) (@Disc_light) February 25, 2023

Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for any honest work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all men. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by men and hating one another; but when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of deeds done by us in righteousness, but in virtue of his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit, which he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that we might be justified by his grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life.

–Titus 3:1-7

Good morning everyone . Wishing you all a happy weekend 👋🍀☕️❤️🇺🇦 My favourite hut at RHS Rosemoor . Lovely and quiet there yesterday @RHS_Rosemoor @The_RHS #Devon #photography #gardens #trees #fujifilm_xseries @FujifilmUK pic.twitter.com/FottQCuNGK

— Gary James 📸 🎸 (@Gazpics76) February 25, 2023

The Archbishops’ Commission for Racial Justice has released the second of its biannual Racial Justice reports.

Mandated to drive ‘significant cultural and structural change on issues of racial justice within the Church of England’, the Archbishops’ Commission for Racial Justice (“ACRJ”), headed by The Rt Hon Lord Paul Boateng, is charged with monitoring, holding to account and supporting the implementation of the forty-seven recommendations of the Archbishops’ Anti-Racism Taskforce which were laid out in the Taskforce’s comprehensive 2021 report From Lament to Action.

In his foreword letter to the Second Report, Lord Boateng singles out for praise the Church Commissioners for their “ground-breaking work” in the forensic audit undertaken on Queen Anne’s Bounty and its links with transatlantic chattel slavery. The Commission welcomes the £100 million of funding to deliver a programme of investment, research and engagement over the next nine years, but caveats that there is much further work to be done as this is “not the end of the story” [Slavery, p 23].

Lord Boateng welcomes the arrival in December 2022 of the Director of the Racial Justice Unit, but expresses continued disappointment at the time it has taken to establish the Unit and comments: “This has inevitably impacted negatively upon our own work and on the progress made across the Church of England in delivering on the recommendations of From Lament to Action”.

The Second Report draws particular attention to the witness heard from representatives of the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Christians about the “indifference, neglect and outright hostility” at the hands of both church and state. General Synod in 2019 urged dioceses to establish a chaplain to the communities. The Commission heard that twelve such chaplains have been appointed and calls for the remaining dioceses to do likewise in ensuring the GRT community receives pastoral, advocacy and educational activities. On the latter, the Church of England’s “Leaders like us” programme will have a part to play and the programme will be scrutinized by the Commission over the course of its work…

Read it all.

CoE Archbishops’ Commission on Racial Justice releases Second Biannual Reporthttps://t.co/lyT8Ngw1ha pic.twitter.com/xDOn5angEG

— Anglican Ink (@anglicanink) February 24, 2023

The posters lining the roads of Lagos show the face of a smiling, bespectacled 70-year-old above a slogan promising renewed hope. Vote for Bola Ahmed Tinubu, pedestrians and drivers negotiating the chaos of the Nigerian commercial capital are told. Vote for peace, justice, unity.

On Saturday, the 6 million inhabitants of Lagos who have collected their voting cards will have to decide whether Tinubu and his ruling All Progressives Congress might fulfil any of these promises. So too will another estimated 81 million voters among the 220 million inhabitants of Africa’s most populous country. Their collective decision will determine the result of Nigeria’s seventh presidential elections since the end of military rule in 1999.

Few doubt the importance of the poll. Analysts speak of a crucial turning point after several years of worsening insecurity and acute economic troubles. Many see a credible poll and progress in tackling the country’s multiple problems as key to stability across a swath of Africa.

“It’s a really very important election and one that will be watched very keenly by people outside Nigeria,” said Murithi Mutiga, the International Crisis Group’s programme director for Africa.

Read it all.

‘Godfather of Lagos’ is the man to beat in pivotal Nigerian election https://t.co/EU5Xjghcv4

— Guardian news (@guardiannews) February 24, 2023

Churches in Ukraine have marked the first anniversary of the Russian invasion with calls to prayer and fasting, as President Putin vowed to continue his military assault, and President Biden rallied morale during visits to Kyiv and Warsaw.

“We are now witnessing a media information wave about a major Russian offensive and troop mobilisation for a second large-scale attack,” the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organisations, which includes the main Christian denominations, as well as Jewish and Muslim leaders, said in an appeal on Monday.

