In the News

A Scottish cinema has become embroiled in a freedom of speech row after it pulled the screening of a film about the life of the Prophet Mohamed after fewer than 100 complaints.

 

The Grosvenor Cinema was due to screen the Oscar-nominated 1977 film The Message on Sunday on behalf of the Islamic Society of Britain (ISB). But it pulled the screening after an anonymous petition with 94 signatories – largely from Scotland but also from people registered in Nigeria and Saudi Arabia – criticised the film as being “inappropriate and disrespectful” to Islam.

 

The ISB called for the cinema to overturn its decision taken after such a “small number of objections” and said: “These protestors demonstrate the worst elements of our community, as they are imposing their beliefs on others.” 

An atmosphere of 'cultural division' existed between Muslim and non-Muslim staff at a secondary school, a witness at a teacher disciplinary hearing has claimed.

 

A professional conduct hearing was also told that one staff member, Jahangir Akbar excluded certain other staff and went "absolutely mental" in a meeting.

 

The teacher denies the allegations against him, the Birmimgham Mail reports.

 

A witness at the hearing in Bournville, who was granted anonymity, said: "The ethos changed in the past few years - everyone was divided.

 

"For example in the staff room the different cultures sat separately. I am a very bubbly person and Oldknow used to be a very bubbly place to work but now I've become very nervous."

The encounter took place in a non-descript room at the Vatican, and conversation stuck to regular diplomatic briefs. But for the parties involved on Tuesday morning, the meeting held historic significance: Randy Berry, the first-ever U.S. Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTI persons, and Vatican officials from the Holy See’s Secretary of State office were meeting for the first time.

 

The moment, simple as it was, marked a new level of U.S. engagement with the Catholic Church on LGBT human rights issues. Berry told TIME he met with officials for about an hour, and he met separately with representatives from the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. For both sides, the conversations were new.

 

President Barack Obama only created Berry’s position at the State Department in April, and until now, Berry has primarily only talked with faith leaders in the field, as he has traveled to 30 countries in the last seven months. He met with evangelical congregations in Jamaica when he visited in May, for example. Conversations about LGBT human rights have never before reached this level with the Catholic Church, which considers gay and lesbian sexual behavior a sin and restricts marriage to unions of one man and one woman.

There are an estimated 27 victims of "honour killings" committed by Muslims every year in the United States but these are often unreported due to the family's shame.

 

The cases are hidden under cases labeled as domestic violence motivated by radical interpretation of Islam, according to Fox News.

 

Honour killings and violence are among the most secretive crimes where typically men victimise their wives and daughters because of behavior that are seen as anti-Islam.

 

"Cases of honour killings and/or violence in the U.S. are often unreported because of the shame it can cause to the victim and the victim's family," said Farhana Qazi, a former U.S. government analyst and senior fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies on Terrorism. "Also, because victims are often young women, they may feel that reporting the crime to authorities will draw too much attention to the family committing the crime."