Author: R.E.A.L.

Saudi Arabia: Women Hold University Protest

Saudi Arabia: Girl students protest, clash with Taif University guards
— Saudi Gazette reports:
— “Scuffles broke out Sunday as female security guards of Taif University tried to disperse about 1,000 girl students who staged a sit-in after being turned away on admissions day.”
— “Red Crescent teams treated one girl’s female guardian who was beaten up by the security women, witnesses said”
— “Security agencies of the governorate were called in to restore order after the squatting girls and their guardians blocked the streets in front of the university gates”
— “Security men from the university also assaulted a press photographer and confiscated his camera”

Saudi women hold university protest
— AFP reports:
— “Scuffles broke out on Sunday when hundreds of Saudi women students held a rare protest at a university over alleged corrupt admission policies, local newspapers reported.”

Saudi Arabia: Women Hold University Protest
— Stratfor also reports:
— “Hundreds of female Saudi students staged a protest at a university near Mecca over alleged corruption in admission policies, Agence France-Presse reported Aug. 2, citing local Saudi newspapers. The protest began after female students were denied admission to Taif University. Students blocked the university entrance and nearby streets and Al-Medina newspaper reported that female security guards clashed with the students after the students attempted to enter though the university gates.”

Saudi Gazette reports on Taif University’s response:
— “Taif University claimed Monday that its refusal to pay heed to recommendations for admission was the reason why ‘400 girl applicants who scored low marks,’ staged a chaotic sit-in protest here.”

Bangladesh: Dhaka, death threats against the family of a Christian convert from Islam

(Bangladesh) Dhaka, death threats against the family of a Christian convert from Islam
— AsiaNews reports: “After graduating from a top Bangladeshi university Rashidul Amin Khandaker went to Australia to expand his father Ruhul’s business. Here he discovered Christianity and was attracted by the faith’s beauty. On 26 July 2008 he was baptised by Fr Dominic Ceresoli, parish priest at St Therese in the Archdiocese of Sydney. As a result of this his family has met with the disapproval of the community and has been ostracised. Now they have received death threats.”
— Rashid’s father “Ruhul told AsiaNews that since his son’s conversion he has been ostracised by Muslim clerics and cannot even go to the local mosque to pray. ”
— “Last Saturday he received a letter from ‘Allahr Dal’ (Allah’s Group), an extremist Islamic group banned for its violent views. In it he is accused of being a ‘tool’ of Christians to destroy Islam. They order him to ‘sacrifice’ his son Rashidul because the latter’s conversion has brought into disrepute the whole Muslim community.”
— “He concludes saying that ‘we don’t even have the courage to go to the police’ to file a complaint.”
— “Speaking to AsiaNews, a Christian woman, Annie Halder, said that such threats should not be underestimated.”
— “Allahr Dal is thought to be closely linked to Muslim extremists in Pakistan and Afghanistan.”
— “‘The lives of Christian converts from Islam are in great danger in Bangladesh. We have seen converts murdered as the government failed to protect them.'”

Louisiana: Ku Klux Klan member’s mental competency hearing is postponed

Louisiana: Ku Klux Klan member’s mental competency hearing is postponed

NorthShoreNOLA reports on Louisiana trial of Shane Foster “charged with second-degree murder in the Nov. 9 shooting death of Klan recruit Cynthia Lynch”
— “In an attempt to make him mentally competent to stand trial for obstruction of justice in the killing of an Oklahoma woman, a state judge is giving an alleged Ku Klux Klan member another 60 days of tutoring in the St. Tammany Parish jail, authorities said.”
— “On April 21, state Judge Reginald ‘Reggie’ Badeaux ordered Shane Foster, 21, of the Bogalusa area to get tutoring from a court-appointed forensic coordinator for 90 days with the hope that it would ‘restore’ Foster’s competency and make him ready for trial.”
— “Assistant District Attorney Julie Knight and Foster’s defense attorney John Lindner agreed today to give that tutoring another 60 days. Badeaux is expected to sign an order to that effect sometime this week, according to Lindner and others close to the case.”
— “Foster is the son of Raymond ‘Chuck’ Foster , the alleged imperial wizard of the Bogalusa Sons of Dixie Knights. Chuck Foster is charged with second-degree murder in the Nov. 9 shooting death of Klan recruit Cynthia Lynch in a remote part of northeastern St. Tammany. Authorities have said the slaying occurred after Lynch told Foster that she wanted to go home.”
— Previous Reports:
—- New Orleans: April 27 Trial for KKK Killing
—- New Orleans: Klan member pleads guilty to obstruction
—- Louisiana: Accessory in Ku Klux Klan killing admits guilt, gets one-year sentence
—- Louisiana: Ku Klux Klan (KKK) member can have his guns back, state judge rules in Covington