“Millions of believers are praying for an end to this war every day, but the great evil at its root does not want to retreat. In these fateful times, we understand that Ukraine needs God’s power to defeat the Russian aggressor.”

The appeal was published in the run-up to Friday’s anniversary, as European Union foreign ministers discussed arms supplies, and Ukrainian fighters struggled to hold back attacks on the eastern town of Bakhmut and other Russian targets.

The appeal mentioned that “many politicians and experts” had predicted that Ukraine would fall within three days of the invasion on 24 February 2022. They now also agreed that a “miracle had happened” when numerically and technically superior forces had been held back.

Read it all.

Ukrainian Churches mark war’s anniversary with fresh appeals for aid https://t.co/RvADToHAw8

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) February 24, 2023

When Russia invaded Ukraine a year ago, it shocked the world.

Although, in hindsight, it probably shouldn’t have — after all, Russia had amassed at least 100,000 troops along its border with Ukraine in the months leading up to the invasion, insisting all the time that it had no plans to invade.

Moscow had also been rebuffed by the West after it presented NATO with a list of demands asking for the military alliance to essentially roll back its activity in Eastern Europe, and to guarantee that Ukraine would never become a member of NATO.

Needless to say, the Western military alliance refused to accede to Russia’s demands and a few months later, on Feb. 24, 2022, Russian troops invaded Ukraine from the north, east and south of the country. It targeted the capital Kyiv, Kharkiv in the northeast, Donbas in the east, and the southeast of the country, along a swathe of territory reaching across to Crimea — a peninsula Russia had annexed back in 2014.

While Russian forces were able to seize a portion of Ukraine in the east and south, aided by the conduit offered by Russian-occupied Crimea, the overly-ambitious scale and breadth of the invasion quickly came back to haunt Moscow. In April, it was forced to withdraw its forces from the Kyiv area, a retreat seen as a humiliating defeat for Russia.

Read it all.

After a year of death and destruction, Ukraine braces itself for a major escalation in the war https://t.co/vPM1vf7XNJ

— CNBC (@CNBC) February 24, 2023

O Almighty God, who into the place of Judas didst choose thy faithful servant Matthias to be of the number of the Twelve: Grant that thy Church, being delivered from false apostles, may always be ordered and guided by faithful and true pastors; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Today the Episcopal Church celebrates Saint Matthias the Apostle https://t.co/zuJhZS0RTl

Image: Stained glass window by Heaton, Butler & Bayne (1870s) in the old English Church of St Mary & All Saints, 56 English Embankment, St Petersburg pic.twitter.com/oiClFRMHge

— The Anglican Church in St Petersburg (@anglicanspb) February 24, 2023

O Lord our God, long-suffering and full of compassion: Be present with us, we beseech thee, as we enter upon this season in which we make ready to recall our Saviour’s sufferings and to celebrate his triumph. Grant us the aid of thy Holy Spirit, that as we acknowledge our sins, and implore thy pardon, we may also be enabled to deny ourselves, and be upheld in the hour of temptation; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

—Prayers for the Christian Year (SCM, 1964)

Happy Friday all! pic.twitter.com/ItmKvJXY2t

— David (discovering light) (@Disc_light) February 24, 2023

“And because you hearken to these ordinances, and keep and do them, the Lord your God will keep with you the covenant and the steadfast love which he swore to your fathers to keep; he will love you, bless you, and multiply you; he will also bless the fruit of your body and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the young of your flock, in the land which he swore to your fathers to give you. You shall be blessed above all peoples; there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle.

–Deuteronomy 7:12-14

Pink sky this morning before the grey skies moved in #Ballycastle #NorthernIreland #CausewayCoast @VisitCauseway @bbcweather @deric_tv #VMWeather @DiscoverNI @LoveBallymena @WeatherCee @angie_weather @Louise_utv @WeatherAisling @barrabest @Ailser99 @antonirish @geoff_maskell pic.twitter.com/mFOiJVkdNO

— Anne Kelly 💞 🌻 🇺🇦 (@annlizkelly) February 24, 2023