Church to Stop Referring to God as ‘He’ or ‘Lord’

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The Church of Sweden is urging its clergy to use gender-neutral language when referring to the supreme deity, refraining from using terms such as “Lord” and “he” in favour of the less specific “God.”

The move is one of several taken by the national Evangelical Lutheran church in updating a 31-year-old handbook setting out how services should be conducted in terms of language, liturgy, hymns and other aspects.

The decision was taken on Thursday at the end of an eight-day meeting of the church’s 251-member decision-making body, and takes effect on 20 May on the Christian holiday of Pentecost.

A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, some 37 miles north of the capital, the church has 6.1 million baptised members in a country of 10 million. It is headed by a woman, Archbishop Antje Jackelén. (Read more from “Church to Stop Referring to God as ‘He’ or ‘Lord'” HERE)

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North Korea May Have Replaced Its Entire Border Security Team After Defection

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Pyongyang may have replaced its entire border security force after a North Korean soldier dramatically defected into South Korea last week.

Yonhap news agency on Friday cited an unnamed intelligence source who said there were “signs” the North had replaced its entire force of 35 to 40 men at the Joint Security Area.

The source said North Korea seems to have temporarily closed a bridge over which the defector drove a military jeep to reach the border before his dramatic escape on foot last Monday. The source said the North could be preparing to install a security gate at the bridge for strengthening its screening of personnel coming in and out of the area.

A photo posted on the Twitter account of the acting U.S. ambassador to South Korea, Marc Knapper, showed North Korean workers using shovels to dig what Knapper said was a trench at the spot where the defector crossed the border.

According to South Korea’s military, four North Korean soldiers using handguns and AK-47 assault rifles fired about 40 rounds at the defector, who rushed across the line that divides the Koreas after getting his vehicle stuck in a ditch. (Read more from “North Korea May Have Replaced Its Entire Border Security Team After Defection” HERE)

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Beef in the Buff? Country Opens First Nudist Restaurant

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Leave your coats, your pants and your inhibitions at the door: a Paris restaurant has begun serving up classic French fare to diners in the nude.

Located down a quiet side street in southwest Paris, O’naturel, billed as the French capital’s first nudist restaurant, is the brainchild of 42-year-old twins Mike and Stephane Saada.

Former insurance salesmen, they aren’t nudists themselves — but they spotted a money-making opportunity in a country that enjoys a reputation as a top naturist holiday destination.

“People only get to be nudists in the summer,” explained Stephane.

O’naturel is considerably warmer in November than the roughly 460 designated outdoor nudist spots around France, most of them beaches and campsites. (Read more from “Beef in the Buff? Country Opens First Nudist Restaurant” HERE)

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Military Members Reassigned After Having Inappropriate Contact During Trump’s Asia Trip

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Three military members working for the White House have been reassigned after having alleged inappropriate contact with foreign women during President Donald Trump’s recent trip to Asia, a senior U.S. defense official has confirmed to Fox News.

The service members who worked as part of the White House Communications Agency (WHCA) are being investigated for allegedly breaking curfew in Vietnam, The Washington Post reported Tuesday . . .

The men are noncommissioned officers of the U.S. Army, working with the specialized military unit WHCA — a specialized military unit which runs technical support for presidential and vice presidential events and provides secure communications for White House officials. (Read more from “Military Members Reassigned After Having Inappropriate Contact During Trump’s Asia Trip” HERE)

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Report: IPhone X Assembled With Illegal High-Schooler Labor

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Apple supplier Foxconn has been employing students illegally work overtime to help assemble the iPhone X, the Financial Times reported Tuesday.

Six high school students told the Financial Times they would usually work 11-hour shifts to help manufacture Apple’s flagship phone at a factory in Zhengzhou, China. The long hours breach Chinese laws regarding student interns.

