Phillips contends the US Constitution’s free speech guarantees protect him from making a cake that would violate his religious beliefs against gay marriage. To Mullins and Craig, the baker’s refusal represented a simple case of unlawful discrimination based on sexual orientation. In one of the biggest cases of the conservative-majority court’s nine-month term, the justices - just two years after legalizing gay marriage - must decide whether Phillips’ action was constitutionally protected and he can avoid punishment for violating Colorado anti-discrimination law.

“Everybody that comes in my store is welcome in my store,” Phillips said in an interview. “I serve everybody that comes in and I create products for many events, just not all events.” Based on his Christian beliefs, Phillips said he also refuses to make Halloween cakes as well as baked goods “that denigrate other people.” The case has become a cultural flashpoint in the United States that underscores the tensions between gay rights proponents and conservative Christians.

“This is about whether the US Supreme Court will decide that the fundamental freedoms and liberties that Americans have taken for granted for 200 years are still valid,” said Phillips’ lawyer, Kristen Waggoner. The ACLU said a ruling favoring Phillips could lead to other efforts to skirt anti-discrimination laws. “They are asking for a constitutional right to discriminate,” ACLU lawyer Louise Melling said. “This is not a case about a cake. It is a case about a very radical proposition.”

In a blog post, the LGBTQ campaigner said: “If people don’t want to engage in campaigning in this way, they do in England have another unique option, which is to pray in the privacy of their hearts (or in public if they dare) for the Lord to bless Prince George with a love, when he grows up, of a fine young gentleman. A royal wedding might sort things out remarkably easily, though we might have to wait 25 years for that to happen. Who knows whether that might be sooner than things might work out by other means?”

After the post went live, the Queen’s former chaplain, Reverend Gavin Ashenden, skewered the comments for being “unkind” and “profoundly un-Christian”. He added that the requested prayer was the “theological equivalent of the curse of the wicked fairy in one of the fairy tales”.

Reverend Ashenden went on: “To pray for Prince George to grow up in that way, particularly when part of the expectation is he will inherit is to produce a biological heir with a woman he loves, is to pray in a way that would disable and undermine his constitutional and personal role.”

He also told Christian Today: “It is an unkind and destabilising prayer. It is the theological equivalent of the curse of the wicked fairy in one of the fairy tales. It is un-Christian as well as being anti-constitutional. It is a very long way from being a blessing for Prince George.” The prayer request from Mr Holdsworth was one of nine suggestions put forward to increase support for the inclusion of same-sex marriage in the Church of England.

The earthquake was more than 1,400 kilometres from the nearest land – which was Brazil – there have been no injuries and there has been no tsunami warning issued. The Mid-Atlantic ridge is also the longest mountain range in the world which extends for around 10,000 miles. With four plates colliding in this area, it is one of the most seismically active regions in the world.

Recently, scientists have announced that devastating earthquakes could be on the rise next year as the rotation of Earth slows down. The speed of Earth’s rotation fluctuates extremely mildly – extending or decreasing the length of a day by a millisecond – but this tiny deceleration could have devastating consequences. Scientists have warned if the rotation slows it could lead to more major earthquakes. 

Research from Roger Bilham of the University of Colorado in Boulder and Rebecca Bendick of the University of Montana in Missoula looked at earthquakes with a magnitude higher than seven since 1900. The duo found five years since the turn of the 20th century where there were significantly more 7.0 earthquakes – all of which were years that earth’s rotation speed had slowed down slightly.

And in 2018, the Earth's rotation speed is set to slow down leading to a jump on the six magnitude seven or higher quakes we have had this year. Prof Bilham said: “The correlation between Earth’s rotation and earthquake activity is strong and suggests there is going to be an increase in numbers of intense earthquakes next year.

“The inference is clear. Next year we should see a significant increase in numbers of severe earthquakes.”

Skepticism around the world of Kim Jong Un’s ability to seriously threaten the continental United States has been firmly laid to rest.

Other aspiring nuclear powers, especially Iran, would thus probably be emboldened not to give up their nuclear programs, especially as Kim Jong Un has proved that a dictator who wants a nuclear weapon badly enough, and won’t be deterred by isolation and the deaths of hundreds of thousands of his subjects, will ultimately achieve it.

According to the information she shared, the impetus for this move came on the back of pressure from Trump’s Christian evangelist supporters. East Jerusalem’s walled Old City is home to the sites holiest to all three monotheistic religions.

These include Al Aqsa, the third holiest site in Islam; and the Kotel, or Western Wall (a retaining wall of the ancient temple), which practicing Jews view as their holiest site. Both sites hold cultural and political significance even for non-believers. The city is a tinderbox, and no one wants to set off a fatal spark.

Every presidential candidate, including Jimmy Carter, told Jewish voters he would move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. All of them reneged once elected. Perhaps some of them knew, even as they made the promise, that it was an empty one. Almost no state in the world recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, as long as the Palestinian issue remains unresolved. The Palestinians regard East Jerusalem, which Israel annexed in 1980 in a move that the international community rejected wholesale, as the capital of their future state. This is why nearly all the foreign embassies are in Tel Aviv.

Merkel is casting around for a coalition partner after her centre-right bloc shed support to the far right in a September 24 election and her attempts to form a three-way tie-up with the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) and the Greens failed. The SPD, which saw its participation in a Merkel-led coalition government from 2013-17 rewarded with its worst election result in German post-war history, had been strongly opposed to another “grand coalition”.

But under pressure from President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, SPD leader Martin Schulz has signalled willingness to discuss a way out of the political impasse. German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere, a conservative, told reporters a stable government was urgently needed to move ahead on security priorities such as hiring more police. Nothing could happen on that front until a budget was agreed.

Psychologists are quickly learning how dangerous smartphones can be for teenage brains. Research has found that an eighth-grader’s risk for depression jumps 27% when he or she frequently uses social media.

Kids who use their phones for at least three hours a day are much more likely to be suicidal. And recent research has found the teen suicide rate in the US now eclipses the homicide rate, with smartphones as the driving force.

It should be telling, Clement and Miles argue, that the two biggest tech figures in recent history — Bill Gates and Steve Jobs — seldom let their kids play with the very products they helped create. “What is it these wealthy tech executives know about their own products that their consumers don’t?” the authors wrote. The answer, according to a growing body of evidence, is the addictive power of digital technology.

KCNA said in a statement: “The ICBM Hwasong-15 type weaponry system is an intercontinental ballistic rocket tipped with a super-large heavy warhead which is capable of striking the whole mainland of the US.” The US and Japan acted quickly and requested an urgent UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday to discuss North Korea’s latest missile launch.

The council was already scheduled to discuss progress in implementing recently adopted rounds of sanctions aimed at stifling Pyongyang’s military programmes. North Korea has been under UN sanctions since 2006 over its ballistic missiles and nuclear programs. The Security Council imposed stricter sanctions on the North on September 11, aimed at its supply of oil and gas for the first time following the rogue nation’s sixth and largest nuclear test earlier that month.