---
title: "Bogus bomb detectors still in use in Iraq, and other stories – our morning round-up"
date: "2013-10-03T09:46:20+01:00"
modified: "2013-10-03T09:46:20+01:00"
url: "https://rationalists.org.uk/2013/10/03/bogus-bomb-detectors-still-in-use-in-iraq-and-other-stories-our-morning-round-up/"
post_id: 5960
categories: ["Uncategorised"]
---

# Bogus bomb detectors still in use in Iraq, and other stories – our morning round-up

[Iraq still using bogus bomb detectors ](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/exclusive-iraq-still-using-bogus-bomb-detectors--and-thousands-pay-the-price-8854567.html)

Bomb detectors with no scientific basis, sold by convicted British fraudster James McCormick, are still in use in Iraq, where 979 were killed by bombings in September alone. (Independent)

[Barack Obama ‘hugely impressed’ by Pope Francis](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/barackobama/10351806/Barack-Obama-hugely-impressed-by-Pope-Francis.html)

The US President says he is impressed by the new Pontiff’s “humility” following his recent remarks that the Church must shake off its obsession with issues like homosexuality and abortion. (Telegraph)

[Health of oceans ‘declining fast’](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24369244)

Climate change is helping to damage the world’s oceans faster than previously thought, with rising acidity threatening a mass extinction of species. (BBC)

[Qatar under growing pressure over workers’ deaths as Fifa is urged to act](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/02/qatar-workers-deaths-fifa-world-cup-2022)

Activists are continuing call for football’s governing body to take action amid allegations regarding the treatment of migrant workers in the 2022 World Cup host nation. (Guardian)

[Secular society calls for a ban on creationism in schools](http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/education/secular-society-calls-for-a-ban-on-creationism-in-schools.22310389)

The Scottish Secular Society has called on the Scottish government to provide clearer guidelines after children at a primary school in South Lanarkshire were given creationist books donated by the Church of Christ. (Herald Scotland)