The report said the six students interviewed were among a group of 3,000 students from Zhengzhou Urban Rail Transit School. The high schoolers said they had been sent to work at a local factory run by Taiwan-based supplier Hon Hai Precision Industry — better known as Foxconn — in September. (Read more from “Report: IPhone X Assembled With Illegal High-Schooler Labor” HERE)

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North Korea Bans Drinking, Singing, Punishes Officials for ‘Impure Attitude,’ Report Says

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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un keeps his citizens on a tight leash, according to defectors, but the leader has now constricted his control even further by banning North Koreans from drinking and singing, according to a new report.

Citizens have been banned from participating in “any gatherings related to drinking, singing and other entertainment,” Yonhap News Agency reported Monday. The North Korean regime is also “strengthening control of outside information.”

The ban is reportedly an effort to stifle “a possible negative impact” of sanctions against North Korea in response to its recent nuclear tests.

The rogue state has also taken action against its military, by “undertaking an inspection of the military politburo” due to an “impure attitude toward the party leadership,” according to Reuters.

Top military officials — including bureau chief Hwang Pyong-so and deputy chief Kim Won-hong — were punished as a result of the investigation, but it’s unclear how they were disciplined. (Read more from “North Korea Bans Drinking, Singing, Punishes Officials for ‘Impure Attitude,’ Report Says” HERE)

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Off-Duty Cop Reportedly Stops Attempted Robbery While Holding Child

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An off-duty Brazilian police officer reportedly managed to thwart an armed robbery by killing two men with his pistol – all while holding his child.

Sgt. Rafael Souza was in a pharmacy in Campo Limpo Paulista with his child and wife on Saturday when two hooded armed robbers burst into the store, The Independent reported.

CCTV footage of the incident shows Souza, from Sao Paulo’s police force, firing his pistol at the two men. He then hands his child over to his wife, who is crouching behind a display of products. (Read more from “Off-Duty Cop Reportedly Stops Attempted Robbery While Holding Child” HERE)

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Greek Island on Strike in Protest Against Becoming Migrant ‘Prison’

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Residents on the Greek island of Lesbos went on strike on Monday to protest against European policies they say have turned it into a “prison” for migrants and refugees.

Islanders shut businesses, shops, municipal offices, nurseries and pharmacies and dozens rallied on a central square, calling on the government to transfer asylum-seekers to the mainland.

“Lesbos is not a place of exile,” a banner read.

Just a few miles from Turkey’s coast, Lesbos has borne the brunt of Europe’s migrant crisis. In 2015, nearly a million people – most fleeing Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan – landed on its shores before heading north, mainly to Germany.

It is now hosting some 8,500 asylum-seekers in facilities designed to hold fewer than 3,000. (Read more from “Greek Island on Strike in Protest Against Becoming Migrant ‘Prison'” HERE)

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Libya Says to Probe ‘Slave Auction’ Footage

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Libya will investigate alleged slave trading in the country, the internationally recognised government announced Sunday, following the release of video footage appearing to show migrants being auctioned off.

Chaos-ridden Libya has long been a major transit hub for migrants trying to reach Europe, and many of them have fallen prey to serious abuse in the North African country at the hands of traffickers and others.

US television network CNN aired the footage last week of an apparent live auction in Libya where black men are presented to North African buyers as potential farmhands and sold off for as little as $400.

Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Metig said his UN-backed Government of National Accord would investigate the allegations, in a statement posted Sunday on the Facebook page of the GNA’s press office.

Metig said he would instruct the formation of a “commission to investigate these reports in order to apprehend and bring those responsible to justice”, the statement added. (Read more from “Libya Says to Probe ‘Slave Auction’ Footage” HERE)

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NFL Player Will Only Stand for Mexican National Anthem

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Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch sat during most of U.S. anthem and stood for the Mexican anthem before their game against the Patriots at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City.

Lynch has not stood for the national anthem since returning from retirement this season.

There did not appear to be any other protests during the anthem as the afternoon games kicked off. Five NFL players protested during the national anthems before early games. (Read more from “NFL Player Will Only Stand for Mexican National Anthem” HERE)

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