From September 1 to 3, the biggest gathering of politicians, legal and academic experts on Xianjing has gathered in the Boiler House at Newcastle University in UK. The Xinjiang Crisis: Genocide, Crimes Against Humanity, Justice is organized by a Xianjing-specialist academic, Dr. Jo Smith Finley.
On August 22, 2021, the Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) of the Punjab province in Pakistan announced that Tiktokers are banned from entering public parks. The decision was made during a meeting of the PHA officials on the same day.
On Aug. 11, 2021, a paradox unfolded during a school board meeting in Virginia. In a single statement, Laura Morris — a 5th-grade public school teacher — juxtaposed her school district's "cutting-edge technology" and the religious ideology of a "believer in Christ." Laura ruefully announced her resignation, failing to see that the liberal movement that allowed her to speak openly against a policy is the same movement that compels the board to respect transgender children.
"School board, I quit," she announced defiantly, with white tears.
In a letter addressed to Senator Ben Cardin — Chair of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Committee — dated June 30, 2021, eight Republican US senators expressed their concern over the nomination of Dilawar Syed. The signatories of the letter were Senators James Risch (Idaho), Marco Rubio (Florida), Josh Hawley (Missouri), Tim Scott (South Carolina), John Kennedy (Louisiana), Jim Inhofe (Oklahoma), Roger Marshal (Kansas), and Joni Ernst (Iowa).
On July 26th, the U.S. Court of Appeals held the lower court’s decision to deny a web designer’s petition to discriminate against the LGBTQ+ community in Colorado. There have been many other court rulings in the United States deciding if a business that denies service to LGBTQ+ people is considered prejudice or exercising their right to religious freedom.
On July 6, the 14th and current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, turned 86. As the Dalai Lama grows older, the pressure for his succession has become more mounting. Tibet, China, India, and the rest of the world prepare for the plunge when the Dalai Lama has no choice. He will either name a successor or leave the world behind, especially Tibet, more vulnerable to China's aggression.
On July 29, three Jehovah’s Witnesses were sentenced to six years in prison, on top of the two years they served while waiting for their trial. Two of the Jehova’s Witnesses are father and son, Vilen(68) and Arsen(37) Avanesov. Aleksandr Parkov (53), a companion, was also charged. Arsen and Parkov were sentenced to six and a half years, while Vilen was sentenced to six years. By the end of their time, they would have all spent nearly a decade behind bars.
On June 22, the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in Sweden began the trial for an Iranian national. The unnamed respondent is suspected of playing a vital role in the series of killings in 1988 during the Iran-Iraq War.
From the 19th to 20th centuries, Canadian churches operated at least 150 boarding schools for children of aboriginal tribes. Officials have exposed hundreds of unmarked graves on the surrounding properties. Approximately 150,000 native children attended these schools for more than a century. Sadly, the National Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Canada determined 3,201 native children died due to unsatisfactory conditions, malnourishment, and abuse.
