An Iraqi Christian woman who had fled from Mosul after ISIS
invaded decided to return to her home because the conditions in the refugee
camp were so bad. She and her mother returned and stayed inside the house for
three days, leaving only to go shopping (wearing the full Muslim-approved
clothing). However, in the middle of the third night, soldiers arrived at the
house and arrested them. They were told that they must convert to Islam, die,
or leave town. She begged to be allowed to stay until dawn; permission was
granted, but she was not allowed to return to her house. “It is ISIS property
now,” they said.
Three thousand people marched in Ireland to protest against
the new abortion law. The law allows abortion right up to birth if the mother
claims to be suicidal. The march was triggered by just such a claim; the
protesters allege that abortion is widely recognised as being an ineffective
treatment for suicidal thoughts; that there was no adequate attempt to address
the woman’s mental health status; and that consequently, an obstetrician was
forced to deliver a healthy baby boy at 25 weeks’ gestation, who is now
struggling for life in a Dublin hospital. A protester said, “This is exactly
what we predicted.”
Christians in the UK are raising concerns about the Liberal
Democrats’ plans, if re-elected, to extend sex education to children from the
age of seven in all schools, rather than the current situation where it is only
compulsory in state secondary schools. The concerns centre around the sexually
explicit teaching materials being recommended by several groups that are
lobbying for sex education to be mandatory.
Another Christian film being shown this year is “Holy Ghost,”
which is a documentary in which the film maker attempts to be guided entirely
by the Holy Spirit in his film-making. No reviews are yet available but the
previous documentary from the same producer, “Father of Lights,” received good
reviews for its positive Christian content. The film is being shown online for
free by Bethel Church in California on September 6th and 7th.
In technology news, students who copy material from the
Internet have apparently been using thesaurus-based applications to avoid
detection by plagiarism software. This has resulted in some unusual phrases in
submitted work; one student’s work used the phrase “sinister buttocks” instead
of “left behind,” and another replaced “big players” with “mature musicians.”
Also in (science and) technology news, students at a
university in North Carolina have developed a nail polish that changes colour
if exposed to date-rape drugs such as Rohypnol and GHB. However, the invention
has raised opposition from some anti-rape campaigners, on the grounds that it
is a woman-only product, and therefore (they fear) increases the possibility of
women who don’t use it being blamed for not taking all possible precautions.
They want something that changes men’s behaviour instead.
And finally, a certain UK financial website offers stuffed
meerkats as a reward to its customers, but a Russian bank has gone one better
by offering a live cat with any mortgage. However, it turns out that new home
owners cannot keep the cat; there is a Russian tradition that a cat is a sign
of good luck to those moving into a new home, so home buyers are allowed to let
the cat cross the threshold of the home first and to take photos with it, but
must then return it to the bank.
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