Friday, May 12, 2017

The Indian Supreme Court yesterday formally began a hearing against triple talaq, an Islamic rule which allows men to divorce their wives instantly without the need of a judicial hearing. Activists and Muslim women have filed many petitions against Islamic practices — triple talaq, nikah halala, and polygamy — saying they are unconstitutional and demanding gender equality.

A bench of five justices — Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar, Justice Kurian Joseph, Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman, Justice Uday Umesh Lalit, and Justice S Abdul Nazeer, belonging to five different religions — Sikhism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, and Islam — are to hear the case for gender equality. However, there are no women on the panel.

Talaq allows a husband to effect a divorce solely by saying talaq thrice. Muslim women who are against this law say it ruins their lives and is against gender equality.

Talaq is an Arabic word which translates to repudiation or divorce. It is a right limited to the Muslim men, to divorce their wives simply by saying talaq thrice. The announcement must be clear and unambiguous but it does not require a judicial hearing. There is a waiting time of three months – or, precisely, three menstrual cycles; called Iddah — in which the husband can change his decision. Once the divorce is final, it is the responsibility of the husband to pay his wife a certain sum, known as Mahr. Mahr is declared at the time of marriage, and the husband only need pay it if Mahr was not paid before. The husband does have some continuing financial obligations to his ex-wife during Iddah and if she is pregnant, the husband must look after her until the child is born.

In order to reconcile with her husband after the end of Iddah, the divorced wife needs to marry another man, have sex with him, and divorce him to marry her former husband.

The hearing allows each side two days to place their arguments and a day for rebuttal. The hearing is to finish by May 19. The court said, “We will also examine whether triple talaq is a part of enforceable fundamental right”. A hearing on October 16, 2015 asked for separate filing for talaq, nikah halala, and polygamy. According to the government, these religious practices were not shielded by Article 15 (1) of the Indian constitution, which guarantees the freedom to practice any religion and those practices violate the right to equality. It states, “The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them”. Last month, Allahabad’s High Court, in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, said the triple talaq law was unilateral.

According to opponents of this law, husbands discarding their marriage with their wives in a moment by repeating the word often leaves their spouses helpless and eventually destitute. But according to the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, this hearing is unjustified. In an affidavit filed in September, they said, “If there develops serious discord between the couple, and the husband does not at all want to live with her, legal compulsions of time-consuming separation proceedings and expenses may deter him from taking the legal course. In such instances, he may resort to illegal, criminal ways of murdering or burning her alive.” Though there exists a rule about blood money under Shari’a law Qisas and Diya, honour killing which was cultural tradition in India is now illegal, and punishable by death. A 2011 hearing in the Supreme Court labelled it a “slur on the nation” and said there is “nothing honourable about honour killings.”

The Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application act of 1937 says the state would not interfere in matters of personal dispute. Maulana Syed Arshad Madani, president of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, said this issue should be addressed outside the courts, preferably by Islamic scholars. Citing the instance of the Babri masjid dispute, of building a mosque on the Hindu shrines by Mughal ruler Babur in the city of Ayodhaya, considered as the birthplace of Hindu god Ram, Madani said, “If the Supreme Court can say that the issue of Babri Masjid should be resolved outside the court, why not this issue be solved by the ulemas?” He added, “You are doing politics over Muslim issues”.

25-year-old Muslim woman Amreen Begum had filed a police complaint in Meerut against her husband for domestic violence. She, in front of the police station, shouted talaq thrice to divorce her husband. She said, “I have divorced him. If a man can divorce his wife that way, why can’t a woman? Don’t I have the same right? Am I less human than he is?” She added, “I want the supreme court to free Muslim women for ever from the fear of triple talaq.”

Countries like Turkey, Egypt, Cyprus, Pakistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Tunisia have already abolished this law.

Beef is banned in various Indian states including Maharashtra. The cow is considered sacred for Hindus. Questioning the secularism of India, the president of Indian Islamic organisation All India Majlis-e Ittihad al-Muslimin, Asaduddin Owaisi, said in October, “If you really believe in secularism […] why did you Modi [the Indian Prime Minister] impose beef ban in Maharashtra and why does your government want to construct a museum in the name of Ram in Ayodhya? Then why do you say state has no religion and the country has no religion?” In October, Owasi called the the Union government’s affidavit against triple talaq a joke. He added, “If you really want to help Muslim women, please help Zakia Jafri whose husband (former Congress lawmaker) Ehsan Jafri was killed in front of her eyes, cut into pieces and set on fire. She is waiting for justice”.

