Teacher Held for Teddy Bear Blasphemy

Authorities promise investigation after disturbing film goes viral

(NEWSER) - A video of a Sudanese woman being mercilessly flogged by policemen has gone viral and Sudan's government has promised to investigate whether she was flogged properly. The video shows an unidentified young woman being ordered to sit in a parking lot, where she is whipped by laughing policemen, AP reports. It's not clear what crime she had committed, although offenses punishable by flogging in Sudan include adultery, running a brothel, and, for women, wearing trousers. More»

(NEWSER) - Supporters of a woman facing 40 lashes for wearing trousers were beaten and teargassed by police in Sudan yesterday, the Guardian reports. Some her female supporters wore pants in solidarity with Lubna Hussein, in defiance of the country's law against "indecent dressing." "We are here to protest against this law that oppresses women and debases them," said one woman outside Hussein's court hearing. More»

Student gets 20 years for 'blasphemy' about women's rights

(NEWSER) - Parwez Kambakhsh won’t be executed for distributing literature on women’s rights, but the student and part-time journalist will spend the next 20 years in prison, an Afghan appeals court ruled yesterday. “This is arguably worse for him,” one human-rights advocate told the Los Angeles Times of the 24-year-old’s death sentence for blasphemy being reduced, noting the influence of radical Islam on the country’s “kangaroo-court justice.” More»

Assault was crushed, says Sudan prez

(NEWSER) - Sudan today severed ties with Chad, charging that the nation aided hundreds of Darfur rebels who launched a surprise assault on the Khartoum suburb of Omdurman late yesterday. Khartoum and Omdurman were heavily guarded and under curfew after the assault hundreds of miles from rebel bases in the west. Sudanese leaders assured residents that the threat was over. Chad has denied involvement. More»

House of Lords strikes down statute questioned since Sudan teddy-bear case

(NEWSER) - Britain's House of Lords voted yesterday to abolish blasphemy laws after an international incident sparked debate over secularism and tradition, the Los Angeles Times reports. With the UK and Sudan at odds in November over the prosecution of a British teacher allowing students to name a teddy bear Mohammad, many pointed out the hypocrisy of having a similar measure on common-law books. More»