Tensions are rising in Iran as activists respond to the increasingly harsher implementation of hijab compliance. Brave and defiant women are posting videos of themselves not wearing hijab.
An honor-based family murder in a small town in the Fars province of Iran has once again sparked debates on the lack of laws to prevent “honor-killing” in Iran.
On June 27, the father of Ariana Lashkari shot the sixteen-year-old girl in the chest with a hunting rifle for allegedly laughing with a boy at a park, which he considered a disgrace to the family.
On July 3rd, in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, the owner of a restaurant, Talib Hussain, was taken into police custody for allegedly hurting the religious sentiments of the Hindu community by wrapping chicken dishes in old newspapers which contained the images of Hindu deities.
Locals that claim they saw him doing this had complained to the police.
An FIR was lodged by the senior sub-inspector, Ajay Kumar Tyagi, which stated that Talib Hussain was deliberately doing this to hurt the religious sentiments of the Hindus.
BJP leader Nupur Sharma was reprimanded by the Supreme Court last week for the inflammatory remarks that she made against the Islamic prophet. The Supreme Court said that her "loose tongue" had "put the entire country on fire,"
A 70-year-old man and two other gay men were sentenced to death by stoning in Bauchi, Nigeria. The accused were charged and convicted for engaging in acts of homosexuality. They were arrested by the religious police force of the state on June 14.
On July 21, Umesh Kolhe, a pharmacist, was brutally killed on his way home after shutting his drug store in Maharashtra, India. The authorities suspect he was attacked for sharing posts on social media supporting Nupur Sharma. The police have arrested seven, and the NIA (National Investigation Agency) has started an in-depth investigation.
The decision of the United Kingdom's Department of Education to prohibit a Salafi activist from spreading his hateful teachings was welcomed by the National Secular Society (NSS). This ruling notes that several harmful sermons were published. This decision prevents the former faith school proprietor from managing private or state school teachings.
On June 26, despite banning Pride parades and other similar events, hundreds of people marched through the streets of Istanbul, Turkey, to demonstrate the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer communities. The Turkish authorities attacked and arrested many before the rally began.
On June 28th, a Hindu shop owner named Kanhaiya Lal was brutally murdered in the city of Udaipur in the Indian state of Rajasthan by two Muslim men over an alleged social media post, triggering tension between the two communities. It is believed that the shop owner may have been facing threats for ten days leading up to the murder and asked for protection from the police, which they did not provide.
After the regressive overturning of Roe V. Wade, the US Supreme Court sided in favor of high school coach and former Washington State University coach Joe Kennedy in that his firing from the Bremerton School District violated his First Amendment rights.
