Global Quickies: Killing Over Blasphemy, Jehovah’s Witnesses Banned, and Crochet vs Soccer
PAKISTAN
“A mob beat a student to death at his university campus on Thursday after he was accused of sharing blasphemous content on social media, university and police officials said.”
SPAIN
“A school in the Madrid suburb of Alcorcón is being investigated after it emerged that while boys were offered an extracurricular trip to the Real Madrid stadium, female pupils were offered crochet classes.”
RUSSIA
“Justices on Russia’s Supreme Court issued a ruling on Thursday that bans Jehovah’s Witnesses from operating anywhere in the country. […]The decision comes after the justice ministry said it found signs of “extremist activity” within the Jehovah’s Witnesses and requested it be banned.”
ITALY
“Italy has announced that it is experiencing a measles epidemic following a fall-off in vaccinations, as the United States issued a warning to visitors about the outbreak of the potentially fatal disease.”
NIGERIA
“Nigerian police say they have arrested 53 young men who celebrated a gay wedding and charged them with “belonging to a gang of unlawful society.””
BURUNDI
“The UN human rights chief has condemned a “campaign of terror” by government-backed militia in Burundi who are calling for the rape and murder of members of the opposition. A video circulated on social media shows more than 100 members of the Imbonerakure, the government’s youth wing, voicing rape chants and threats to kill, the UN rights office has confirmed.”
RUSSIA
“Russia’s flagship carrier Aeroflot is fighting a legal battle with several of its female flight attendants who say it favours slim and attractive cabin crew. […]In court, the Aeroflot representative said every extra kilogram of weight meant spending an extra 800 roubles (£11; $14) annually on fuel.”
SWAZILAND
“A woman has been ordered by a magistrate in Swaziland to have sex with her husband within seven days or face divorce. Her husband had gone to court to seek a divorce on the grounds his wife was no longer giving him his ‘conjugal rights’.”
Featured image by Jolanta N.
Regarding the Aeroflot weight requirements, there is a very important question I don’t see asked: Are the male pilots subjected to the exact same weight requirements as the women? After all, I seriously doubt flying a plane is much more physically strenuous than certain jobs that even women who are so thin you can see their bones do. Take ballet dancing, for example; female ballet dancers need lots of strength to hold the positions they do and do their moves, and many of them do it with barely enough meat on their bones to do the job. Surely if a thin woman can do ballet, a thin man can fly a plane, right? And besides, this is a Russian airline we are talking about here – ballet is very popular in Russia, and I doubt that the people putting this argument forth don’t have at least a passing familiarity with ballet, much as those of us from the USA who are not fans of NFL football nevertheless have a passing familiarity with certain of the rules of football, what the ball looks like, and the expected physiques and attire of the football players.