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Feminism
Global Quickies: Witchcraft, Gurus, and #BringBackOurGirls
NIGERIA Nigeria’s chief of defense announced a ceasefire agreement with Boko Haram and the release of the 200 abducted girls. Not many details have been announced and many Nigerians remain extremely skeptical. TANZANIA Tanzanian police have charged 23 people with murder after seven villagers were burned alive on suspicion of witchcraft. A Tanzanian human rights group estimates that 500 suspected…
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Activism
Global Quickies: Blasphemy, Deadly Rituals, and Calling Out Sexism
UK A couple is sentenced for making fake bomb detectors in their garden shed. They sold them for thousands of dollars. These and other “detectors” are still being used in war zones, drug wars, and against poachers. CHILE A 7 year-old girl was drowned by her family while trying to perform a healing ritual with cold water in the tub.…
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Activism
Global Quickies: Zombies, Evil Atheists, and Discriminated Virgos
MALDIVES The government is trying to “reduce adverse effects on society that could be caused by published literature” by introducing new regulations to ensure “that the works published in the Maldives do not contravene Islamic principles, the laws and regulations of the Maldives and societal etiquette”. LIBERIA The supposed resurrection of two Ebola patients who died of the virus is…
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Feminism
Global Quickies: Mars on a Budget, Sharia Law, and The Vatican Arrests a Priest
INDIA India has succeeded, at their first attempt, to send an operational mission to Mars. The Mangalyaan mission was also really cheap, $74 million. That’s less than what making the movie Gravity cost. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC The Vatican has placed its former ambassador to the Dominican Republic, Jozef Wesolowski, under house arrest on charges of sexually abusing children. INDONESIA…
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Feminism
Global Quickies: ‘Happy’ Dancers Sentenced to Jail, A Boy Gets Justice, and Cyclists Defend ‘Naked’ Uniform
IRAN The young men and women who were arrested in May for posting a video of themselves dancing to Pharrell Williams’ ‘Happy” have been sentenced to six months in prison and 91 lashes. The sentences are suspended for the moment, but could be carried out any time in the next three years. MEXICO Several members of a Mexican family, including…
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Skepticism
Global Quickies: Malala, Anti-gay Laws, and Terrible Hashtags
PAKISTAN Ten militants have been taken into custody in connection with the 2012 shooting of Malala Yousafzai. The military said the attackers had been under orders of the leader of the main Pakistani Taliban branch, who, on the day of the attack, called Malala’s pro-education campaign an “obscenity” and her shooting a warning to other advocates of Western culture. ARGENTINA…
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Skepticism
Global Quickies: Half a Billion Pound Lawsuit, Gender Laws, and the Bible Roulette
UK / NIGERIA Nigerian ‘witch hunter’ Helen Ukpabio is launching a legal case against the British Humanist Association, suing them for half a billion pounds for misrepresentation. Ukpabio claims that the BHA misrepresented her by saying that she believes that if a child under the age of two screams at night, cries, is always feverish, suddenly deteriorates in health, puts…
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Feminism
Global Quickies: Governments Fail Children, Diplomatic Immunity, and Evil 3G
IRELAND (From Ciarán) A suicidal refugee teen, in care of the state and pregnant from a rape, was forced to give birth even though she was entitled to have the abortion she wanted. An investigation is underway as to why she was not properly informed, did not receive the proper psychological help, and was even moved to another part of…
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