Tag Archives: Britain

UK Testing Roads to Recharge Electric Cars while Driven

The British government is looking to invest millions into a test highway system that would recharge electric cars as they drive.

The roadways, if successful, would allow drivers of electric cars to avoid the current problems of large charging times and inaccessibility of charging stations.

“The government is already committing £500 million ($779 million U.S.) over the next five years to keep Britain at the forefront of this technology, which will help boost jobs and growth in the sector. As this study shows, we continue to explore options on how to improve journeys and make low-emission vehicles accessible to families and businesses.” UK Transport Minister Andrew Jones stated in a press release.

The proposed system would create a series of coils under the roadway that would emit electricity through the air to a receiver coil inside the car.  The coil would then charge the batteries inside the car.  The system would be located completely under the roadway, so there would be no risk of electrical shock to the general public.

The method is similar to that of wireless charging stations for cell phones.

“Vehicle technologies are advancing at an ever increasing pace and we’re committed to supporting the growth of ultra-low emissions vehicles on England’s motorways and major A roads,” Highways England chief highways engineer, Mike Wilson, said in a press statement. “The off-road trials of wireless power technology will help to create a more sustainable road network for England and open up new opportunities for businesses that transport goods across the country.”

South Korea is already working on a similar system in a part of the town of Gumi.  The 7.5 mile road charges specially modified electric buses.

British Teen Admits Role In Australian Terror Plot

A 15-year-old British man has admitted in a Manchester court that he was working on a plot via the Internet to behead, run over or shoot police officers in Australia.

The attack, inspired by the Islamic extremist group ISIS, was to take place on April 25th, the day Australia celebrates the service of their armed forces.

The unidentified youth pleaded guilty to inciting terrorism overseas and because he was 14 at the time of arrest, he became the youngest person in British history to be convicted of terrorism offenses.

Prosecutors showed the enthusiasm of the boy for the attack by entering into court thousands of instant messages with fellow terrorist Sevdet Besim in Australia over a 10 day period.

“Those messages reveal the intentions of the plotters and their targets, along with their motivation which may be summarised as support for Isis and their enthusiasm for the attack,” prosecutor Paul Greaney said according to the BBC.

“The messages also set out the plotters’ preparations for the attack. On 18 March 2015, as part of those preparations, the defendant sent Sevdet Besim a message that read, ‘suggest you break into someone’s house and get your first taste of beheading’.  Sevdet Besim responded to say that this seemed ‘a little risky’ and that aspect of the preparations appears then to have drifted away.”

The judge says because of the boy’s age it will be hard to find a sentence.  The formal sentencing is scheduled for March 3rd.

UK Student Organization Votes To Boycott Israel

A leading British student group has voted to join the anti-Semitic boycott of Israel spurred by the Palestinian authority.

The UK’s National Union of Students voted 19-12 to join the “Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Campaign” started by the Palestinians as a way to attack Israel on the world stage.  The NUS is the umbrella student organization for the nation with over 7 million students represented in 600 schools.

The motion also calls on the British government to stop arms sales to Israel.

The Jewish Chronicle reports that the vote was taken by secret ballot, so it’s impossible to know which members of the group voted in favor of the anti-Semitic action.

A spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry said the vote is really insignificant given the group’s previous anti-Semitic leanings.

“Instead of expressing hatred, British students would benefit from studying history and understanding that the distance between conveying hate language and prejudice to committing despicable crimes is not that great,” the spokesperson said.

British Citizens Returning From Syria Public Threat

British officials say that hundreds of British citizens who traveled to Syria to join ISIS have found their way back to British shores.

Scotland Yard officials say that the number of citizens radicalized in Syria by the Islamists increases the possibility of terrorist attacks on British soil.

“There is no doubt of the horrific nature of the offenses being committed overseas,” Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley said. “The influence of those who wish to bring similar violence to the streets of the UK has been an increasing threat here.”

