A Toronto woman who served nearly two years in jail awaiting
trial for entering an abortion clinic and attempting to speak to women there
has finally been freed. Mary Wagner was given a five month sentence for
mischief and four one-month sentences for breaching probation orders, but was
immediately freed because she had served more than twice that time in jail
already. However, it’s not clear how long she will remain free, because she was
kept in jail for refusing to agree to bail conditions that she should keep away
from abortion clinics – and her release from jail was accompanied by a
probation order that she should keep away from abortion clinics. She said she
intended to “continue to reach out to mothers and children who are in danger,”
and that her legal team will appeal the verdict against her.
Another medical study has highlighted health benefits of
fasting. This time it was a 24-hour water-only fast which was found to reduce
levels of (bad) cholesterol in fat cells, which is thought to be especially
important for pre-diabetics.
Poland’s first ever stadium-based evangelistic event, the
Festival of Hope led by Billy Graham’s son Franklin, led to thousands of people
making decisions for Christ in Warsaw.
Three Israeli teenagers (one of whom is also an American
citizen) have been kidnapped by a previously unknown terrorist group on Thursday,
apparently while hitch-hiking. The statement from the group, which claimed to
be affiliated to the Syrian/Iraqi ISIS group currently ravaging northern Iraq,
said the kidnapping was in retaliation for the killing of three of its members
last year. A major man-hunt has been launched by the Israeli army.
Forcing someone into marriage is now a criminal offence in
England and Wales (or elsewhere if a British national is involved), with a
maximum prison sentence of seven years. The NSPCC has said that it has received
increasing numbers of calls from under-16s in forced marriages; the youngest
callers were 12.
In technology news, the first ball of the World Cup was
kicked by a paraplegic wearing a mind-controlled exoskeleton. 29 year old
Juliano Pinto was able to move the exoskeleton’s legs, and thus to walk and
kick a ball, just by thinking about it. The neurotransmitters were developed by
a team led by a Brazilian professor at a US university.
In sports news, England’s opening game of the World Cup led
to them becoming the second-best team in the tournament to date for accuracy of
passing. Unfortunately their opponents, Italy, were first and won the match
2-1.
And finally, a Tory MP issued the following tweet last year, which was re-circulated for its anniversary: “Strongly support the loss of benefits unless claimants lean English”
[sic]. He hurriedly deleted it but not
before it had been copied and re-tweeted.
No comments:
Post a Comment