In May, Indian industrialist Adi Godrej said beef ban was affecting the Indian economy and he added, “There is nothing against beef in our [Hindu] religion. It is a practice that evolved over years of drought, and the elders said don’t slaughter cows, preserve them for milk for children. That has turned into a religious belief. This is ridiculous. Vedic Indians were beef-eaters.”

The “sati pratha” — a Hindu custom which violated equality rights of women, in which the wife immolates herself on her deceased husband’s pyre — was banned in India in the nineteenth century after activists like Raja Ram Mohan Roy fought against it, and later the Sati prevention Act in 1987 made aiding sati a criminal offense.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Prison officers in England and Wales are on strike today as part of a continuing dispute over pay rates with employers, the Ministry of Justice.

The Prison Officers’ Association (POA) announced the strike, the first in its history, at 0600 (BST) on the morning of the 29th of August, just an hour before it was due to start. As the morning progressed, officers at most public prisons across the two countries locked prisoners in their cells (a “lockdown”) and walked out, aiming to remain on strike until 0700 on the 30th.

The strike has been condemned by the Ministry of Justice, as a breach of the Industrial Relations Act, with Justice Secretary Jack Straw calling it “deeply regrettable and wholly unjustifiable”. Immediately following the announcement of the action, the Ministry commenced proceedings to gain a High Court injunction against the POA. Such an injunction was granted by Mr Justice Ramsey, who said that there was “overwhelming case” for it, after the court heard evidence that a Joint Industrial Relations Procedural Agreement, agreed to prevent industrial action, had been broken.

Despite the court proceedings, the strike continued largely unabated, and was expected to run its full course.

Inmates were at one point reported to have been seen on the roof of Liverpool Prison, however the situation was brought under control without any escapees.

In Wormwood Scrubs Prison, London, all 1,300 prisoners were being looked after by just eight governors, while atCardiff, as prisoners, locked in their cells, shouted “You’re breaking the law” to the officers standing in the car park. As a result of the lack of staff, prisoners could not be transported to court, were fed in their cells, could not be visited and could not take part in any rehabilitation or community service courses. In addition, 900 prisoners had to be accommodated elsewhere, unable to be admitted to public prisons.

This evening, this strike was called off by the POA, who issued an order to all of its members to return to work, with further pay discussions expected to come on Friday.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

On Sunday, Wikinews interviewed creator of memorial site LisaMcPherson.org, former Lisa McPherson Trust employee and long time Scientology critic Jeff Jacobsen.

LisaMcPherson.org is a memorial site created in 1997 containing information on her death and the resulting legal case against the Church of Scientology.

Lisa McPherson died in 1995 while in the care of the Church of Scientology. After a car accident, she became mentally unstable. Scientologists removed her from the hospital and placed her in the Introspection Rundown, she died 17 days later while still in care of the Church. She was used as an icon during Project Chanology, the protest of the Church of Scientology by Anonymous. Protesters were pictured with signs that said “Remember Lisa McPherson” and “Ask Scientology Why Lisa McPherson Died”, other protesters had posters with her picture on it.

Monday, September 3, 2012

London, England— Last Friday, Wikinews interviewed Trischa Zorn, 55-time medal-winner. The U.S. Paralympic swimmer’s haul includes 41 golds.

Zorn discussed a variety of issues, including frustration with the classification system that has disadvantaged some United States swimmers because of what she sees as its subjective nature. She also talked about the increased visibility of the Games, how things have changed from when she started in 1980 to the current 2012 Summer Paralympics. Zorn discussed how sponsorship has evolved from her early time participating, and issues with the Paralympics inside the United States at the present.

This year Zorn was inducted into the International Paralympic Hall of Fame at a ceremony in London. Having last competed in the 2004 Summer Paralympics, if she was swimming today, she would be classified as an S12 swimmer. She currently works for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, helping returning soldiers adjust to life as civilians.

((Laura Hale)) We do Wikinews, which is related to Wikipedia … And, your article on Wikipedia sucks.

Trischa Zorn: Right

((WN)) The sources don’t agree on how many [Paralympic] medals you won. So how many medals have you won?

TZ: 55 medals. 41 gold, nine silver and five bronze.

((WN)) More gold medals than the next nearest total medal winner.

TZ: Correct

((Hawkeye7)) In fact, the next two, three, maybe four, put together.

TZ: Correct

((WN)) You started [Paralympic] swimming in 1980.

TZ: My first games was in 1980, and my last games was in 2004 in Athens.

