Category Archives: Global

LifeSiteNews: A judge in the Argentinean capital of Buenos Aires has issued an injunction prohibiting an abortion that was scheduled on a woman who was claimed to be a sex trafficking victim, noting that two wrongs won’t make a right.

Daily Mail: One in 10 babies born before the legal abortion limit lives to see their first birthday, official figures revealed today. Out of 750 babies born alive at less than 24-weeks gestation in 2010, 92 babies survived to one year. The other 658 babies died. The figure is showing no improvement in survival for extremely premature babies and has not risen in the past five years.

Christian Post: A prominent policy analyst in the United Kingdom has publicly stated that the continued push for same-sex marriage by Members of Parliament have caused unnecessary divisions within the governmental body.

C-FAM: The US Agency for International Development announced on World Contraception Day a partnership with international donors to distribute Jadelle, a second-generation of Norplant, to poor women in developing countries. The contraceptive is not distributed for use in more affluent countries.

Reuters: Masked gunmen shot dead a Yemeni security chief on his way to work at the U.S. embassy in Sanaa on Thursday, in an attack a Yemeni security source said appeared to be the work of al Qaeda.

Raymond Ibrahim at the Middle East Forum: ast week Reuters reported that “Most Christians living near Egypt’s border with Israel [in the town of Rafah in Sinai] are fleeing their homes after Islamist militants made death threats and gunmen attacked a Coptic-owned shop.” Photos of desecrated churches and Christian property show Arabic graffiti saying things like “don’t come back” and “Islam is the truth.”

AP: A Malaysian court on Thursday dismissed an attempt by a group of transsexuals to challenge a law that bars Muslim men from wearing women’s clothes.

AP: Indian police have arrested three Muslim militants suspected of planning terror attacks in New Delhi during a major Hindu festival season that starts later this month . . .

AP: The Marie Stopes clinic due to open next week in Belfast, capital of the British territory of Northern Ireland, plans to offer non-surgical abortions to women whose pregnancies are less than nine weeks in gestation.

LifeNews: “But by executive order, not by legislation, he would reinstate the so-called Mexico City policy that bans U.S. foreign aid dollars from being used to do abortions, he said,” the newspaper reported.

Turtle Bay and Beyond: Deaths from “voluntary euthanasia” in Belgium are approximated at 2 percent, – 2,000 annually. At a recent conference in Brussels, a Belgian doctor reported that organ transplants are being done on euthanized patients and that Belgium leads in this practice.

Christian Institute: The Church of Scotland has been accused of the “systematic dismantling of the true gospel” over the ordination of homosexual ministers. Revd Paul Gibson, who left over the issue, says the Kirk is pursuing an “erroneous liberal agenda”.

LifeSiteNews: Quebec’s newly elected government announced that it plans to table legislation legalizing euthanasia and assisted suicide as early as next spring, even though Canadian federal law prohibits the practice.

FoxNews: Islam has won a growing number of followers in this impoverished country, especially after the catastrophe two years ago that killed some 300,000 people and left millions more homeless. A capital where church attendance is so prevalent that the streets echo with Christian hymns on Sundays now has at least five mosques, a Muslim parliament member and a nightly local television program devoted to Islam.

NY Times: On Tuesday, masked Taliban gunmen answered Ms. Yousafzai’s courage with bullets, singling out the 14-year-old on a bus filled with terrified schoolchildren, then shooting her in the head. Two other girls were also wounded in the attack.

AP: Prime Minister Petr Necas says the amendment would cap debt at 60 percent of GDP. It is currently at 41 percent of GDP.

AP: The panel writing Egypt’s new constitution has released an unfinished draft of the document . . .

Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe: The German law requires pharmacists to provide prescribed medications within due time (§ 31 Abs. 1 Satz 1 and § 17 Abs. 4 SGB V). There is no exception for ethically ambiguous drugs, such as the early abortifacient morning-after-pill. If a pharmacy fails to deliver, its concession may be withdrawn (§§ 1 Abs. 2, 2 and 4 ApoG).

