14 Civilians 'killed in barrel bomb attacks' on rebel-held areas near Damascus

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Assad led Syrian government forces have reportedly killed at least 14 civilians in a series of barrel bomb attacks on rebel-held areas outside Damascus. The regime has launched an offensive on Wadi Barada, a town north-west of the capital city.
According to pro-government news sources, air strikes began on Saturday after militants from the Fateh al-Sham group, formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra, refused to leave the area unarmed. Pro-revolution activists said government forces unleashed a barrage of ordnance on the village, including explosive barrels dropped from helicopters and at least 30 large missiles.

In Wadi Barada, activists said around 100,000 people were without running water or electricity, and were under attack from all directions. The offensive follows an escalating crisis over water supplies feeding into Damascus from an area that includes Wadi Barada.

Doha seeks emergency Syria meeting as Aleppo bombardment continues

Doha has called for an emergency meeting of Arab League envoys to discuss the Syrian regime's deadly airstrikes on the war-torn city of Aleppo.

Qatar's permanent envoy at the Cairo-based pan-Arab body has requested holding "a meeting to discuss the dangerous escalation in the city of Aleppo and the Syrian regime forces' massacres against civilians" there, a Qatar News Agency statement said.

The request comes after Russia said it will not ask the Syrian regime it backs to halt air raids on Aleppo, which has been divided between regime control in the west and rebel control in the east since 2012.

Air strikes pound rebel-held areas of Aleppo, thousands flee under cover of darkness

At least 20 air strikes hit rebel-held areas of Syria's northern city of Aleppo on Saturday, in the ninth straight day of violence in which bombardments by both sides have killed nearly 250 civilians, a monitoring group said.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights did not immediately say whether Syrian government warplanes or Russian jets, which have been supporting Damascus, carried out the strikes.

Bombing by the government side on rebel-held areas of Aleppo since April 22 have killed 140 people including 19 children, the Observatory said.

OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR SUNDAY 17th MAY 2015, THEME : THE TURNING POINT 1 - BY PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

RCCG OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR SUNDAY 17th MAY 2015

THEME : THE TURNING POINT 1

Memory Verse: Exodus 3:3

And Moses said, I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. 

Read: Exodus 3:1-6

1 NOW Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.

2 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.

3 And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.

4 And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.

OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR SATURDAY 19 JULY 2014 - THEME: COMPELLING UNWILLING HELPERS BY PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

RCCG OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR SATURDAY 19 JULY 2014 - THEME: COMPELLING UNWILLING HELPERS BY PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

MEMORY VERSE: Acts 9:15

But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel

READ: ACTS 9:10-15

10 And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord.

11 And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth,

United Nations Security Council to vote on improved Syria aid access

The United Nations Security Council is set to adopt a resolution Monday authorizing humanitarian convoys to serve millions of Syrian civilians by traveling from neighboring Turkey, Jordan and Iraq, according to Agence France-Presse.
After weeks of negotiations, Australia, Jordan and Luxembourg drafted the text for a vote.

Damascus' ally Russia, which has already used its veto on four Syria-related resolutions since the conflict began in March 2011, has no plans to do so this time.

OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR SATURDAY 12 JULY 2014 - THEME: PRAYERS MAKE THINGS HAPPEN BY PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

RCCG OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR SATURDAY 12 JULY 2014 - THEME: PRAYERS MAKE THINGS HAPPEN BY PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

MEMORY VERSE: Romans 8:28

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 

READ: ACTS 9:1-11

1 And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,

2 And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.

3 And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:

4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

How ISIS jihadist group crucified 9 people in Syria

The jihadist group, Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, also known as Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has publicly executed and crucified nine men in Syria, eight of them rebels fighting both President Bashar al-Assad's regime and the jihadists, a monitor said on Sunday.

The report comes amid fierce clashes on the outskirts of Damascus between the ISIS, which is spearheading a major offensive in Iraq, and rebels, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

"ISIS executed eight men in Deir Hafer in the east of Aleppo province" on Saturday because they belonged to rebel groups that had fought against the jihadists as well as Assad's forces, it said.