Global Quickies: Ancient Indian Spaceships, Fossils in Creationist’s Basement, and Nepotism in ISIS

NIGERIA
In one of his last acts as president, Goodluck Jonathan signs a law that bans FGM and prohibits men from abandoning their wives or children without economic support.

UK
Rabbis in an orthodox Jewish sect in London say students should be banned from lessons if their mothers drive them to school because women drivers are ‘contrary to the rules of religious modesty‘.

CANADA (From Angela)
Alberta creationist discovers rare fish fossils in basement dig. Scientist says they likely swam in waters about 60 million years ago, discoverer believes they were laid down in Noah’s flood, about 4,500 years ago.

TURKEY
Muslim televangelist claims on air that “…those who have sexual intercourse with their hands will find their hands pregnant in the afterlife, complaining against them to God over its rights”. Twitter mockery ensues.

CANADA
“A sex-assault prevention educator says she’s receiving a backlash of nasty and abusive emails and tweets after publicly complaining that she was verbally abused by Royal Military College officer cadets she had been invited to speak to last fall.”

RUSSIA
“Russian President Vladimir Putin enacted a new law over the weekend that allows the country to crack down on “destructive organizations” that operate with foreign backing and threaten “the security of the state.” But rather than targeting terrorist groups, as the language in the legislation seems to suggest, the measure is aimed at NGOs, non-profit organizations that advocate for human rights, the environment, and a wide variety of other causes.”

HUMANITY
A senior Vatican official was “deeply saddened” by the results of last weekend’s referendum on gay marriage in Ireland and called it a “defeat for humanity”.

RUSSIA
The reactions of Russian society to a poor teenager forced into marrying a policeman many decades her senior are clear indicators of the country’s patriarchy (and class) problems.

Afghanistan
“In the four years she spent visiting women’s prisons across the country, Gabriela Maj heard stories of women who’d suffered more than anyone she’d ever met. In her book, Almond Garden, Maj presents the stories of 50 of those women, alongside portraits she took after getting unprecedented access to the facilities where they live.”

IRAQ/SYRIA
ISIS fighters on suicide bomber waiting lists are complaining that the only way to be put on a suicide mission is through personal connections.

BANGLADESH
“A Bangladeshi blogger whose name is on a “hit-list” of secular writers drawn up by Islamist extremists fears he will be the next to die after three others were hacked to death.”

KENYA
Five students expelled from school accused of being lesbians are sueing the school.

TUNISIA
“Tunisia has embarked on a bold and painful experiment, gathering testimony from victims of six decades of abuses under two dictatorships before its revolution four years ago led to a still-fledgling democracy.”

Featured image: Gabriela Maj’s book, Almond Garden.