19th February 2026

UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan has issued a report today stating that mass killings of non‑Arab communities when the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group captured the Sudanese city of al‑Fashir bears hallmarks that point to genocide. This is the closest the UN has come to declaring that genocide is being carried out by RSF fighters in Darfur. The RSF has not commented on the report but has denied previous such accusations. Three underlying acts of genocide are identified, including killing members of a protected ethnic group; causing serious bodily and mental harm; and deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the group's physical destruction in whole or in part. Mohamad Chande Othman, Chair of the Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan said, "the scale, coordination, and public endorsement of the operation by senior RSF leadership demonstrate that the crimes committed in and around al-Fashir were not random excesses of war. They formed part of a planned and organised operation that bears the defining characteristics of genocide." People identified as Zaghawa were killed.   Women and girls aged 7 to 70 years old from non-Arab communities, particularly the Zaghawa were raped and subject to other acts of sexual violence, including whipping and forced nudity, the report stated. 

Loving God, we cry for all who grieve or are victims of violence in Sudan. Console with your presence all who are fearful, exhausted, and grieving. We ask your protection for people vulnerable to abuse, women and girls, people threatened because of their tribe or ethnic heritage. We thank you for the work of the UN highlighting abuses.  Lord we ask you blessing and direction and wisdom for the peacemakers and pray for peace, hope and healing in the region. Be with all who have been forced from their homes and run for their lives.  May they find safety and security, welcome and acceptance in countries across the border and across the wider world. May we all stand alongside people abuse, oppressed, traumatised or displaced and keep our neighbours in Sudan always in our hearts and prayers. Loving God we pray that your will shall be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Amen.

In 1978, China’s Three-North Shelter Belt program began to plant trees along the borders of the great Taklamakan Desert to stop sandstorms from ruining adjacent pasture and agriculture land. As the world’s single farthest point from any ocean. The Taklamakan is one of the driest and most hostile landscapes on our planet. Sixty-six billions trees have been planted creating a giant ring of trees that has turned previous unproductive land into a carbon sink that draws CO2 out of the atmosphere. Amazingly, the tree canopy has raised average rainfall by several millimetres, resulting in a natural growth of foliage during the wet season that boosts photosynthesis along the tree line, leading to greater degrees of sequestration demonstrating the potential to transform a desert into a carbon sink and halt desertification. 

Almighty, eternal and loving God,

all praise and glory be to you. 

You provide all we need to sustain us

in earthly and eternal life.

We thank you for Jesus

who is the bread of life.

We thank you for his promise

that all who feed on him will never thirst or hunger.

We thank you for his promise

that all who believe in him

will be raised to eternal life

and feed on your heavenly banquet.

Father God, you are wonderful.

Amen.