After former students sued for allegedly beating, starving, and sexually assaulting them, a now-defunct Christian boarding school in rural West Virginia settled lawsuits with a record $100 million, lawyers of the victims announced.
Chinese President Xi Jinping made a surprise visit to Xinjiang, where he urged officials in the region to conserve the “hard-won social stability” that it is enjoying and deepen efforts to control “illegal religious activities” in Xinjiang.
Xi urges more work to 'control illegal religious activities' in Xinjiang on surprise visit - The Guardian https://t.co/UplkWvQUoc
A television channel in Lebanon recently launched an ad campaign to decriminalize homosexuality in the country, sparking outrage among religious leaders.
Murr Television (MTV) released a video last September 2nd announcing its support for abolishing a provision in Lebanon’s Penal Code that makes "unnatural sexual intercourse,” often used to target members of the LGBTQIA+ community in the country, punishable by one year in prison.
Egypt has recently unveiled its decision to ban the niqab, a type of Islamic religious garment worn by women, at schools, sparking a debate in one of Africa’s largest Muslim-majority countries.
"Females always pull the short straw."
Egyptians talk to Al Jazeera about the recent government decision to prohibit students from wearing niqab https://t.co/OhPSgafG81
Four individuals in Pakistan were sentenced to death on September 4th for blasphemy for sharing content deemed insulting to the Prophet Muhammad and the Holy Quran, while one convict was sentenced to seven years in prison in the case.
Since the rise of Israel’s most right-wing government in its history, which included ultra-Orthodox and far-right parties in its alliance, many activists and ordinary Israelis are worrying about the rise of sex segregation in many areas of public life.
Growing Segregation by Sex in Israel Raises Fears for Women’s Rights https://t.co/A11e7lZdWW
A 10th-grade student in the district of Kathua in Jammu was sent to a hospital after his school teacher and principal severely beat him for writing "Jai Shri Ram" (Glory to Lord Rama) on his classroom’s blackboard, triggering protests in the area and led to the closure of his school.
Charlie Hebdo, the French satirical newspaper known for being targeted by two Islamist terrorists that saw 12 people killed and 11 injured in January 2015, criticized the Danish government after it proposed a new law banning religious books such as the Quran from being desecrated.
Religion has continuously declined worldwide in the 21st century, including in the United States. There are different ideas as to the factors that contribute to this decline. However, a recent paper suggests that automation in the form of artificial intelligence and robotics is a primary driver in the current downward trend of global religiosity.
Riots and clashes erupted in an immigrant neighborhood in Sweden’s third-largest city after a notorious anti-Islam activist burned another copy of the Quran in another protest.
Authorities in the southern coastal city of Malmö said dozens of cars, including in an underground garage, were set on fire, and rioters threw stones at them. They described the events that occurred last September 3rd and lasted overnight as “a violent riot.”
