Shock in Germany after anti-Islam riot in Cologne
A trade union representing police officers in Germany voiced shock on Monday after thousands of anti-Islam football hooligans had fought running battles with police in the western city of Cologne the previous day. The self-styled ‘Hooligans Against Salafists’ rally marked the worst rioting yet by a new alliance where Germany‘s far-right groups have recruited violence-prone football fans to their anti-foreigner cause. Police, who detained 17 of the 4,000-strong crowd for acts of violence, had to employ water cannon, baton charges and tear gas on Sunday afternoon to regain control of the crowd, which at one point overturned a police van outside Cologne‘s main railway station. ‘If this grouping consolidates and grows further, then I would say we face a new type of violence,’ warned Arnold Plickert, head of the North Rhine Westphalia state chapter of the GdP police union.
EU reaches deal on CO2 emissions cut
European Union leaders have reached what they described as the world's most ambitious climate change targets for 2030, paving the way for a new UN-backed global treaty next year. The 28 leaders on Friday finally overcame divisions at an EU summit in Brussels to reach a deal including a commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40% compared to 1990 levels. They also agreed on 27% targets for renewable energy supply and efficiency gains, in spite of reservations from some member states about the cost of the measures. The EU wanted to agree on the targets ahead of a summit in Paris in November and December 2015, where it is hoped the world will agree to a new phase of the Kyoto climate accords which run until 2020. The agreement puts the EU ‘in the driving seat’ ahead of the Paris conference, European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso said
Shock in Germany after anti-Islam riot in Cologne
A trade union representing police officers in Germany voiced shock on Monday after thousands of anti-Islam football hooligans had fought running battles with police in the western city of Cologne the previous day. The self-styled ‘Hooligans Against Salafists’ rally marked the worst rioting yet by a new alliance where Germany‘s far-right groups have recruited violence-prone football fans to their anti-foreigner cause. Police, who detained 17 of the 4,000-strong crowd for acts of violence, had to employ water cannon, baton charges and tear gas on Sunday afternoon to regain control of the crowd, which at one point overturned a police van outside Cologne‘s main railway station. ‘If this grouping consolidates and grows further, then I would say we face a new type of violence,’ warned Arnold Plickert, head of the North Rhine Westphalia state chapter of the GdP police union.
Middle East: The extraordinary move of God
God is touching hearts in powerful ways, unleashing His Spirit among refugees, their families, and into surrounding communities and nations. ‘There is something happening right now that is unprecedented,’ says Brother Thomas, from All Nations. ‘The spiritual openness is incredible.’ As he toured a ramshackle refugee camp composed of cardboard, wood slats and plastic tarps, he found many who had visions and dreams of Jesus. ‘Almost every family we visited had some kind of experience, either through dreams or someone had given them a New Testament in the medical clinic or prayed for them. There was fear and uncertainty about the future. Because the war is Muslim against Muslim they have a feeling there has to be something better. They are looking for answers. Over and over we saw people who have questions, who want to know more about Jesus.’ Other Christian workers are equally amazed. Some have been there 17-20 years and it is mind boggling for them.
EU gives $254 million more to fight Ebola
European leaders agreed to $1.26 billion in funding to fight Ebola in West Africa by the end of the year at an EU summit in Brussels on Friday. Over the weekend the first $254 million was put at the disposal of international efforts, including almost $30.5 million toward the development of a vaccine. ‘In the case of the Ebola disease, the international community, all of us, underestimated the danger and the extent of the threat,’ said commissioner-elect for humanitarian aid and crisis management, Christos Stylianides. Stylianides is the EU’s new Ebola response coordinator, a decision that also came out of last Friday’s meeting. As for how the money allocated by EU is being spent, ‘we have sent medical and humanitarian experts to the affected countries and deployed mobile laboratories,’ he said. ‘We are getting vital supplies shipped to the region.’
Middle East: The extraordinary move of God
God is touching hearts in powerful ways, unleashing His Spirit among refugees, their families, and into surrounding communities and nations. ‘There is something happening right now that is unprecedented,’ says Brother Thomas, from All Nations. ‘The spiritual openness is incredible.’ As he toured a ramshackle refugee camp composed of cardboard, wood slats and plastic tarps, he found many who had visions and dreams of Jesus. ‘Almost every family we visited had some kind of experience, either through dreams or someone had given them a New Testament in the medical clinic or prayed for them. There was fear and uncertainty about the future. Because the war is Muslim against Muslim they have a feeling there has to be something better. They are looking for answers. Over and over we saw people who have questions, who want to know more about Jesus.’ Other Christian workers are equally amazed. Some have been there 17-20 years and it is mind boggling for them.
EU gives $254 million more to fight Ebola
European leaders agreed to $1.26 billion in funding to fight Ebola in West Africa by the end of the year at an EU summit in Brussels on Friday. Over the weekend the first $254 million was put at the disposal of international efforts, including almost $30.5 million toward the development of a vaccine. ‘In the case of the Ebola disease, the international community, all of us, underestimated the danger and the extent of the threat,’ said commissioner-elect for humanitarian aid and crisis management, Christos Stylianides. Stylianides is the EU’s new Ebola response coordinator, a decision that also came out of last Friday’s meeting. As for how the money allocated by EU is being spent, ‘we have sent medical and humanitarian experts to the affected countries and deployed mobile laboratories,’ he said. ‘We are getting vital supplies shipped to the region.’
Private prosecution of ‘gender-selection’ abortion doctors
A member of the public has taken the dramatic step of starting criminal proceedings against two doctors who were identified by a national newspaper as authorising the abortion of two babies because they were not the sex that the mother wanted. In two instances doctors were recorded offering to arrange abortions after being told that the mother did not want to go ahead with the pregnancy because of the sex of the unborn child. At the Pall Mall Medical Centre in Manchester, Dr Parabha Sivaraman was filmed giving consent for a woman to have an abortion purely on the grounds that the pre-born child was the ‘wrong gender’. The second was at the Calthorpe Clinic in Birmingham where Dr Raj Mohan was secretly filmed offering to arrange an abortion for a woman who said she wanted to abort her baby because it was a girl.
Thousands 'too ashamed' to say they have dementia
Thousands of dementia patients are hiding symptoms from loved ones and doctors because they are ashamed, a report warns. It compares the stigma to that of HIV and Aids in the 1980s and says that as many as a quarter of those suffering are refusing to speak out. Doctors say patients tell them how their friends ‘disappeared’ after they were diagnosed and in some cases how their own children have stopped visiting. A joint report led by the Medical Research Council warns that this ‘unacceptable stigma’ is denying patients vital help and resulting in them being ‘marginalised’ from the rest of society. Around 850,000 patients in Britain are thought to have dementia but only half have been given a proper diagnosis. The Government is urging GPs to improve their detection rates over concerns that victims and their families are struggling in silence.
Downgrade marriage, family judge suggests
A family judge says marriage and cohabitation should be put on the same legal footing when relationships break down – but a newspaper columnist says he is ‘utterly and sadly mistaken’. Sir Nicholas Mostyn’s comments were reportedly aimed at Sir Paul Coleridge – a former High Court judge who has spoken out in favour of traditional marriage. He also claimed that there was no evidence to prove marriage is more stable than a co-habiting relationship. However, columnist Sarah Vine said there was a ‘mountain of academic research proving beyond doubt that married couples are healthier, wealthier, happier and less likely to break-up than co-habiting ones. All these benefits also apply to the children of married parents’. Last year research from the Marriage Foundation said only one in eight children born to cohabiting couples will reach the age of 16 with their parents still together and unmarried