The Colorado baker who was told that refusing to make a
custom wedding cake for a gay couple was discriminatory has decided to stop
making wedding cakes altogether. He is not the first to withdraw a service
rather than be forced by law to provide it against his conscience; a bed and
breakfast in Wales that used to have a “married couples only” policy has now
removed all its double beds.
One of the bills proposed in the Queen’s Speech is a Modern
Slavery Bill, which includes provisions for those forced into prostitution
through human trafficking to be protected from prosecution. It will also
include stiffer punishments for traffickers.
The investigation into schools in Birmingham to determine if
they are following an Islamist agenda, and if undue influence has been brought
to bear on head teachers who opposed that agenda, has triggered a high level
Government argument. The Department for Education claimed that the Home Office had
not done enough to remove suspected terrorists from the country; the Home
Office replied that Education were warned in writing of what was happening at
some Birmingham schools in 2010 but took no action. Meanwhile, OFSTED has
announced that at least one of the schools “has not done enough to protect
children from the influence of extremist views.”
The Christian woman who faces a death sentence for blasphemy
in Pakistan is facing further delays to her appeals process, and not just
because of the death threats to almost any lawyer who defends a blasphemy case. Apparently the High Court in Lahore has
been told that, because the case is so high-profile, they must not schedule any
hearings about it. Her current lawyers
are working to find a way around the restrictions.
Boko Haran have killed another 200 villagers in Nigeria.
They did it by arriving in uniforms and trucks that mimicked those of the Nigerian
army.
A minister who leads a 2500 capacity church near Belfast described
Islam as “satanic” and “a doctrine spawned in Hell” to his congregation. He has
publicly apologised following a police investigation. He says he never intended
to express hatred towards any individual Muslims.
In technology news, lawyers tracking hidden assets in
divorce cases are often being granted
permission to look at Facebook, Twitter and other social media without the
knowledge of the person who posted the material. Steven Philippson, a lawyer
who specialises in technology, said, “Cases where we are retaining and
retrieving assets have improved substantially.”
And finally, Sister Cristna, the singing nun, has won the
Italian edition of reality TV show “The Voice.” She says she believes her songs
(including “Living on a Prayer””, “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” and “What A Feeling”) express “the beauty of God”, and
gave thanks to “the man upstairs.” She says she was inspired to go on the show
by the Pope’s call for Catholics to get out on the streets and be closer to
common folk and their everyday lives.
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