((WN)) 2004?

TZ: Yes. Eight years ago.

((WN)) And you medalled there?

TZ: I got a bronze. I was only swimming in two events.

((WN)) And you remember all 55?

TZ: I know what events I swam. Relays and stuff. The discrepancy is because early on they weren’t really keeping track of the events. Like my first games in 1980, I won seven medals, and they only recorded five. In 1984, because the games were in New York, and because of the boycott, from when we boycotted in 1980, not a lot of European countries came over. So there wasn’t a lot of statistic keeping.

((WN)) We have found the IPC database had a lot of problems on the Australian side. We have been correcting that.

TZ: I have a whole list of all the events.What ones I won. A British writer was writing a book and wanted to include me, so I collated all my results and sent it to her.

((WN)) When you started in 1980, did they have the three categories for blind swimming?

TZ: They had the three categories, but they weren’t like S categories now. There was B1 for blind, B2 and B3. I was in the middle, a B2. The equivalent to S12 now.

((WN)) Has classification on the blind sports side changed much since you started?

TZ: They would like it to be in the regular classification S1 to S10. They would like everybody to be all one and use a points system. But I’m not a big fan of the points system, and I’m not a big fan of the classification procedure.

((WN)) Blind sports is the only medically based classification left. The rest are all functionality based.

TZ: Correct

((WN)) They are moving towards an evidence based system, but I’m not sure what that is.

TZ: Unfortunately, the classifications are very subjective. And a lot of the classifications, they don’t go by actual evidence of medical documentation, it’s what you can do in the water. So, for example, we have one of our athletes, Mallory Weggemann, that was an S7. She had multiple world records as an S7 and two days before she was supposed to comes here the IPC says: “We want to reclassify you. We want to do your classification all over” So she came here and they put her through a dry land regimen of classification. Then they said “let’s get you in the water. We’ll classify you there.” Then they said: “Oh no! You’re an S8!” Even though she had medical documentation to say that she was a T10 paraplegic with no function in her legs.

((WN)) Did classification ever effect you?

TZ: Not with me, but there has been problems with the S13. It’s supposed to be best corrected. There have been people that I swam against in the past that two years later were disqualified. Their vision, now they found out, was too good. It’s very subjective. There needs to be a test where they can see what you can see. Because, as an athlete, you go in and somebody says: “Can you see this?” or “Can you read that?”

((WN)) You’re involved with the veterans? On the sports side?

TZ: I work for the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.

((WN)) How long have you worked for them?

TZ: I have worked for them for a year now. I actually see some of the veterans like Brad that have come back lately, and how they have come through Walter Reed. I work more on the business side of it. But its still nice to see that they are being welcomed back, being provided opportunities for sports. Things that they thought that they would never be able to do.

((WN)) One of the criticisms of the US Paralympic Committee, and I don’t want to get you in trouble, is that the reason that the US is having problems right now with funding support is that they have been focused on veterans, and ignoring other people with disabilities. Would you care to comment on that?

TZ: Well I think that anything in the US that deals with veterans, the US is very passionate about, and sports, unfortunately, amateur sports, have become a business. And any kind of funding through the Department of Defense, going for veterans and whatever programs they are involved in is very important. But, as I’ve always said, funds always end up drying up. They’re not always going to be there, so you can’t depend strictly on that. Therefore, you need to have a well-rounded funding base, not just for veterans, for all athletes.

((Hawkeye7)) Where does funding normally come from in the United States?

((Laura Hale)) Hawkeye7’s an Australian, so his model is that the government pays for sport.

TZ: It’s funny, I look and I see what the Paralympic athletes get now, and what we even got in ’08 compared to when I first came. We had to pay to go to the Paralympics. We had to pay for our uniforms. It was only from Sydney that we didn’t have to pay anything, and we were provided uniforms. So each games has built on certain things. So, for example, 1988 was the first time that we had the same venues as the Olympics. ’92 was the first time that we were able to actually hear our national anthem, because before you didn’t, you just heard a games recording. So then in ’96 obviously because it was in the US, I think they thought that that was going to bring more awareness, and it did to an extent; but, once it was gone it kind of dwindled away. And then, in 2000 in Sydney, things had become … we were the first – there were four of us – we were able to train at an Olympic training centre. Not with the team, but we were able to use the facilities at the Olympic training centre full-time. But now they have a full time resident program. They are not training alongside Olympic athletes, but at least they are funded by the Olympic Committee. They get to train there, they get to live there. So things have changed. And then people argue about prize money, and sponsorship. It’s different.