Scotland Yard says as many as 700 extremists are believed to have traveled to Syria with the majority joining ISIS.

Terrorism related arrests in the UK have risen 33% in the last year.

“The type and level of the threat is complex and ranges from lone actors intent on carrying out crude and violent attacks to sophisticated networks set on completing ambitious and coordinated plots,” Rowley said.

“ISIL and other terrorist groups are trying to direct attacks in the UK,” Rowley said, referring to ISIS by an another name, “encouraging British citizens to travel to Syria to fight and train, and are seeking, through propaganda, to provoke individuals in the UK to carry out violent attacks here.

Investigators say that changes in technology are leading to blind spots that need to be corrected by legislation to allow police to investigate in new ways.

Sitting PM David Cameron’s Party Wins British Elections

David Cameron, the British Prime Minister who hasn’t been shy about discussing his Christian faith, looks to be on track for another term as PM after Thursday’s British elections.

Cameron’s Conservative Party is on pace to win 331 seats in the next Parliament according to the BBC.  The victory is viewed as a massive surprise on par with Benjamin Netanyahu’s big win in Israel.  In both cases, the media predicted big losses for the conservative party with big gains for liberal parties.

The leaders of the liberal parties such as Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg said they would be stepping down to allow for new leadership for their parties.

Cameron has been criticized by anti-religion groups and liberal parties for his open Christianity.

“People who advocate some sort of secular neutrality fail to grasp the consequences of that neutrality, or the role that faith can play in helping people to have a moral code,” Cameron said to the Church Times.

“I believe we should be more confident about our status as a Christian country, more ambitious about expanding the role of faith-based organizations, and, frankly, more evangelical about a faith that compels us to get out there and make a difference to people’s lives.”

Cameron said he wants to bring the nation together.

“I want to bring our country together, our United Kingdom together, not least by implementing as fast as we can the devolution that we rightly promised and came together with other parties to agree both for Wales and for Scotland,” the British PM added.

“In short, I want my party, and I hope a government I would like to lead, to reclaim a mantle that we should never have lost – the mantle of One Nation, One United Kingdom. That is how I will govern if I am fortunate enough to form a government in the coming days.”

UK Tribunal Rules Against Christian Accused of Witnessing

A Christian woman that was suspended after a Muslim co-worker rushed to her employer to complain she was witnessed to has had her appeal denied by a British tribunal.

Victoria Wasteney, 38, thought she had become friends with Muslim Enya Nawaz, 27.  The two worked at St. John Howard Center in London.  The two discussed Islam and Christianity and Wasteney shared her church’s efforts to fight human trafficking.

“The whole basis of our conversations around faith started with her telling me that she’d had an encounter with God, that she felt she had been brought to London for a particular reason,” Wasteney told reporters. “We were both interested in what one another were involved in. It was part of the normal process of building a relationship with someone, to talk about primarily things we were interested in outside of work.”

In 2013, Nawaz told Wasteney about some health concerns.  Wasteney offered to pray for the woman she thought was a friend and did so.  She also gave the woman a book about a Muslim that turned to Christianity.

Nawaz then rushed to their employer alleging that Wasteney was attempting to witness and convert her.

After suspending Wasteney for nine months with pay, a disciplinary panel last year declared that Wasteney was guilty of “bullying and harassment” for talking about her faith and praying over her sick co-worker even though the co-worker gave permission.  She was given a written warning and allowed to resume working but not in her specialized field.

“I knew she was from a different faith background and I was respectful of that. I didn’t force my beliefs on anyone at any point. Surely there should be room for mutual conversations about faith, where appropriate, in the workplace?” she said in a statement on Wednesday.

“I am extremely disappointed with the tribunal’s decision to side with my employer,” Wasteney continued. “There is already an unnatural caginess around faith and belief which is an obstruction to building meaningful relationships in the workplace.”

U.K. Study Finds Youth Producing Child Porn

A British group fighting pornography has released a report showing a surprising rise in child pornography being produced by youths.

