Global Quickies: Devil-Guided Journalism, Sexual bias, and More
IRAQ
Doubts are growing about the authenticity of an edict attributed to the Sunni Islamist group Isis controlling the Iraqi city of Mosul about ordering all females aged between 11 and 46 to undergo female genital mutilation.
EGYPT
In explanation for jailing of three al-Jazeera journalists, the judge said the devil encouraged them to use journalism against Egypt.
FINLAND (From Radium Yttrium)
The European Court of Human Rights saw no violation in forcing a transgender Finnish woman to either divorce her wife or obtain legal recognition of her female identity.
NIGERIA (from Jamie)
A recent study finds that Nigeria suffers from sexual bias from birth and that, while this does not skew the sex ratio, it manifests itself in other ways that harm individuals and society as a whole. Son-preference damages maternal health, makes marriage trickier for women, increases polygamy and alters the institution of child-fostering.
Featured image: Nigerian boys
The ISIS announcement was a bit odd. Why 11? If the proclamation was coming from Islamists, why not go for the Quranically approved 9? Of course where this barbarism is encouraged, even ‘delaying’ THAT long is regarded as dicey.
Before the invasion of Iraq, I heard right-wing radio personalities talking about infibulation.
This particular variant reminds me of Maccabees. In much the same way that the holy family hiding in Egypt comes from Exodus, the story of Judas comes from the story of Joseph, and much of the Apocalypse of John the Divine is cribbed from the Book of Daniel. People love to allude to older myths when they make newer ones.