((WN)) Do you think they should be sponsored? In Australia, Evan O’Hanlon, he’s an athlete, he has cerebral palsy, her covers his shoes with tape, because he feels that he is advertising for whoever makes his shoes, and he feels that he should get sponsorship. Do you think that we have reached the point with disability sports on the world stage where the elite athletes should be sponsored?

TZ: Well I think that there are certain talented athletes in the US that are now getting the global sponsors such as Jessica Long being a Visa athlete and having opportunities with Coke. And Rudy Garcia-Tolson with BP. And those big companies are jumpingon board and seeing the opportunities not just from a marketing standpoint, but you are allowing the young athletes to see that and touch it, and before it wasn’t. I mean you are basically competing because you love the sport. Now it’s just like Olympic athletes. They know what the possibilities of an outcome is going to be. Now, granted, Paralympic athletes don’t get $50,000 for a gold medal, or $10,000 for a bronze. We’d be lucky if we get $5,000 or $10,000.

((WN)) Do you think that all 55 of your Paralympic medals are equivalent to Olympic medals?

TZ: They are equivalent in respect that I did the same training as any Olympic athlete. I trained alongside able bodied athletes in the club setting where I trained, and a college setting.

((WN)) Which clubs and which colleges was that?

TZ: Actually, when I was younger I swam for San Diego Matadors down in California, and in college at the University of Nebraska, and then when I moved to Indiana I was training there with a coach it was with the Riviera Swim Club.

((WN)) You’ve been all over.

TZ: I’ve been going east as I’ve left my home state of California.

((WN)) Because of sport?

TZ: Because of coaching. My club coach left the club and went to the college level. So when I went to college he continued coaching.

((WN)) Did you get a scholarship?

TZ: I was on a full athletic scholarship. I was the first physically disabled athlete to get a full Division One scholarship.

((WN)) That is so cool.

TZ: I guess they say, they are not as equal, but medals are medals, and whatever your heart is and whatever you think of it, that is what it means.

((WN)) In Australia, my impression is that they do view them as exactly the same, whereas in America, some people do not even know that the Paralympics are on.

TZ: Yes. And unfortunately it’s a stereotypical society. In the US we don’t typically stereotype Paralympic athletes as the Australians or the Europeans do, and especially if you don’t look disabled. If you put me next to Jessica Long, she’s an incredible athlete but her story is going to be more desirable, because her disability is more noticeable. Don’t do that for me. But it’s to the extent where you are losing the focus of the athletics.

((Laura Hale)) Is there anything else we should know in terms of the history of the Paralympics?

((Hawkeye7)) Particularly about yourself.

((Laura Hale)) Are you a shy and retiring individual?

TZ: I am. And I think that’s part of it. I’m not very good with bragging.

((WN)) At selling yourself?

TZ: At selling myself. And I feel that my medals and my performance in the water speaks for itself.

((WN)) You were out there tonight presenting a medal.

TZ: And it was an honour to be on that side of it for these games. In 2008, I was honoured to be part of the Presidential delegation. I am involved with the US Olympic Committee as an athlete adviser on the rules and regulations and the rights of athletes. That’s basically where I want to be right now. I want to be an advocate for athletes.

((Hawkeye7)) We were at water polo match in Canberra, watching the Australian Olympic water polo team. And Ellie Cole walked in and they announced: “Ladies and gentlemen, this is Ellie Cole!” These Olympians applauded Ellie Cole.

((Laura Hale)) They do that at the Canberra Capitals games. They introduced Ellie Cole and her dad. It’s a completely different perspective. People outside the United States ask: “Why don’t you acknowledge them? What is wrong with the US?”

((Hawkeye7)) Every ad break [in Australia] there’s a Paralympian

((Laura Hale)) Grace Bowman! You haven’t done any commercials have you?

TZ: No to the extent that some athletes do, but for Visa and Coke. For Atlanta we did some commercials for Coke, it’s headquarters is in Atlanta. I’ve done Hartford Insurance, but not globally.

((Laura Hale)) Thank you.

((Hawkeye7)) Thank you.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

File:Illustrazione globicefalo.JPG

Six whales have died after becoming stranded on a southwest Australia beach, one day after conservation officials attempted to rescue them.

A pod of about 90 long-finned pilot whales were stranded on Hamelin Bay Tuesday. More than 70 of the mammals died, along with four dolphins, but about 10 whales were guided back out to sea by officials from the Australian Department of Environment and Conservation.

