Lay preaching
The reignition of the burka debate in France reflects the political class’s fears for the state’s treasured “laïcité”, writes Agnès Poirier
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Protests over Facebook immigrant game
Following user protests, Facebook has decided to shut down gaming application “Bounce The Illegal Immigrant Back”. The game was posted by Renzo Bossi, the son of Umberto Bossi, party leader of the Northern League and part of Berlusconi’s fourth cabinet. The game sees players pushing back the “boats of hope” and kicking the immigrants back into the sea. Last week there were reports of the deaths of several Africans whose ship ran out of fuel whilst migrating from Libya to Italy. Read more here
Taliban cut off Afghan voters fingers
Two cases of voters having fingers amputated have been reported in Afghanistan following last weeks elections. Prior to voting, Taliban forces in the region had threatened to remove any fingers stained with the ink used to provide proof of having cast a ballot. Investigations are currently ongoing regarding a third case. The news comes amidst reports that security forces obstructed, assaulted, and detained Afghan and foreign journalists enforcing an official gag order on news of violent incidents during the presidential election. Read more here
China frees activist Xu Zhiyong
Chinese authorities have released legal activist Xu Zhiyong and two other activists. Xu Zhiyong, founder of the Beijing-based Open Constitution Initiative, was unexpectedly freed on bail, along with co-worker Zhuang Lu, after more than three weeks in prison on charges of tax evasion. In a separate case, Ilham Tohti, an economics professor who had written about economic discrimination against the Uighur minority, was released after about six weeks in custody. Read more here