FoxNews: A court order that barred a rape victim Tuesday from having an abortion has sparked a heated controversy in Argentin

Christian Science Monitor: A 14-year-old girl who became a national heroine when she protested the Pakistani Taliban’s ban on education for girls in her home district was in critical condition Tuesday after she was shot in the head as she waited for a ride home from her beloved school, according to officials and witnesses.

Christian Concern: Two more Conservative cabinet members, Jeremy Hunt and Theresa May, have said that they support reducing the legal time limit for abortion after Women’s Minister Maria Miller came out in favour of the change last week.

Christian Institute: Over-40s who are denied free IVF treatment can now sue the NHS under new age discrimination laws.

Washington Post: Her son and heir apparent, Prince Charles, has said he’s planning a symbolic change if and when he becomes king by taking the title “Defender of Faith” or “Defender of the Faiths” to reflect Britain’s multicultural and multifaith society.

Catholic Culture: Accompanied by his sons and others, a prosecutor of the criminal court in Alexandria entered a Coptic Orthodox church, demolishing most of its altar.

Business Recorder: French authorities vowed Tuesday to show zero tolerance for anti-Semitism as new details emerged of the suspects detained in a crackdown on Islamic extremists who allegedly targeted the Jewish community.

BBC: The foreign secretary and chancellor have both said they will back the introduction of same-sex marriage when MPs are given a free vote on the issue.

Eugene Volokh at the Volokh Conspiracy: An interesting case, S.B. v. W.A. (N.Y. trial court Sept. 26, 2012). A quick and oversimplified summary . . .

Koltay, András, Europe and the Sign of the Crucifix: On the Fundamental Questions of the Lautsi and Others v. Italy Case (January 15, 2012). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2154565

We cannot say that the questions raised by the presence in society of Christianity or religion in general have been resolved with satisfaction. At the social level, a satisfactory answer cannot be expected in these turbulent times following the twentieth century. There would be a lot to discuss about the current situation and future role of Christianity and the Churches, but we cannot get to this point yet. We can be grateful to Mrs. Lautsi, however, because she provided the opportunity to begin the debate.

AP: The speaker of Australia’s Parliament resigned Tuesday under criticism over a sexual harassment lawsuit against him . . . Slipper had agreed to stand aside from his parliamentary duties since April over a Federal Court suit that alleges he sexually propositioned his gay media adviser James Ashby.

AP: Israel’s foreign minister has condemned the vandalism of the Romanian church in Jerusalem, the latest in a string of attacks on Christian sites in the Holy Land.

AP: An Egyptian rights group on Tuesday accused the country’s authorities of failing to bring to account those it says are responsible for the deaths of 26 Coptic Christians who were killed during an anti-government demonstration last year.

Bloomberg: The International Monetary Fund cut its global growth forecasts as the euro area’s debt crisis intensifies and warned of even slower expansion unless officials in the U.S. and Europe address threats to their economies.

Haskell, John D. , Divine Immanence: The Evangelical Foundations of Modern Anglo-American Approaches to International Law (September 1, 2012). 11:3 Chinese Journal of International Law 429 (2012). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2155199

LifeSiteNews: In a landmark decision last Friday, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that people who are HIV-positive do not need to tell their sex partners they have the disease, as long as they have low levels of the virus and use a condom during sexual intercourse.

LIfeNews: As a result, the United States is currently one of only nine nations that allow abortion after 14 weeks of gestation.[ii] Even among this group, however, the United States is one of the most permissive in its treatment of abortion, placing it in the company of China, North Korea, and Canada, the only countries in the world that permit abortion for any reason after fetal viability.[iii]

CNSNews: Hours after Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi assured the Christians in the North Sinai city of Rafah that attacks on them “will not happen again,” gunmen opened fire on a Christian’s home.

Christian Concern: Local residents and volunteers have launched their campaign against the proposed mega-mosque at West Ham, close to the Olympic Park in east London.

