Not The BBC News: 6 December 2013

A law change which was lobbied for by groups as diverse as comedian Rowan Atkinson, The Christian Institute, the National Secular Society and the Peter Tatchell Foundation will be enacted in February. Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986 currently makes it a criminal offence to “use threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour … within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress thereby.” The Government has agreed to remove the word ‘insulting’ from the law. Under Section 5 one protestor was arrested for calling Scientology a ‘cult’, someone else was arrested for saying ‘woof’ to a dog, and another for calling a police horse ‘gay’; several Christians have been arrested for peaceful and [otherwise] lawful street preaching; and one Christian couple were put on trial for criticising Islam.

The Court of Appeal in England has held that observing Sunday as a Christian day of rest can be considered a “core principle” of the Christian faith. They were hearing an appeal against the findings of an employment tribunal and an employment appeals tribunal by a children’s worker after she resigned when her council bosses ordered her to work on Sundays, knowing that she would refuse, and then disciplined her. The tribunals had argued that, since not all Christians observe Sunday as a special day, it could not be considered a core component of the Christian faith; but the Court of Appeal said that the faith of individual believers should be protected, and balanced against business need by employment tribunals. Andrea Minichello Williams of the Christian Legal Centre, said “At last the courts are beginning to demonstrate a greater understanding … that Christian identity stretches beyond private belief and into daily life.”

A woman in Michigan who suffered a miscarriage after her waters broke 18 weeks into her pregnancy is taking legal action against the Catholic hospital she visited three times for not telling her that abortion was “the safest option” for her. Unusually, the lawsuit (which is being handled by the American Civil Liberties Union on the woman’s behalf) is not directed at the hospital, but at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops who set anti-abortion guidelines for their hospitals.

In Croatia, 700,000 people signed a petition sponsored by the Catholic church asking the Government to hold a referendum on same-sex marriage, after the Government produced a Bill that will allow same-sex couples to register for civil partnerships. The number of signatures required the Government to hold a referendum on the issue; the results have just been announced, with two-thirds of respondents agreeing that marriage is “matrimony between a man and a woman.” This definition of marriage will now be written into the country’s constitution. However, human rights groups have said they will appeal on the grounds that the definition goes against “basic human rights.”

In sport, the World League finals of women’s hockey are being played in Argentina. After finishing second in their qualifying group, England beat China 1-0 to reach the semi-finals.

And finally, this year’s Bad Sex Award, for the worst description of sexual activity by a novelist, has gone to Manil Suri, a professor of mathematics at the University of Maryland. His description of a (somewhat convoluted) sexual climax included the following: “We streak like superheroes past suns and solar systems, we dive through shoals of quarks and atomic nuclei. In celebration of our breakthrough fourth star, statisticians the world over rejoice.”