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Your daily media briefing - Thursday 6 August

  

In the Media is our daily collection of news and commentary related to secularism, available delivered to your inbox. You can also read the latest news and opinion and listen to our podcasts on our website.

  

Secularism in the media

 

'SNP’s hate crime bill would outlaw all controversial debate' - NSS mentioned

"The SNP's Hate Crime Bill seems to have created a rare consensus in Scotland, with just about everybody agreeing that it is at best naïve and at worst plain dangerous."

The Courier

 

Comedy at Edinburgh Fringe 'could fall foul of new hate crime legislation'

Comedy at the Edinburgh Fringe could fall foul of new hate crime legislation, the Faculty of Advocates has warned.

Herald Scotland

 

New primary school in Wokingham to be managed by Church of England trust

The secretary of state for education has appointed The Keys Academy Trust to run a new school in Embrook. The Keys Academy Trust, which already runs nine other primaries in the borough, is a Church of England multi-academy trust.

Wokingham Today

 

Polish police arrest three for ‘offending religious feelings’ for hanging Pride flag on Jesus statue

Three people accused of hanging LGBT rainbow flags off statues in Warsaw have been arrested and charged. Polish police charged them with desecrating monuments and 'offending religious feelings'.

BBC

 

Wole Soyinka protests imprisonment of Nigerian humanist Mubarak Bala

Nobel literature laureate writes letter of solidarity marking Bala's 100th day in detention, saying his supporters 'will not rest until you are free and safe'.

The Guardian

 

Indian PM lays foundation for Hindu temple on site of mosque destroyed by mobs

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has laid the foundation stone for the Ram temple to be built in Ayodhya in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

Sky News

 

Hindu temple ad runs in Times Square despite opposition

A large digital billboard in Times Square is displaying images of a Hindu deity and a temple being built on disputed ground in India, despite calls from a coalition of advocacy organisations asking advertisers not to show the images.

Yahoo! News

 

'Poor and desperate, Pakistani Hindus accept Islam to get by'

Drawn by jobs or land offered by Muslim groups, some Hindus, facing discrimination and a virus-ravaged economy, are essentially converting to survive.

The New York Times

 

'China Uighurs: A model's video gives a rare glimpse inside internment'

The video a detained model, along with a number of accompanying text messages, together provide a chilling and extremely rare first-hand account of China's highly secure and secretive detention system - sent directly from the inside.

BBC

 

'Crises reveal the illegitimacy of Iranian theocracy'

"Perhaps now more than ever, the conditions are ripe for Iran's silent majority to move beyond the endless squabbles of warring opposition camps in exile and—for the first time since the 1979 revolution—unite against the ruling theocracy."

Newsweek

  

The latest from the NSS

 

NSS urges rethink of laissez-faire approach to male genital cutting

The NSS has told the children's commissioner for England that all children should be protected from non-therapeutic genital cutting.

 

NSS: council should tackle discriminatory school admissions in review

The NSS has called on Liverpool City Council to consider the impact of discriminatory policies in faith schools in an upcoming review.

  

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