1. China ‘building cark parks and playgrounds’ over Uighur Muslim graveyards ‘to eradicate ethnic group’s identity’
https://www.facebook.com/130148817071986/posts/2702318023188373
Location: China
2. Germany shooting: Gunman kills two after attacking synagogue
https://www.facebook.com/130148817071986/posts/2702477306505778
Location: Germany
3. Nuclear weapons forbidden in Islam, says Iran’s Khamenei
https://www.facebook.com/130148817071986/posts/2702111539875688
Location: Iran
4. Anti-Abortion Clinic Gives Away Mini-Fetuses in Parade, Prompting Rule Change
https://www.facebook.com/130148817071986/posts/2699413896812119
Location: Chilliwack, Canada
5. ISIS has a plan to bust out 70,000 supporters from Kurdish jails now that the US has abandoned the area to the Turkish military
https://www.facebook.com/130148817071986/posts/2704451356308373
Location: Syria
6. Right-Wing Websites Are Distorting Scientific Data to Attack Trans People
https://www.facebook.com/130148817071986/posts/2699313163488859
Location: USA
7. Australian Muslims call for more protection in religious discrimination bill
https://www.facebook.com/130148817071986/posts/2690555824364593
Location: Australia
8. These Expensive “Jesus Shoes,” Which Come With Holy Water, Are Selling Out
https://www.facebook.com/130148817071986/posts/2705386829548159
Location: Brooklyn, USA
9. Sahar Tabar, whose extreme look resembles Angelina Jolie, arrested by Iranian authorities
https://www.facebook.com/130148817071986/posts/2698989863521189
Location: Iran
10. Pastor Could Face Life in Prison After Recordings Suggest He Raped a Child
https://www.facebook.com/130148817071986/posts/2692676347485874
Location: Florida, USA
1. China has destroyed scores of traditional burial grounds belonging to Uighur Muslims in the northwestern Xinjiang province, in what critics say is part of a campaign to wipe out the minority group’s cultural identity. Satellite images analysed by Earthwise Alliance and published on Wednesday showed flattened earth, new car parks or standardised facilities in places that once housed the remains of Uighur families going back generations. Late on Tuesday, the US State Department announced travel bans directed at Chinese officials over the Xinjiang crackdown, saying it would not issue any visas for those known to be involved in what Mike Pompeo called the “campaign of repression”.
2. A gunman has killed two people in eastern Germany after attempting to enter a synagogue where dozens were observing a Jewish holiday. The suspect broadcast the attack on a popular live-streaming platform before being arrested. The video, which has now been removed, showed him making anti-Semitic comments to camera before driving to a synagogue in Halle and shooting at its door. After failing to get in, the gunman shot dead two people nearby. The suspect is a 27-year-old German who acted alone, according to local media. "According to the federal prosecutor there are sufficient indications for a possible right-wing extremist motive," German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said.
3. Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Wednesday that Iran could have taken the step to develop nuclear weapons but will not because their use is “haram”, or forbidden in Islam. “Although we could have taken steps on this path, based on Islamic ruling we firmly and bravely said we won’t take this path,” Khamenei said. “Both building and stockpiling it is wrong, as using it is haram,” he told a group of academics in a video posted on his office’s Twitter account. “If we had a nuclear weapon, it would have been obvious that it would have been impossible for us to use anywhere,” said the Iranian leader. “Under Islamic principles it is definitely haram.”
4. Over the weekend, in the British Columbia city of Chilliwack, the Rosedale Harvest Festival held a parade. One of the groups sponsoring a float was the Chilliwack Pregnancy Care Centre, an anti-abortion clinic known for spreading misinformation about the options available to pregnant women who don’t necessarily want to be pregnant. And instead of handing out candy, they were giving out mini-fetuses. Their lollipops also had footprints on them.
5. ISIS fighters will be closely watching the fighting between Turkish and Kurdish troops in northeastern Syria, waiting for a chance to break thousands of fighters, and tens of thousands of family members, out of Kurdish prisons, according to a former member of the group, Western intelligence officials, and Kurdish commanders. Thousands of ISIS fighters are being held in a dozen SDF facilities. Nearly 70,000 women and children are being held at the al Hol camp in Syria. US special operations troops overnight Wednesday moved several dozen high profile prisoners, including those accused of murdering Western hostages, to an undisclosed location outside of Syria.
6. There have been some alarming headlines going around the right-wing media landscape, warning that drugs used to prevent puberty in trans children — like Lupron — have resulted in “thousands” of adult deaths. The numbers are accurate. But the way they’re being used is a distortion of the facts. Outlets like The Daily Wire, The Christian Post, and LifeSite News have released articles proclaiming the dangers of puberty blockers based on data from the FDA Adverse Effect Reporting System (FAERS). These stories were reposted on Facebook by influential conservative talking heads Ben Shapiro, Michael Knowles, and Matt Walsh, and they went viral. But what those posts don’t tell you is that the FDA is careful to warn users of its limitations as a tool for drawing conclusions about the safety of a given medication. Duplicate reports, inaccuracies, lack of medical verification, and rampant confounding factors all make it impossible to draw conclusions based on the out-of-context numbers displayed in the FAERS database.
7. Australia’s peak Islamic body has warned of increased discrimination towards Muslims in a submission urging stronger protections be cast in the Morrison government’s Religious Discrimination Bill. In its submission lodged by President Dr Rateb Jneid, it declares draft laws prescribed in the Religious Discrimination Bill do not go far enough within an increasingly intolerant society. The submission states safeguarding the rights of people to practice their religion is paramount to protecting against this discrimination. “There is now a growing body of evidence to support this increased intolerance towards Muslims and their beliefs and practices,” the submission reads. “Australian society has become more intolerance of minorities, and religious minorities specifically … that intolerance we submit has led to an increased level of discrimination.”
8. Nike Air Max 97s — a.k.a. “Jesus Shoes” include a steel crucifix, are made of 100% frankincense wool, come with 60cc of “holy water” from the River Jordan tucked under the sole, and are inscribed with Matthew 14:25, the verse where Jesus supposedly walks on water. The first batch were sold out almost instantly this week. The godly shoes were made by Brooklyn-based product design company MSCHF, which created about two dozen of the kicks as a way of trolling “collab culture,” its head of commerce Daniel Greenberg tells The Post. The shoes are currently selling for $3,000 at StockX.
9. Tehran-based Sahar Tabar became a star through Instagram after her extreme efforts to look like Jolie. The BBC reported that Tabar was arrested by Iranian authorities following complaints about her. She is being held on charges of blasphemy, instigating violence, illegally acquiring property, insulting the country’s dress code and encouraging young people to commit corruption, the UK news organisation has said. The BBC has reported that Iran has cracked down on online influencers and bloggers, arresting several.
10. Rev. Bryan Fulwider, a Florida pastor who more recently worked as a radio host, was arrested and charged with 30 counts of “sexual battery of a person younger than 18 by a person in position of custodial authority.” The victim was only 14 when the assaults began. The police know this because of a secretly recorded phone call between him and the victim. The assaults allegedly took place between 2005 and 2010, when Fulwider was a pastor at the First Congregational Church of Winter Park. The 59-year-old Fulwider has since been a co-host of a show called “Friends Talking Faith.” If convicted, he could face life in prison.