The Internet Watch Foundation called it a “disturbing trend” of “younger children…producing sexually explicit content which is being distributed online.”

In their report analyzing over 3,800 images and videos from September through November 2014.  The report shows that 17.5% of the captured content contains children who are 15 years old or younger.

“Of particular concern is that the young people depicted took no steps to conceal their identity or location, even in many cases using their real names,” concluded the researchers.

“In some instances, it is apparent that this content is being knowingly created to appear on public websites, however, as 100 percent of the content depicting children aged 15 years or younger had been harvested from its original upload location and further distributed via third party websites, control over its removal or onward distribution has been lost.”

Dawn Hawkins of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation told the Christian Post that major consequences are awaiting the children engaging in this behavior.  She says that the world’s highly sexualized society drives the problem.

“Largely, it is because highly sexual media is everywhere you look and is often portrayed as a way to be popular, cool, grownup and successful with no negative consequences. Kids are simply copying what they see adults do,” said Hawkins.

“Parents must recognize that even their most successful, well-behaved children are at risk. Talk to your kids about these realities — tell them about the science; tell them about the lasting consequences.”

Teacher Sentenced To 6 Years For Attempting To Join ISIS

A British teacher who was plotting to join ISIS in Syria has been sentenced to six years in prison for his efforts.

Jamshed Javeed came to the attention of local officials after he was turned in by his family.  His sister recorded arguments between Jamshed and his family on her iPad and provided those recordings to officials.

“It was clear from the evidence in this case that the family were absolutely set against him joining this terrorist group in Syria,” Detective Chief Superintendent Tony Mole said. “They took (what) I consider to be some brave steps in terms of hiding his equipment … And absolutely without doubt they confronted him on his desire to go out and expressed their desire that he does not travel and join this group.”

Police say the family hid Jamshed’s passport so when he attempted to gain a second one authorities were able to arrest him for attempting to join ISIS.

Jamshed claims he was just “trying to help the people of Syria.”

The judge dismissed Jamshed’s claims noting that he wanted to leave even after finding out his wife was pregnant.

UK Votes Against Banning Sex Selective Abortions

The British Parliament has voted against a bill that would prohibit a woman from getting an abortion based on the sex of the child.

The 292 to 201 vote against the amendment has caused pro-life groups across Britain to react in horror.  The groups say that the Parliament has failed to protect the lives of millions of unborn girls who will be killed solely because of their gender.

“Parliament yesterday failed in its duty to ensure women are not discriminated against at all stages of their lives. Instead, it caved in to the intense lobbying efforts of the abortion industry and its advocates, against the outlawing of sex selection abortion,” UK pro-life group LIFE said in a statement.

“The abortion of girls because of their sex has no place in modern societies which embrace equality and non-discrimination against women.”

Politicians who voted against the measure tried to claim that existing law prohibits sex selective abortions.  Prime Minister David Cameron said the law could have potentially blocked women from obtaining abortions in the event a child has severe abnormalities.

“Jihadi John” Identified As Former Briton

British authorities have determined the identity of the masked ISIS member who has beheaded several captives in online videos.

The terrorist has been identified as Mohammed Emwazi, in his mid to late 20s and crossed into Syria sometime during 2012.  Emwazi was born in Kuwait but grew up with a wealthy family in West London and obtained a college degree in computer programming.  After graduating from college, he became more radicalized and left to join jihad.

British officials are admitting they had been watching Emwazi for at least five years after returning from a job with a computer company in Kuwait.  He was imprisoned by British officials when he returned to the country.

“I had a job waiting for me and marriage to get started,” the BBC reports Emwazi as writing in a June 2010 email. “[But now] I feel like a prisoner, only not in a cage, in London, a person imprisoned and controlled by security service men, stopping me from living my new life in my birthplace and country, Kuwait.”

He escaped to Syria in 2012.

Prime Minister David Cameron declined to comment on the identity of the terrorist.