Watchdog moves to curb sexualised songs on radio
Media watchdog Ofcom is clamping down on radio broadcasters which flout rules meant to protect children from inappropriate music lyrics. Ofcom is concerned about a number of cases where ‘offensive language was broadcast, some at times when children were particularly likely to have been listening’. The watchdog has met with the radio industry and plans to publish guidance ‘by the end of the year to clarify the rules in the broadcasting code’. The move comes as it is revealed the Government is to look at putting cinema-style age classifications on music videos. Although current radio rules ban inappropriate or offensive material when children may be listening, Ofcom says they are being flouted.
Pray: that these moves by Ofcom and the Government to curb inappropriate material being broadcast will be successful. (Ps.139:24)
Tax plea to Chancellor
Church representatives delivered a letter to Chancellor George Osborne on Monday asking the Government to tackle tax avoidance in order to ‘close the gap’ between the rich and the poor in the UK. Among the signatories was the President of the Methodist Conference, the Rev Leo Osborn. While welcoming the Coalition Government’s commitment to protect the poorest and most vulnerable people from the impact of the current spending cuts, Church leaders said they were concerned that the cuts were nevertheless having a ‘severe impact’ on many of the people they worked with on a daily basis. ‘In this climate, as Churches, Christian organisations and individual Christians, we are increasingly concerned about the impact that tax avoidance and tax evasion are having on the public purse,’ they said.
Pray: that tax avoidance will be tackled by the Chancellor and Government. (2Cor.8:13)
G20 seeks stronger IMF to fight debt crisis
Leaders of the world's most powerful economies have agreed to increase the resources of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in order to help alleviate the debt crisis that threatens to spread across Europe. Despite the consensus, leaders struggled to reach concrete plans on how to do so, as the G20 summit, which has largely been overshadowed by euro-zone efforts to tackle the Greek debt crisis, concluded in the French resort of Cannes last Friday. ‘It's important that the IMF sees its resources reinforced,’ European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told reporters. Al Jazeera's Jacky Rowland, reporting from Cannes, said the summit's final communiqué stressed ‘desirable trends and tendencies rather than measurable objective’. She continued: ‘There was a lot of talk about slogans such as strong, sustainable growth, but it was rather thin on actual detail about how this would be achieved.’
Pray: for the world as it tackles the economic problems and that the rich will learn generosity and not be governed by greed. (Pro.28:25)
More: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2011/11/201111464940325870.html
G20 seeks stronger IMF to fight debt crisis
Leaders of the world's most powerful economies have agreed to increase the resources of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in order to help alleviate the debt crisis that threatens to spread across Europe. Despite the consensus, leaders struggled to reach concrete plans on how to do so, as the G20 summit, which has largely been overshadowed by euro-zone efforts to tackle the Greek debt crisis, concluded in the French resort of Cannes last Friday. ‘It's important that the IMF sees its resources reinforced,’ European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told reporters. Al Jazeera's Jacky Rowland, reporting from Cannes, said the summit's final communiqué stressed ‘desirable trends and tendencies rather than measurable objective’. She continued: ‘There was a lot of talk about slogans such as strong, sustainable growth, but it was rather thin on actual detail about how this would be achieved.’
Pray: for the world as it tackles the economic problems and that the rich will learn generosity and not be governed by greed. (Pro.28:25)
More: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2011/11/201111464940325870.html
