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250 million downloads of YouVersion Bible app later The popular YouVersion Bible App for phones has reached a new download milestone , passing the quarter of a billion downloads . Created in 2008 as one of the 200 apps available in the iPhone app store , the YouVersion Bible App reached the 250 million download mark in December 2016 .

Originally launched in 2007 as part of the Life . Church website , the YouVersion Bible App includes over 1,200 versions of the Bible in about 900 languages ..

Source : christianpost . com

Belief in God plunged in the UK last year A YouGov poll for The Times has shown a four-point decline in the percentage of people who believe in a higher power , from 32 % in February last year to 28 % now . The drop suggests a far sharper decrease than in previous years . Britons ’ belief in God has long been in decline , but at a rate of about one per cent a year .

Meanwhile the proportion of atheists – people who say they do not actively believe in any kind of god – has risen from 33 % to 38 %. The Times says a year of “ election surprises , conflict , a refugee crisis and terrorism ” appear to have “ significantly … dented the public ’ s faith in a god ”.

Source : theweek . co . uk

Christian schools claim Ofsted used them as ‘ soft target ’ A network of independent Christian schools which teach creationism claim they were used as a “ soft target ” by Ofsted after nine of their schools were inspected and downgraded . Ten of the 24 schools which follow the Accelerated Christian Education ( ACE ) programme in England were inspected by Ofsted at the request of the Department for Education ( DfE ) in October last year ,

following an investigation by The Independent which published ex-pupil complaints against the curriculum .

Safeguarding issues such as pupils being in “ unsafe ” surroundings and poor preemployment checks on staff were highlighted . Progress in reading and mathematics was also questioned and described as “ painfully slow ” in one school . But Christian Concern , a charity providing legal advice to the schools about a possible judicial review of the reports , said the drive for “ British values ” explained why Ofsted had inspected the schools .

Andrea Williams , chief executive , said : “ It ’ s part of an agenda against these schools . There are concerns around extremism and British values , and these schools have a very strong Christian ethos in the way they teach about marriage , morality and science , in which God is the creator .”

Source : schoolsweek . co . uk

Japanese company replaces office workers with artificial intelligence Insurance firm Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance is making 34 employees redundant and replacing them with IBM ’ s Watson Explorer AI . Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance believes it will increase productivity by 30 % and see a return on its investment in less than two years . The firm said it would save about 140m yen (£ 1m ) a year after the 200m yen (£ 1.4m ) AI system is installed this month . Maintaining it will cost about 15m yen (£ 100k ) a year .

Source : theguardian . com

Religious tolerance declining in Indonesia Indonesia ’ s largest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama ( NU ) declared that religious tolerance weakened in 2016 , marred by discriminatory acts against followers of different religions . Religious intolerance has taken its toll on the

country this year because of intolerant acts committed by hardliner groups that violate the freedom of people to practice their religious beliefs , said NU executive council ( PBNU ) chairman Said Aqil Siraj .

“ These acts of religious intolerance could deteriorate the country ’ s commitment to Bhineka Tunggal Ika [ Unity in Diversity ],” he said during the organization ’ s year-end reflection at its headquarters in Jakarta .

Source : thejakartapost . com

Witchcraft accusation lands Christians in jail in Nepal Five Christians in Nepal were charged with witchcraft and violence . Four were convicted and sentenced to five years in prison . The charge was based on an event that took place months ago when a woman with a mental illness visited the church , looking for help . She was prayed over , and left . The Christians were charged under Nepal ’ s new anti-proselytising law .

Source : persecution . org

Internet ‘ not designed for children ’ Youngsters are not prepared for what they are signing up to on the internet , and are frequently giving personal information away , according to the Children ’ s Commissioner for England . Anne Longfield said children did not know how their data was being used due to “ impenetrable ” terms and conditions . She said the internet was not designed for children even though they are now the biggest users . She has called for a digital ombudsman to be created to uphold their rights .

Source : bbc . co . uk

24 Revival Times February 2017