Academics & Education

‘Insulting’ Facebook comments about Islam and other religions earn B.C. teacher a reprimand John Yetman responded to invitation for Open Mosque Day with 'discourteous and disrespectful' language

(CBC) A Vancouver high school teacher has been disciplined for writing “intemperate and insulting comments” about religion on a Facebook post advertising open houses at B.C. mosques. John William Yetman has agreed to a formal reprimand after acknowledging he committed professional misconduct […]

Children & Teens

Germany indicts Iraqi man over death of Yazidi slave girl The man has been accused of letting the 5-year-old die of thirst after keeping her as a slave in Iraq. The suspect and his wife, German national Jennifer W., allegedly left the girl chained up before she perished.

(Deutsche Welle) German prosecutors said on Friday they had indicted an Iraqi man for allegedly leaving a Yazidi girl to die of thirst. He and his wife kept the 5-year-old as a slave in Iraq and his spouse, a German convert to Islam, is already […]

Academics & Education

German authorities, politicians divided on niqab, burqa ban Politicians across party lines agree that the niqab and the burqa are out of place at schools and universities. Some, however, fear that a ban could hamper integration into German society.

(Deutsche Welle) There are very few women and girls in Germany wearing a full-face veil such as the niqab or the burqa — most likely a mere two-digit number. A recent verdict handed down by a Hamburg court, however, has sparked a […]

Children & Teens

Priti Patel orders officials to explain status of grooming gang review Frustrated home secretary 'being given the run around by officials' on long-awaited probe into gang ethnicity.

(HuffPost) Home secretary Priti Patel has ordered officials to explain what has happened to a long-awaited review into the ethnicity of grooming gangs, HuffPost UK has learnt. A frustrated Patel has been met with “obfuscation” from Home Office officials when asking about […]

Academics & Education

EMSB says it won’t accept federally backed funding to fight pair of Quebec laws Even though the Court Challenges Program is independent, Quebec's premier called on Ottawa to intervene

(CBC) The English Montreal School Board says it will not take the $250,000 it was offered by the federally backed Court Challenges Program to fight two Quebec laws that the board contends go against the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In […]

Children & Teens

Female genital mutilation feels ‘like living in a dead body’ More than 70,000 women in Germany have undergone female genital mutilation, and a rising number of young girls are considered at risk — even though it's illegal. It's prompted Berlin to set up a national anti-FGM office.

(Deutsche Welle) After Shadia Abdelmoneim’s third child was born, while she was still under anesthetic, her midwife performed female genital mutilation (FGM) on her without her consent. It led to a lengthy period of shock thereafter where she found it difficult to […]

Academics & Education

Legault government up in arms after EMSB awarded federal funds to fight pair of Quebec laws Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says funding is allocated by program independent of federal government

(CBC) The Quebec government says Ottawa has some explaining to do after it was revealed that the English Montreal School Board is funding two separate legal challenges of provincial laws with federal tax dollars. “We need an explanation from the federal government,” […]

Children & Teens

Rashida Tlaib retweets unverified claim Israelis killed Palestinian boy The tweet claimed that the boy was kidnapped by 'Israeli settlers, assaulted and thrown in a water well'

(Jerusalem Post) US Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib retweeted a claim that “Israeli settlers” had “kidnapped and executed” a Palestinian boy. In fact the boy was found by Israeli emergency services dead in a cistern on Saturday morning after going missing on Friday. Nevertheless, […]