The men were arrested on suspicion of offences relating to the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003.
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Inevitably links go out of date.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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Telling the truth about the bible is not bullying
The manufactured outrage at Dan Savage is an attempt to redefine acceptable discourse so that statement of uncomfortable facts is considered off-limits.
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Michael De Dora on the war on women
State lawmakers set a record in 2011 for the most anti-reproductive rights provisions enacted in a single year, according to the Guttmacher Institute.
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Nutella’s misleading advertising
A healthy spread made with “simple, quality ingredients like hazelnuts, skim milk and a hint of cocoa”? Uh…you forgot to mention the sugar.
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Malaysia: Federal court dismisses Kashgari’s appeal
A five-man panel unanimously dismissed his appeal against a Kuala Lumpur High Court decision which struck out his writ of habeas corpus.
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Jesus proves to Mo about the miracles
He’s all like dude, yes I can.
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Obama proclaims May Day as “Loyalty Day”
Workers? What workers? There are no workers, so they don’t need a workers’ holiday.
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Cardinal Brady will not resign over BBC disclosures
This World found Cardinal Sean Brady had names and addresses of children being raped by priest Brendan Smyth, but did not pass details on to police or parents.
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Measles outbreak on Merseyside: more than 200 cases
There are 210 confirmed cases, 39 of which needed hospital treatment. About 50% of the cases are in children under five years old.
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Protesters plan to destroy GM test site
“Activist” group has pledged to carry out a “decontamination” at a test site where researchers are growing GM wheat that can repel insect pests with a smell. Hooray for crop failure!
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Dan Savage on the fairness of citing the Old Testament
Is it just totes unfair to confront anti-gay Christian hypocrites with Leviticus 20:13? No.
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Helen Ukpabio cancels 2 US trips
Leo Igwe wrote that “efforts must be made to stop this evangelical throwback from spreading her diseased gospel in the US”, while online campaigners called for her exclusion from the US.
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Women in Mali: no rights for you!
Under the new Family Code, a woman must obey her husband, men are considered the head of the family, and the legal age for marriage is 16 for girls and 18 for boys.
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PEN Festival panel discusses life and work of Hitchens
Salman Rushdie said he fit comfortably in the tradition of great essayists going back to the 18th century and his work would undoubtedly endure.
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Surly Amy says support women in secularism
She made limited edition Surly-Ramics necklaces as gifts for people who donate to student scholarships to the Women in Secularism conference.
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From minister to atheist: questions haunted her
Is Jesus the only way to God? Would a loving God torment people for eternity? Is there any evidence of God at all? And one day, she realized: “I’m an atheist.”
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Andrew Copson on state-funded “faith” schools
The Catholic church promoted to all pupils in its secondary schools a petition against gay marriage in a way unacceptable for any publicly funded body.
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Adele Wilde-Blavatsky: when anti-racism becomes anti-woman
The ‘excuse-making of cultural relativism’ and the politically correct face of anti-racism is ugly and dangerous.
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Nigeria: church attacks kill 19 on Sunday
Four killed in Maiduguri, fifteen in Kano. Both attacks bore the hallmarks of Boko Haram.
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Nigeria: suicide attack in Kano kills 11
Boko Haram’s increasingly murderous campaign has killed more than 1,000 people since mid-2009.
