A Christian organisation has released its annual list of the countries where Christians are most persecuted. Their methodology involved measuring the level of Christian freedom found in five spheres of life: private, family, community, national, and church. The degree of violence towards Christians also factors in to the rankings. North Korea tops the list, but the rest of the top 10 are all Islamic countries. The total number of Christians (confirmed) killed for their faith last year was 2100, almost double the total for 2012; more than half of these deaths were in Syria. The report also notes that the United States has been unusually silent on issues of religious persecution, perhaps due to the government’s emphasis on human rights for other groups, although the report notes that the same lack of outcry is also seen in Protestant churches.
A vote initiated by the Labour party to give local councils power to ban fixed-odds betting terminals, described as the “crack cocaine” of gambling, was defeated by the Coalition government. The terminals, which were legalised by a Labour government in 2005,were used to gamble nearly ₤200 million last year in a single Liverpool constituency which is one of the poorest in the country. A Labour spokesman said, “We should never really have licensed these machines in the way we did, and we should put the matter right as quickly as possible.” David Cameron replied that he shared Labour’s concerns about them but the Government is waiting for a report on their impact which is due later this year.
The House of Lords have voted overwhelmingly in favour of an amendment to the Anti-Social Behaviour Bill that would protect free speech. The Bill seeks to replace Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) with Injunctions to Prevent Nuisance and Annoyance (IPNAs) which require a lower threshold of proof. But a lobbying group which includes the Christian Institute and the National Secular Society oppose the new law as they fear it will be used to restrict free speech. The amendment replaces the threshold of causing “nuisance or annoyance” with the test of causing “harassment, alarm or distress.”
Illustrating the need for the above change is an incident in Dundee where a street preacher was arrested for preaching about sexual sin including “adultery, promiscuity and homosexual practice.” He was arrested following a complaint from two women in the area. Both the women and the police were aggressive in their responses; one woman tried to smash a camera that was being used to film the event; both women shouted “we’ll get you arrested” when the police arrived, even though the street preaching group had finished preaching and packed up by then; the police “grabbed” the camera and threw it in the back of the police van; and the preacher was arrested and put in the van with no explanation of why he was being arrested. He is due to appear in court on 22 January.
A Florida man has pleaded guilty to tricking his girlfriend into taking a pill that induces miscarriages in order to abort their unborn baby. His lawyers are currently arguing that a single pill may not have been sufficient to cause the abortion, but if found guilty, he faces a jail sentence of 13 years and eight months,
In technology news, there is now official acknowledgement from one bank that contactless bank card scanners can deduct money from the wrong card. First Direct has instructed customers to remove their cards from wallet or purse before presenting them to such scanners to avoid this risk. Engineers have also suggested that illegal contactless card scanners are cheap and easy to make. Suggested preventative measures include carrying your cards in an aluminium box, or lining your wallet/purse with tinfoil.
And finally, Star Trek tricorders and stunners could be coming to your smartphone. At the CES 2014 conference in San Francisco, one company is showing a prototype of a handheld sensor plus smartphone app that can monitor a person’s vital health signs; another offers a phone case with an attached battery that can either deliver a 650,000 volt electric shock (like a mild Taser) or act as a reserve battery for your phone. Other gadgets on display (all built into smartphone cases) include a thermal imaging camera; a camera with three interchangeable lenses; and prongs that allow the phone to be plugged directly into a power socket. There’s even a saucepan with USB ports which generates power from heat, intended for charging phones in the great outdoors.
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