The Beijing Olympics, to be held on February 4th, 2022, has been called to be boycotted by human rights groups across China. In light of the leak of Xinjiang Papers in 2019, the Uyghur genocide, Hong Kong and Tibet protests, China has been under constant scrutiny by the world for its’ questionable stand against human rights abuse reports from across the country.
On April 28th, 2020, Mubarak Bala (age 37), an Ex-Muslim atheist and President of the Humanist Association of Nigeria, was apprehended at his home and then taken to the northern state of Kano. There he faced blasphemy accusations from religious figures. Blasphemy is punishable by death in the region where sharia law is enforced on Muslims despite Nigeria’s own Constitution.
On April 23rd, at least 45 people were killed, and approximately 150 others were treated for injuries after a stampede crushed them at a religious festival in Israel. Tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews gathered in celebration at one of the most significant events in the country.
United States Federal authorities filed charges of child exploitation and abduction against an extremist Jewish sect known as the “Lev Tahor” group. This same group has faced several such accusations over the years.
On the morning of Tuesday April 20th, the Canadian Province of Quebec announced plans to appeal a ruling which exempted minority teachers and some politicians from wearing religious attire or symbols.
The ruling, that supports much of a 2019 law, does not apply to teachers in Quebec's English-language school boards, as they hold special rights over education under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Over the past century, hundreds of films were censored in Italy based on moral, political, and religious judgment. Cinematic films have been impeded by this system of censorship since 1914, a time of emerging movies in theaters.
On April 7th, Arkansas’s House Bill 1701, which would allow Christian beliefs to be taught in schools, passed the House vote 72 to 21. The voting was strictly partisan, with Republicans having the majority.
SHAME: The Arkansas House just passed an unconstitutional bill that allows public schools to teach the Christian theory of creationism as science. https://t.co/TV9vdwyEPy
France’s move to outlaw wearing the hijab in public places for girls under age 18 was proposed under France’s “Separatist Bill” and approved by Members of Parliament (MP) on February 16th. The French Senate decided in favor of the bill on March 30th.
