In Mosul, Iraq, the new Islamic State have announced that all
Christians must either convert to Islam; pay a special tax; or face death ”as a
last resort,” according to Arabic news agency Al Jazeera. Before the take-over,
there were about 3000 Christians in Mosul.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the National
Association for Advancement of Colored People have asked a federal appeals
court to repeal an Arizona law banning sex-selective and race-selective
abortions, on the grounds that the law is itself racist. The somewhat twisted
logic behind this is that the law is allegedly based on racial stereotypes, and
therefore implies that some racial groups might be less desirable than others.
The plaintiffs also argue that race-selective and sex-selective abortions are
rare in Arizona; however, a recent undercover investigation found two clinics
prepared to record sex-selective abortions under a different heading, and it is
widely accepted that abortion is more common amongst some ethnic groups than
others. Finally, the plaintiffs allege that when the Bill was being passed, the
Bill’s sponsor made statements that offended minority groups.
The push for accommodating transgender children in Canadian
schools led to an interesting balancing act between law and belief in a
Catholic school in Vancouver. The parents of one such child filed a human
rights complaint against the school; the school has responded with a policy
which, at first glance, grants the student everything s/he wished for. However,
on closer examination, the policy is only applicable to students suffering
“gender dysphoria,” a recognised mental disorder which leads to significant
stress in school or social situations. The policy is designed to reduce such
stress but clearly states that a high percentage of children are expected to
“return to their biological gender by adulthood” and also that “gender is given
by God; humans are not free to change their sexual identity.” The case has also
highlighted another attempted change to the English language by Canadian LBGT
activists; the parents’ lawyer, barbara findlay, insists that her name is
spelled without capital letters.
Meriam Ibrahim and her family are still in the US Embassy in
Khartoum. One of the obstacles to her leaving has been removed: her father had launched
legal proceedings which, if successful, would have legally changed her religion
to that of her father, thus invalidating her Christian marriage. Those
proceedings have now been dropped.
A recent attempt to force EU states to introduce gay
marriage through the European Court of Human rights has failed. The case from a
Finnish man claimed that the human rights of “respect for private and family
life” and “right to marry” should be interpreted as requiring governments to
give same-sex couples the right to marry. However, the ECHR rejected both these
arguments; it pointed out that the Article expressing the right to marry
“expressly provides for regulation of marriage by national law” and quoted
precedents that state that the Article “enshrines the traditional concept of
marriage as being between a man and a woman.”
In sport, Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy won golf’s British
Open tournament at the age of 25, becoming the third youngest man ever to win
three of the four major golf tournaments. One of the two who beat him to it,
Tiger Woods, also played but finished six over par – 23 shots behind McIlroy,
and five shots behind 64 year old Tom Watson.
And finally, a postwoman in Somerset had a slight problem
with a parcel she was due to deliver – it was full of bees which escaped inside
her van. A bee-keeper was called to collect the 2000 bees and to deliver them
to the intended recipient. Parcelforce confirmed that it is legal to post bees
(and leeches, maggots and earthworms), but they are supposed to be enclosed in
packs “constructed so as to prevent injury.”
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