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In the News

  • Mail: Gay clergy who defied bishops by marrying their male partners run for Synod
    September 27th, 2015
    Two gay clergy who both married their male partners in defiance of the Archbishop of Canterbury are standing for election to the Church of England’s ruling body.
     
    If Canon Jeremy Pemberton and the Rev Andrew Foreshew-Cain win places on the General Synod, it will embarrass bishops who issued guidance last year banning clergy from entering same-sex marriages.
     
    Canon Pemberton, a hospital chaplain in Lincolnshire, is in the middle of a court battle with a bishop who ‘sacked’ him from his role as a priest, while Mr Foreshew-Cain has been privately rebuked by his bishop.
  • Guardian: Schoolgirls need protection from forced marriage, Ofsted warned
    September 27th, 2015
    The founder of a charity that offers helplines and refuge to women escaping from forced marriages has called on Ofsted inspectors to focus on the issue when visiting schools where girls may be at risk.
     
    Last week, an inquest heard how model Nadia Menaz, 24, was found hanged in her home in Oldham. The mother of a three-year-old, she had feared being forced into an arranged marriage by her devout Muslim parents and had taken out a forced marriage protection order against them.
     
    Campaigner Jasvinder Sanghera, who set up the charity, called Karma Nirvana, told the Observer: “Education is at the heart of prevention. We would like this abuse to form part of the Ofsted framework as a safeguarding issue. We need inspectors to be trained to identify how schools are safeguarding children at risk of forced marriage.”
  • Guardian: Irish marchers demand referendum on legalising abortion
    September 26th, 2015

    Thousands of people marched in Dublin on Saturday to demand that the next Irish government allow for a referendum legalising abortion in the republic. The demonstrators want a national vote on whether or not to repeal the 8th amendment to Ireland’s constitution, which effectively makes the fetus even at early gestation an Irish citizen.

  • BioEdge: Australians travelling to US for sex-selective IVF
    September 26th, 2015
    Scores of Australian couples are visiting the US to avail themselves of sex-selective IVF, according to infertility doctor turned businessman Daniel Potter. Potter, who is currently touring Australia, runs a network of IVF clinics in Southern California known as HRC Fertility.
     
    In an interview with The Australian, he said that around 15 to 20 Australian couples visit his clinics each month. “Typically it’s women wanting to have a daughter, that’s 80 per cent of what we do,” he said.
     
    For the 150 to 200 Australian couples that travel to the US for the procedure each year, the cost is usually $15,000 per treatment, excluding the accommodation and travel costs.
  • BioEdge: Dutch doctor in hot water for refusing to approve euthanasia
    September 26th, 2015
    A Dutch general practitioner is being sued for not approving the euthanasia of a 19-year-old woman.
     
    The tragic events surrounding the death of Milou de Moor could become an important legal precedent. Ms de Moor suffered from lupus, an autoimmune disease, from the age of 12. This was not only painful, but had severe psychological effects. She was subject to depression, mood swings, anger, blackouts and nerve pain. At least three years ago she requested euthanasia.
     
    According to the story given to the media by her family and doctors, it appeared that all the necessary people had agreed, in accordance with the Dutch law on euthanasia. Her parents supported her decision. A date was set for her death. However, at the last minute, the (unnamed) general practitioner reneged and said that she did not believe that euthanasia was appropriate. Then the hospital declined to go ahead, as well.
  • Schools Weekly: Nicky Morgan says Turban incident was a 'serious error'
    September 25th, 2015
    A Catholic school teacher who forced two Sikh children to remove their turbans made a “serious error” during a “wholly regrettable” incident, education secretary Nicky Morgan has said in a letter to the Sikh Federation.
     
    Ms Morgan wrote to the federation in response to concerns raised about the incident at St Anne’s Catholic School in Southampton, which recently apologised for what it described as a “misunderstanding”.
     
    The parents of Prasimran Kaur, 11, and Simranjot Kaur, 13, who are not related, temporarily removed their daughters from St Anne’s on the first day of this term after they were both told to remove their religious headwear by a teacher who also reportedly tried to forcibly remove the turban from the older girl. Both girls have now returned to school.
  • Independent: Secular activist barred from speaking at Warwick University over fears of 'inciting hatred' against Muslim students
    September 25th, 2015
    A prominent secularist and activist has been barred from speaking at a student union event due to fears her speech would “incite hatred” against Muslim students.
     
    Maryam Namazie had been booked by the Warwick Atheists, Secularists and Humanists (WASH) group to speak about secularism to Warwick University’s Student Union on 28 October.
     
    However, the group was notified last month that Ms Namazie’s speech had been cancelled. The decision has led campaigners to raise concerns about student bodies across the UK thwarting freedom of speech on their campuses.
  • BBC: Australians mock anti-radicalisation booklet
    September 25th, 2015
    A government booklet linking environmental activism and alternative music to violent extremism has been widely ridiculed by Australians.
     
    Australia's anti-terror minister Michael Keenan launched the Radicalisation Awareness Kit on Monday, urging it be shared in schools.
     
    But the use of a case study of a girl called Karen - who gets into music and student politics before getting involved in criminal protests - has sparked both concern and humour.
     
    The #freeKaren hashtag started trending on Friday, and inspired offshoots #IamKaren and #JeSuisKaren.
  • USA Today: Democrats block Planned Parenthood defunding; McConnell offers 'clean bill'
    September 24th, 2015
    Senate Democrats blocked a bill Thursday to keep the government funded through Dec. 11 because of a Republican provision to strip Planned Parenthood of federal money for a year.
     
    Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., moved immediately after the vote to try to avert an Oct. 1 government shutdown by filing a new bill that funds federal agencies but does not include the divisive Planned Parenthood provision. A vote on that bill could come as early as Monday.
     
    Senators voted 52-47 Thursday against advancing a government funding bill by McConnell that would have transferred $235 million from Planned Parenthood to women's health clinics that don't perform abortions. Eight Republicans joined all but one Democrat in voting against the motion to advance the bill.
  • Christian Today: Coptic Christians attacked by Muslim neighbours in property row
    September 24th, 2015
    Coptic Christians in an Egyptian village have been under attack by Muslim neighbours since Sunday over a property row which first began in 2012, according to persecution charity International Christian Concern (ICC).
     
    At least two Christians have been hospitalised in critical condition and four homes have been attacked, after police from El Amerya district attempted to execute a court order to return land to its rightful owner.
     
    The court ordered land in El Oula village seized from Hamdy Makanouti to be returned to him from El Houty who stole the land in 2012.
     
    When they attempted to reclaim the land on Sunday, police were attacked and forced to flee, leaving the Christian population of the village vulnerable.
     
    "After the security forces left, a large crowd surrounded [the] church and hurled stones at it. Then they attacked four homes owned by Christians; they attacked a Christian man resulting in the breaking of his spine," said Father Boktor Nashed, priest of the Mar Girgis church in El Oula.