There are important questions that remain unanswered when all the facts are in.
Category: Latest News
Welcome to our archive of news stories relevant to the project of fighting fashionable nonsense. The stories are drawn from the electronic pages of the world’s media. On this page, you’ll find links to those stories that have been featured on Butterflies and Wheels during the current year. At the bottom of the page, you’ll find links to separate archives of stories from previous years.
We’re always pleased to hear about news stories that you think should be featured on Butterflies and Wheels. Just send an email here, if you want to point one out to us.
A note about links
Inevitably links go out of date. We suggest, therefore, that you make hard-copies of the stories that particularly interest you.
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Curiosity Rover samples the air on Mars
The robot sucked the air into its big Sample Analysis at Mars instrument
to reveal the concentration of different gases. -
Reform call as madrassa teacher guilty of child cruelty
They would still have the same curriculum though.
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Rimsha Masih released, removed by helicopter
A Pakistani military helicopter plucked her from a prison yard on Saturday and flew her to a secret location after she was granted bail.
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The myth that hijab protects women
Even if the only part of a woman’s body that shows is her shadow, harassers will sexualize and fetishize it.
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Huge ugly cruise ships wrecking Venice
They are out of scale.
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Arctic ice melting fast
“This is not some short-lived phenomenon – this is an ongoing trend. You lose more and more ice and it is accelerating.”
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Canada closes Iranian embassy, kicks out diplomats
Foreign Minister’s statement said Canada viewed Iran “as the most significant threat to global peace and security in the world today”.
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Pakistan: bail granted in “blasphemy” case
Blasphemy is not a bailable offence but her lawyers pleaded that she was a juvenile.
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India: woman gives away daughters
Reporter is incredulous to discover poverty so desperate. Where’s he been?
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California bans therapy aimed at ‘curing’ homosexuality
The bill to prohibit children and teenagers from undergoing conversion therapy
was passed by a vote of 51 to 21. -
Divorce and sharia
The husband says a second wife is allowed under sharia.
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Hindu protests over McDonald’s near holy sites
Big Macs v sacred cows.
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Tunisia: Salafists raid hotel bar for serving alcohol
Dozens of thugs smashed bottles and chased away customers at the Horchani
hotel, news agencies reported. -
New 3-D image from Curiosity Rover
Between the rover on the right, and its shadow on the left, looms the rover’s
eventual target: Mount Sharp. -
Muslim-majority countries bad on religious freedom
Violent religious persecution is present in every country with a Muslim majority with a population of more than 2 million.
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Ben Goldacre researches the new health secretary
In parliament he has been a supporter of homeopathy, against abortion, and against hybrid stem cell research. In 2009 he called for the NHS to be dismantled.
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Xians take ‘beliefs’ fight to ECHR
Andrew Marsh, of Christian Concern, told the BBC the four could have had their beliefs respected by their employers without harming the people they serve.
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Speed-dating as new version of arranged marriage
Chat for three minutes, move on. Better than not meeting at all…
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Egypt’s sexual harassment of women is ‘epidemic’
Some women had education, and some men lagged behind; one way to equalise status is to shock women and force a sexual situation on them anywhere.