UK foreign secretary Dominic Raab expressed ‘serious concern’ about a possible miscarriage of justice by a Cypriot court convicting a British teenager of lying about being gang-raped on holiday. The 19-year-old originally told police she was raped by twelve Israeli youths. She withdrew her complaint two weeks later, saying she was ‘forced’ to do so by police who left her ‘scared for my life’ and who did not record the interview; it was her word against theirs in court. The alleged attackers have returned home, while she faces jail and a fine. The case raises questions about Cyprus’s treatment of victims of sexual assault. Protesters claim the Cypriot authorities ‘always find a reason not to believe women who claim they have been raped’. The teenager has been contacted by others who were ‘forced to remain silent’ during similar experiences. She will be sentenced on 7 January.

Despite their ability to connect us to others across the globe, mobile phones may undermine the benefits we derive from interacting with those across the table at mealtimes. Pope Francis wants us all to switch off our cell phones and socialise during dinner, and research backs him up. Researchers have grown increasingly concerned about the psychological and social consequences of excessive smartphone use, and some restaurateurs have taken matters into their own hands by instituting cell phone bans or offering diners discounts if they surrender their phones. In a recent piece of research for a psychological journal, participants felt more distracted during mealtimes when their phones were present, thus decreasing their enjoyment of time spent with friends and family. Also, incidents of head and neck injuries related to cell phone use have risen steadily over the past two decades.

Hudson Valley towns, north of New York, have seen an influx of Hasidic Jews in recent years, and they have been suffering violent attacks following a deadly 10 December shooting rampage at a kosher market where six Jewish people died. New York City police received at least six reports of attacks in one week. Mayor Bill de Blasio promised an increased police presence in neighbourhoods with large Jewish populations. In London, anti-Semitic graffiti were daubed on a synagogue and several kosher shops during the Jewish festival of Hanukkah. The graffiti showed the Star of David and ‘911’, referencing anti-Semitic conspiracy theories that Jews are responsible for the 9/11 terror attack or Kristallnacht, the organised nationwide attack on Jews which began in Germany on 9 November 1938. In November newspaper headlines stated that anti-Semitism is on the rise in Europe, riding a wave of nationalism. See also

On Christmas Eve British-Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert started an open-ended hunger strike in protest at being sentenced to ten years on espionage charges. She wants, at the very least, to be moved from solitary confinement, where she has been since October 2018. On 30 December British-Iranian Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe said she would go on hunger strike in solidarity with Kylie. Just before Christmas, Kylie wrote to the Australian prime minister, pleading for ministers to do more to secure her release. A third dual national, Fariba Adelkhah, is also on hunger strike. The French government has summoned the Iranian ambassador over her detention. A government spokesman rejected the publicity they are receiving, saying Iran would not submit to political games or propaganda. Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe and many other imprisoned dual nationals in Tehran believe they are political hostages.