Germany: Police raid neo-Nazi occupied hotel — Landhotel Gerhus

(Germany) Police raid neo-Nazi occupied hotel — Landhotel Gerhus
— “Police commandos in Lower Saxony raided a hotel occupied by neo-Nazis on Tuesday morning after hearing shots fired on the premises.”
— “Parallel raids of apartments in Hannover and Rotenburg/Wumme”
— “Only hours after the raid, a court ruled the neo-Nazis could be legally removed from the premises”

— Previous Report:
—- “Germany’s pro-Hitler party triggers outrage with ‘training centre’ plans”

Pakistan: Christians protest against deadly violence

Pakistan: Christians protest against deadly violence
— UCAN News Reports:  “On August 2, Churches in Pakistan praryed for the ‘Christian martyrs’ during Sunday Masses and services.”
— “On the same day around 600 Christians staged a protest against the Punjab provincial government in front of the Quetta Press Club in the capital of the southwestern province of Baluchistan.”
— “They carried banners which read, “Stop violence against minorities” and “Arrest Gojra murderers.” The protesters included Caritas workers from Quetta, members of the Catholic bishops’ Justice and Peace Office, and several pastors and politicians.”
— “Jafar George, the Catholic provincial minister of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party, said in his address at the gathering: ‘The Punjab provincial government has failed to stop violence in Gojra or act against the attackers. If it cannot provide security to the minorities, it must resign.'”
— “Similarly the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance staged protest rallies in Lahore and Sargodha on Aug. 2 to condemn the Gojra rioting.”

South Carolina: Confederate Flag Causes Christian Convention to Cancel

South Carolina: Confederate Flag Causes Christian Convention to Cancel
— WLTX reports: “Another groups pulls out of South Carolina cancelling their National Convention because of the confederate flag. The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) based out of Indiana were coming to Charleston, now they’re looking for another venue.”
— “The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) have more than 600,000 members across the US and Canada.”
— “‘For African Americans the confederate flag is a system of terror, oppression, separation and racism and we decided to stand in solidarity,’ Reverend Timothy James of the Christian Church said in a phone interview with News 19.”

Louisiana: Ku Klux Klan (KKK) member can have his guns back, state judge rules in Covington

— of Ku Klux Klan member investigated in Louisiana killing…

(U.S.) Louisiana: KKK member can have his guns back, state judge rules in Covington

NorthShore NOLA reports:
— “An alleged KKK member from Bogalusa is entitled to retrieve his guns, ammunition and black robe and hood that were seized during a murder investigation last year, a state judge ruled Monday in Covington.”
— “But the judge said he would not enforce his ruling until an appeal by the district attorney’s office could be heard.”
— “In February, a St. Tammany Parish grand jury declined to charge Random Hines, 28, with obstruction of justice in the killing of an Oklahoma woman who reportedly tried to back out of a Ku Klux Klan initiation last year.”
— “Raymond ‘Chuck’ Foster, the alleged imperial wizard of the Bogalusa Sons of Dixie Knights, is charged with second-degree murder in Cynthia Lynch’s death and is awaiting trial. Authorities have said Lynch was killed after she told Foster, 44, that she wanted to return home to Oklahoma.”

Sudan: Police beat women opposing Sudan dress code trial

(Sudan) Police beat women opposing Sudan dress code trial
— AP reports: “Sudanese police fired tear gas and beat women protesting outside a Sudanese court Tuesday during the trial of a female journalist accused of violating the Islamic dress code by wearing trousers in public.”
— “Police moved in swiftly and dispersed about 50 protesters, mostly women, who were supporting Lubna Hussein, a former U.N. worker facing 40 lashes on the charge of ‘indecent dressing.’ Some of the women demonstrators wore trousers in solidarity with Hussein while others wore more traditional dress.”
— “In the clashes outside the courtroom, witnesses said police wielding batons beat up one of Hussein’s lawyers, Manal Awad Khogali, while keeping media and cameras at bay. No injuries were immediately reported.”
— “‘We are here to protest against this law that oppresses women and debases them,’ said one of the protesters, Amal Habani, a female columnist for the daily Ajraas Al Hurria, or Bells of Freedom in Arabic.”
— Tear gas fired at protesters outside Lubna Hussein trial