Six of the rescued whales washed up on a different beach less than a day later. Three died of natural causes Wednesday, and the other three were shot by veterinarians due to their poor condition.

About 180 volunteers, wildlife officers and veterinarians participated in the Tuesday rescue effort, but officials said there had always been a risk that the whales could be stranded again. “It is frustrating, there is a lot of effort by the community and by DEC staff, it is a frustrating process when that happens but it’s not totally unexpected,” said John Carter, state conservation department officer.

The other four whales rescued Tuesday are still believed to be at sea, and department officials are monitoring the ocean to verify their safety.

Almost 500 whales have died in five mass beachings over the last five months. The West Australian coast has seen 21 mass whale and dolphin strandings since 1984, according to the department.

The whales tried swimming back to shore shortly after the Tuesday rescue, but conservation officials guided them to deeper waters with the hopes that they would stay out at sea. Scientists cannot explain what draws whales so close to shore.

The whales were stranded Wednesday in a remote location where conservation officials could not transport rescue equipment. At least one of the whales was attacked by sharks, officials said.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Having worked as an aide, advisor, and Executive Assistant to municipal and provincial politicians, Sheila White is running for the Ontario New Democratic Party in the Ontario provincial election, in the Scarborough-Rouge River riding. Wikinews’ Nick Moreau interviewed her regarding her values, her experience, and her campaign.

Stay tuned for further interviews; every candidate from every party is eligible, and will be contacted. Expect interviews from Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, New Democratic Party members, Ontario Greens, as well as members from the Family Coalition, Freedom, Communist, Libertarian, and Confederation of Regions parties, as well as independents.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

American blues musician Pinetop Perkins, a first generation Delta bluesman, died in Austin, Texas, on Monday at the age of 97. His death was announced by his agent, Hugh Southard. Perkins suffered from a cardiac arrest as he took a nap and paramedics failed resuscitate him. During his 80-year career Perkins remained active until the end, even performing publicly as recently as last month.

A boogie-woogie piano player, he was a guitarist until a knife fight damaged his left arm. He was primarily a sideman. Throughout his career he worked with several big names including Sonny Boy Williamson, Ike Turner and slide guitarist Robert Nighthawk. He worked for Muddy Waters for more than a decade, including playing on Muddy’s great comeback albums of the late 1970s. He was 75 before an album was released under his own name.

Perkins also made history this year by becoming the oldest Grammy award winner. He won the best traditional blues album at February’s ceremony for his album, Joined at the Hip: Pinetop Perkins & Willie “Big Eyes” Smith.

Tributes have been paid to Perkins. Southard said “That drive to keep playing the blues kept is what kept him alive.” He also commented on Perkins simple lifestyle saying “Two cheeseburgers, apple pie, a cigarette and a pretty girl was all he wanted.”

Perkins was born in in 1913 in Mississippi and grew up on a plantation there. In a 2008 interview in No Depression he said, “I grew up hard. I picked cotton and plowed with the mule and fixed the cars and played with the guitar and the piano. What I learned I learned on my own. I didn’t have much school. Three years.”

He left behind no family and will be buried in his hometown of Belzoni, Mississippi. He had been living with an associate in Austin since 2004.

Monday, February 2, 2009

It has been nearly 27 years since Nicole, then a high school student from the Saarland in extreme western Germany, sang a heartfelt plea for world peace on the stage at the Eurovision Song Contest held in Harrogate, North Yorkshire in the United Kingdom. That simple message was wrapped with success; she became the first German in Contest history to take home the grand prize. The song was a brainchild of her former record producer, Ralph Siegel, and would be their greatest achievement in their nearly three-decade partnership.

Afterward, she was propelled to stardom across Europe by recording versions of her winning song, “Ein bißchen Frieden” (A little peace), in many European languages. To this day, it was the last winning Eurovision song to top the charts in the United Kingdom; it also has the distinction of being the 500th #1 single on the British charts.

This newfound fame brought her music to audiences across Europe, and in time, into Asia as well. By the end of the 1980s, however, her fame subsided somewhat and she refocused her career domestically. Since 1980, she has released over 30 albums in Germany; her most recent offering, Mitten ins Herz (Right into your heart), was accompanied by a three-month “unplugged” tour that ended in the third week of January.

Now off the road, Nicole spoke with Wikinews’ Mike Halterman about her past success, her life and career today, and her overall impressions of the Eurovision Song Contest, both past and present. This is the first in a series of interviews with past Eurovision contestants, which will be published sporadically in the lead-up to mid-May’s next contest in Moscow.