Christian Institute: The widespread grassroots opposition to David Cameron’s plan to redefine marriage has been revealed by a new poll. According to the poll over 70 per cent of Conservative Party Constituency Chairmen think the proposals should be scrapped.

Christian Institute: School children as young as 12 who disagree with same-sex marriage have been branded as “Nazis” and “bigots”, a senior Roman Catholic official has said. John Deighan said there is an increasing level of ill will against “very young people” because of their views about such issues. Speaking in Brussels earlier this week Mr Deighan warned: “People are increasingly being subjected to manipulation by what I would call the equality lobby.”

The Indian Express: The Gujarat High Court today held the Government cannot give monetary benefits to any community on the basis of religion as such a move will violate Constitution that bars discrimination on religious ground.

Bloomberg: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s re-election and multiple cancer scares give the self-declared socialist momentum to accelerate state intervention in the economy after 14 years in power.

Yahoo News (Reuters): U.S.-based Human Rights Watch on Monday urged Egyptians drawing up a new constitution to amend the current draft which it said did not adequately protect women and children’s rights, ensure freedom of religion or speak out clearly against torture.

LifeSiteNews: Delegations from European Countries and the United States suffered a setback last week when the Human Rights Council adopted a resolution affirming a positive link between traditional values and human rights. The European and U.S. delegations view traditional values as threats to women, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual persons.

The Globe and Mail: The country’s newest Supreme Court of Canada judge, Mr. Justice Richard Wagner, turned inexperience into a virtue on Thursday, telling a parliamentary committee that he will bring to the top court a practising lawyer’s sense of street savvy.

Religion Clause Blog: The Windsor Star reported yesterday that the Canadian government’s decision to stop funding for 50 part-time minority faith chaplains who serve in the Canadian prison system is being criticized by both NDP and Liberal opposition members of Parliament

Telegraph: Almost nine out of 10 Scottish households take more from the public purse than they contribute in taxes thanks to a “rotten system” of state patronage, the Tory party conference will hear on Monday.

Telegraph: Researchers from Kyoto University successfully turned stem cells into eggs in mice, which went on to give birth to healthy and fertile offspring. The technique can either be used with stem cells taken from embryos, or ones created artificially from other adult cells such as skin, according to their study published in the Science journal.

National Review: But Iran is still Iran, and now it has moved against Pastor Nadarkhani’s heroic Muslim lawyer, Mohammed Ali Dadkah, detaining him and ordering him to serve a lengthy prison term. His crime? Providing pro bono legal representation to persecuted religious minorities. In the perverse logic of Iran’s theocratic regime, this representation constitutes “aiding and abetting” his clients alleged (and often imaginary) crimes.

Christian Concern: The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) has written to its members warning them of its opposition to ‘reparative’ therapies.

Christian Institute: Maria Miller, the new Minister for Women and Equalities, has said the abortion limit should be lowered from 24 weeks to 20. Mrs Miller thinks the law should “reflect the way medical science has moved on.”

C-FAM: The UN Human Rights Council in Geneva inched closer to asserting abortion as a human right last week when it passed a resolution endorsing a controversial new set of guidelines on maternal mortality.

Washington Post: Thousands of Christians from around the world have filled the streets of downtown Jerusalem in a jubilant show of support for Israel.

AP: Egyptian authorities on Thursday released two Coptic Christian boys taken into in juvenile detention for allegedly urinating on the Quran, but they will remain under investigation . . .

NY Times: Two Coptic Christian boys have been detained by the authorities on charges that they defiled the pages of a Koran, the latest in a spate of recent cases involving accusations that people have insulted Islam.

4-traders.com: Current legal issues in Latin America, election crime and punishment, and same-sex marriage are among the topics that will be discussed at the American Bar AssociationSection of International Law’s Fall Meeting. The Oct. 16 – 20 meeting will bring together legal practitioners from government, academia and private practice to Miami. Some 1,000 lawyers from 47 countries, including the United States, are expected at the meeting.

