Ultra-Orthodox demonstrators clashed with police in two of Israel’s major cities. Enforcing coronavirus restrictions in these religious neighborhoods has brought great challenges for local authorities.
A prominent ultra-Orthodox rabbi, Rabbi Daniel Asor, instructed his followers that the coronavirus vaccine “can make them gay,” according to Israel Hayom. Rabbi Asor contradicts three of the most senior rabbis of the ultra-Orthodox faith: Kanievsky, Edlestein and Cohen, each of who advised those who can get the vaccine should do so.
In a horrifying incident, a mother bludgeoned her two daughters in their 20s, allegedly at the advice of a tantric priest, while their father watched the grisly act in silence.
A 13-year-old Nigerian sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for blasphemy is finally free as he wins his appeal in Kano state.
In August 2020, Omar Farouq was convicted in a Sharia court in Kano State of northwestern Nigeria, after being accused of using foul language about Allah while arguing with a friend.
Though only 13 years old, Farouq was tried as an adult because he has attained puberty and has full responsibility under Islamic law.
In a July 2020 interview with National Public Radio (NPR), Adrian Zenz, a German academic, explained how his opinion of the Communist Party of China’s actions in the Xinjiang region of Western China have changed. He once argued that China's actions are a "cultural genocide" as opposed to a literal one. But since recent developments regarding the suppression of birth rates among minorities of Xinjiang, Zenz now says that "we do need to probably call it genocide."
The state-run body (Diyanet) claims the tradition of wearing an eye-shaped blue amulet, the ‘evil-eye’ — which is believed to have originated from as far back as 3,300 BCE — is incompatible with Islam and prohibited. This tradition has become widely adopted in Turkey.
"Although the nature and condition of the evil eye are unknown, it is accepted by religion that some people can create negative effects with their gaze," according to the advisory published by Diyanet on the internet.
Accused of criticizing the royal family, authorities sentenced a Thai woman to 43 years in prison, the harshest sentence ever for insulting the monarchy in this country.
The former Houston megachurch pastor, Kirbyjon Caldwell, was once a spiritual adviser to presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. The pastor was a frequent visitor to the White House during the George W. Bush administration and even officiated Jenna Bush's wedding.
In Louisiana, authorities sentenced Caldwell to six years in federal prison for defrauding more than two dozen people out of millions of dollars by selling worthless Chinese bonds.
Three female Polish activists are on trial, facing two years in prison for offending religious feelings. They created an image of the Virgin Mary, Poland's sacred icon, wearing a rainbow halo.
The indictment follows an incident in April 2019, when posters and stickers bearing a rainbow-haloed version of the Black Madonna appeared near a church in Płock, a city in central Poland.The doctored image traded the golden halos around the Virgin Mary and the Infant Jesus with representations of a rainbow flag, a common symbol of the LGBT community.
According to his friends, Munawar Faruqui was "shaken" with a foreboding that something might happen after the video of his April 2020 performance, which led to FIRs against Faruqui, and hashtags trended on social media demanding his arrest.
Munawar Faruqui was detained following a complaint by members of a right-wing vigilante group in India. He was denied bail twice despite officials saying they had no video evidence of him "insulting" Hindu deities.
