Quickies

Global Quickies: Hate-Bus Arrives in Chile, Hijab While Driving, and Sexism in Airlines

AFGHANISTAN / USA
“Six Afghan teenage girls are to compete in person in a global robotics competition in Washington on Sunday after the US reversed a decision not to grant them visas. The initial rejection of the team’s visa sparked international outcry and the girls became national celebrities in Afghanistan, where many are perplexed about the repercussions of new US immigration rules and feel abandoned by their American allies.”

FRANCE
“French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe has made the ultimate pro-vaccine statement, and the French government is insisting that the rest of the country follow suit. France’s powerful stance on the anti-vaccine movement mandates that, by 2018, all French children have 11 vaccines.”

CHILE
“Chile’s Supreme Court has sparked an outcry after reducing the sentence of a man who blinded his partner in a notorious case.”

IRAN
“A growing number of women in Iran are refusing to wear a hijab while driving, sparking a nationwide debate about whether a car is a private space where they can dress more freely.”

NEPAL
Shunned During Her Period, Nepali Woman Dies of Snakebite.”

SWEDEN
“A diversity demonstration was held in Visby on Friday in protest against the neo-Nazi Nordic Resistance Movement’s presence at Sweden’s iconic Almedalen politics festival. Several hundred protesters waving rainbow flags took part in the diversity parade in Visby on the island of Gotland, where the annual Almedalen politics week is currently underway, in protest against the Nordic Resistance Movement (NRM).

CHILE
“After controversial tours through both Spain and the United States, a bus-based anti-transgender campaign being run by Spain’s ultraconservative Catholic group Hazte Oír (Make Yourself Heard) has received a stormy welcome in Santiago de Chile.”

SAUDI ARABIA
“Women in Saudi Arabia have criticised a Saudi cleric’s advice that they should not wear embroidered clothes and avoid make up.”

QATAR
“The chief executive of Qatar Airways has apologised for comments he made about flight attendants that were condemned as both sexist and ageist. In a speech at a dinner in Ireland last week, Akbar Al Baker said US airlines were “crap” and their passengers were “always being served by grandmothers”.”

SPAIN
“The regional authorities on Spain’s Balearic Islands have fined Spanish airline Iberia €25,000 for demanding that women seeking cabin crew jobs undergo a pregnancy test as part of their application process.”

Featured image: Art installation in protest of Neo-Nazis at Swedish festival. By Joakim Berndes.

Daniela

Born and raised in Mexico City, Daniela has finally decided to abdicate her post as an armchair skeptic and start doing some skeptical activism. She is currently living in Spain after having lived in the US, Brazil and Italy. You can also find her blogging in Spanish at esceptica.org.

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