LifeSiteNews: n an interview with Canadian Catholic News reporter Deborah Gyapong, the head of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Cardinal Peter Turkson, “warned against Catholic development agencies getting involved in the push for abortion or contraception through the guise of improving women’s lives in the development world.”

LifeSiteNews: The recently re-appointed UN High Commissioner on Human Rights, Navanethem Pillay, has issued a document calling for governments to criminalise organised opposition to abortion by non-governmental groups such as pro-life lobbyists or even family members.

LifeSiteNews: The Association of Catholic Medical Practitioners of Nigeria (ACMPN) condemned a recent USAID initiative to provide more than $8 million to the country for the establishment of abortion clinics and human egg-harvesting centers in Nigeria.

LifeSiteNews: Moroccan authorities have taken action against the floating abortion mill commandeered by the Dutch abortion group Women on Waves. In a press release today, the abortion activist group notes that their ship was due to arrive in the harbor of Smir at 1pm local time but was blocked by warships.

LifeNews: In article written by Rochelle Baker and published in the Abbotsford Times entitled: “Abbotsford man convicted of manslaughter now accused of steering woman to suicide,” reports that Kenneth William Carr (53) has been charged with counselling a person to commit suicide.

NY Times: The first outbreak of public anger over Iran’s collapsing currency and other economic maladies jolted the heart of the capital on Wednesday, with the riot police violently clamping down on black-market money changers, hundreds of citizens marching to demand relief and merchants in the sprawling bazaar closing their shops in protest.

Volokh Conspiracy: So report RIA Novosti, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the Kyiv Post, and Lenta.ru (in Russian). From the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty story: The draft, approved by lawmakers on October 2, would make what it calls “promotion of homosexuality” — defined as taking action to create a positive portrayal of gays — a crime.

LifeSiteNews: Canada’s pro-abortion activists and Opposition parties are lining up against a new motion put forward by a Tory MP to condemn sex-selective abortions, which evidence has shown to be a grave concern in certain sections of the country.

Baptist Press: A cloud has been cast on the Turkish courtroom where proceedings began Sept. 3 against 19 suspects in the murder of three Christians in 2007.

B92.net: Russia’s Supreme Court on Wednesday declared legal the prohibition of propaganda of homosexuality and pedophilia among minors.

Turtle Bay and Beyond: The international youth organization World Youth Alliance has released a report containing allegations that the European Union finances forced abortions, including in China, through its development aid programs.

Turtle Bay and Beyond: It sounds incredible, but it is true. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, Anand Grover, is calling for a “treaty-based global pooling mechanism, comprising compulsory progressive contributions from States allocated based upon need and driven by transparent, participatory processes…”

Christian Concern: The High Court has refused to permit the case of Tony Nicklinson, who died after losing his legal battle to end his life, to go to the Court of Appeal.

The Christian Institute: Dozens of psychiatric and dementia patients had their lives ended under the Netherlands’ controversial euthanasia laws last year.

Christian Post: Multiple sources have confirmed that about 25 to 30 Christian college students were massacred at a university in northeastern Nigeria late Monday night, causing Christians to pray for a “change of heart” among the extremist Islamist group Boko Haram to put a stop to the continued violence.

ABC.net.au: The Premier Colin Barnett says the right wing Dutch politician, Geert Wilders, is not welcome in Western Australia.

Business Week: Two Coptic Christian boys were arrested and detained by Egyptian authorities for insulting Islam after accusations they had torn up pages of the Koran.

NY Daily News: The Delhi High Court Wednesday reserved its order on a plea seeking direction to the central government for acting against Google India for not removing videos of controversial anti-Islam film “Innocence of Muslims” from YouTube.

The Globe and Mail: Prime Minister Stephen Harper has strengthened his imprint on the Supreme Court of Canada bench, naming a centrist judge from Quebec – Mr. Justice Richard Wagner – as his fifth appointment to the nine-judge bench since the Tories came to power in 2006.

Religion Clause Blog: Egypt’s Constitution Party which was formed last August to provide a liberal alternative to Islamist parties last week filed a complaint with prosecutors over a religious fatwa issued against it