Council leaders in Asara village have reportedly barred women under 40 from shopping alone and from using mobile phones outside.
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Inevitably links go out of date.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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Prominent female Afghan politician killed
Hanifa Safi died after a bomb attached to her car exploded as she left her home in Laghman province. Her husband and daughter were injured.
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Afghan women protest public murder of women
The protest on July 11 follows the public
executionmurder of a young married Afghan woman in Parwan Province who was accused of adultery. -
Tosh and the rape joke
Threatening women with rape, making light of rape, and suggesting that women who speak up be raped is not edgy or controversial. It’s the norm.
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Outrage over destruction of Timbuktu shrines
Islamists destroyed two more tombs in northern Mali this week. “This is an assault not just on Mali but on the heritage of all Africans,” said US State Department.
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Catholic church’s fading influence in Poland
The giant Jesus statue didn’t stem the tide after all.
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Why are most policy experts male?
In a society that values women more for their bodies than their brains, female underrepresentation in the smarty-pants professions is the entirely predictable result.
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Pakistan: prominent university lecturer shot
Two prominent educationists, who are also human rights activists and feminists, came under attack when they returned to Pakistan from the US.
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One Law for All letter to Trevor Phillips
Sharia family law has been described as “wholly incompatible” with human rights and democratic principles by the House of Lords.
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Why do women MPs in Pakistan oppose women’s rights?
“I want a woman MP who understands my multiple marginalisations as a woman in the Pakistani society.”
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Pakistan: activist for tribal women murdered
Farida Afridi broke all barriers and relentlessly worked for women’s development. So naturally guys on motorcycles shot her.
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A new documentary on the world of “purity balls”
The women who take virginity pledges and go to purity balls are promising that their bodies aren’t their own, but instead belong to their fathers and future husbands.
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Indonesia Supreme Court chief tells Merkel atheists are free
And everyone has a good laugh.
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Jakarta Globe on intolerance in Indonesia
“They have secular views on human rights, which of course will always be different from ours,” said Indonesian Council of Ulema deputy chairman.
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The religious Right, the bible, and slavery
The religious right doesn’t ignore Bible passages about slavery altogether; it uses them to support anti-worker, anti-union policies.
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FLDS patriarch tortures a kitten to death, sheriff laughs
The live kitten, trapped up to the shoulders in concrete, was found on the property of Isaac Wyler; it died shortly after being rescued. Warning: picture.
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Being a freethought parent
The religion bit is easy. It is far harder to teach children that everyone is equal when all that they see around them is a very unjust world.
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Brian Cox on the Higgs boson and science funding
“We’ve spent more money in one year on bailing out the banks than we’ve spent on science in Britain since Jesus.”
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Saudi woman seeks asylum in UK
The daughter of King Saud doesn’t want to live in Saudi Arabia.
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Shoot-the-woman porn
The video shows the woman being riddled with bullets at close range, in front of a cheering crowd of men. Cheering.