World Briefs


Canadian Law Society Reverses Decision, Won’t Accept Christian Law Grads

(WNS)–The governing board of the Law Society of British Columbia decided last week not to admit graduates of Trinity Western University’s proposed law school, reversing an earlier decision to accept the alumni. The about-face came after the society’s member attorneys voted overwhelmingly to shut out the Christian school’s graduates. Trinity Western spokesman Guy Saffold said the university is “disappointed” in the decision but it does not end plans for the law school. The 50-year-old school enrolls more than 4,000 students annually and requires all students and staff to sign a covenant outlining expected conduct.  In 2012, TWU announced it planned to open a law school. The Canadian Bar Association and The Council of Canadian Law Deans opposed the program’s accreditation, claiming the school’s belief in traditional marriage made it incapable of training students to uphold Canadian law, particularly since same-sex marriage has been legal in Canada since 2005.

 

Chinese Woman Denied U.S. Asylum for Role Enforcing One-Child Policy

(WNS)–A federal appeals court in New York rejected a Chinese woman’s request for asylum because of her more than two-decade involvement in enforcing the country’s one-child policy. Suzhen Meng, 61, worked for 22 years as the regional public security officer in Wuhan, Hubei, overseeing about 1,100 households. Women in the region are only allowed one child each, and she testified to reporting women with unauthorized pregnancies to China’s family planning office. Meng also admitted she was aware that the women she reported would be punished “typically by being forced to undergo an abortion or sterilization,” according to court documents. Meng said she saw the women being “dragged away forcibly by the police.”

 

Will Sweden Start a Trend on Palestinian State Recognition?

(WNS)–On Oct. 30, the Swedish government officially recognized Palestine as an independent state, an announcement welcomed by Palestinian leadership but strongly protested by Israel.  There are signs other European Union member states could move in the same direction, according to Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom, who told reporters the recognition could aid in bringing an end to the decades-long conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. A tweet posted on Thursday by the Swedish Foreign Ministry announced the move, saying the government “expressed hopes for peaceful coexistence between #Israel and #Palestine.” “Our decision comes at a critical time because over the last year we have seen how the peace talks have stalled, how decisions over new settlements on occupied Palestinian land have complicated a two-state solution, and how violence has returned to Gaza,” Wallstrom told reporters.
Women Dying in India After Sterilization Blitz

(WNS)–At least a dozen women died in India and several more became ill after undergoing sterilization operations as a part of a nationwide population control program, government officials said. Eighty-three women underwent the surgery Saturday, Nov. 8, at a hospital in Chhattisgarh, one of the poorest states in India. They were sent home that evening. By Wednesday, dozens had been taken to hospitals in Bilaspur, a city in Chhattisgarh. Twelve died, while several others remain in critical condition.  Officials believe toxic shock may have caused the deaths, possibly due to unsanitary surgical conditions or contaminated medicines, Reuters reported. “Preliminary reports show that the medicines administered were spurious and also the equipment used was rusted,” Siddharth Komal Singh Pardeshi, a senior local governing official, told Reuters.  The Chhattisgarh government flew in seven doctors from New Delhi overnight to help treat the women. It also suspended four government doctors, including the state’s chief medical officer.

 




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