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Abdul Hakim Sharaee #fundie rferl.org

Afghanistan’s hard-line Islamist Taliban rulers have banned all political parties, saying there is "no justification" for them under Shari'a law

“Political parties are banned completely, we will not permit any political party to operate in the country,” Abdul Hakim Sharaee, the Taliban's de facto justice minister, said during a news conference on August 16, one day after the Taliban marked two years of rule since international troops withdrew from the country

“Political parties have no justification in Islamic Shari’a law and they are not in the best interest of our nation,” he added, claiming political parties have been the main factor causing turmoil in Afghanistan for decades

The ban is the latest Taliban restriction on political activities after dozens of political parties were registered after the militants were ousted in 2001 from their previous stint as rulers

Since returning to power in 20221, the ultraconservative militants have monopolized power by giving all major government leadership posts to Taliban leaders while muzzling the press and abolishing democratic institutions

Patriarch Kirill #fundie rferl.org

Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, has told his followers that "sacrifice in the course of carrying out your military duty washes away all sins"

The patriarch's comments during his Sunday sermon on September 25 came amid nationwide protests and rising criticism over the Kremlin's recent announcement of a partial mobilization to replenish Russian forces fighting in Ukraine[…]
Russian officials have said the draft would focus on reservists and would bring 300,000 fresh troops to the war effort. But Russian media has said the real target is 1 million new troops[…]
Kirill, a prominent supporter of President Vladimir Putin who has "blessed" the war effort and warned by Pope Francis against becoming "Putin's altar boy," has previously claimed that Russians were doing a "heroic deed" by killing Ukrainians, even as he has urged them not to see the Ukrainian people as enemies

"We know that many today are dying in the fields of internecine battle," Kirill said at a church near Moscow on September 25. "The church is praying that this battle will end as soon as possible, that as few brothers as possible will kill each other in this fratricidal war"

However, he added, "The church realizes that if someone, driven by a sense of duty and the need to honor his oath, stays loyal to his vocation and dies while carrying out his military duty, then he is, without any doubt, doing a deed that is equal to sacrifice"[…]
Following Russia's invasion in February, about 400 parishes of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine that had remained loyal to Kirill cut ties with the Russian Orthodox Church over the patriarch's position on the war

Russian activists #conspiracy rferl.org

[Blue Whale is a "game" on Russian social media, where participants are encouraged to perform certain tasks, the final one being suicide. While it appears to be a real phenomenon, it also has proven fodder for conspiracy theorists who exaggerate its scope and speculate about its origins.]

At a hearing on February 16 of Russia's Public Chamber to discuss proposed legislation increasing punishments for inciting suicide, members heard allegations that Blue Whale had been created by "Ukrainian nationalists" as "a professionally prepared campaign that has caught up at least 2 million youths," according to a report of the meeting in the daily Kommersant.

Yelena Mizulina #fundie rferl.org

The Russian lawmaker responsible for the country's notorious "gay propaganda" law has proposed new legislation that would decriminalize domestic violence.

Current Russian law prescribes prison sentences of up to two years or a fine of up to 40,000 rubles ($600) for people found guilty of spousal or child abuse.

But Yelena Mizulina, a member of the upper house of parliament, called those punishments unacceptable, and called for changing "these absurd positions."

Russian news media said her proposed amendments to the Criminal Code would turn domestic violence into a misdemeanor, administrative offense.

The "gay propaganda" measure Mizulina helped push into law in 2013 prohibits the distribution of "propaganda of nontraditional sexual relationships."

RadioFreeEurope RadioLiberty #fundie rferl.org

September 14, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- Since the creation of the Islamic republic in Iran in 1979, the acceptability of dog ownership has been debated by the authorities.

Iranian officials say that according to Islam, dogs are considered to be dirty animals, and people who own dogs are viewed as being under Western influence. Some conservative clerics have denounced dog ownership as "morally depraved" and say it should be banned.

Friday prayer leader Hojatoleslam Gholamreza Hassani, who is known for his hard-line stances, was quoted a few years ago as saying that all dog owners and their dogs should be arrested.

In the past, dog owners have received warnings or were forced to pay fines for having a pet dog. Despite such harassment, dog ownership has increased over the years, especially among young people in Tehran.

One of them is 23-year-old Banafshe, whose dog was recently detained in Tehran for 48 hours and then released on bail. Banafshe says she was walking her young puppy, Jessica, when Iranian police snatched the dog and took her to a dog "jail." The dog's crime was "walking in public."

Szilard Demeter #wingnut rferl.org

The head of one of Hungary's premier cultural institutions, the Petofi Literary Museum in Budapest, has retracted an article in which he likened U.S. billionaire philanthropist George Soros to Adolf Hitler’s genocidal Nazi regime.

Szilard Demeter, who is also a Hungarian culture commissioner, said in a statement on November 29 that he had withdrawn the article and deleted his Facebook page.
[…]
Demeter's article referred to Soros as the "liberal Führer," saying he is turning Europe into a "gas chamber."
[…]
In the article, which addressed a dispute with Brussels over the EU budget, Demeter described Hungary and Poland as "the new Jews."

"Poisonous gas flows from the capsule of a multicultural open society, which is deadly to the European way of life, and we, the nations of Europe, are doomed to try to fight for the last sip of air by climbing on each other," he wrote.

Catholic Churches of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia #wingnut rferl.org

The Catholic Churches of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia, despite widespread condemnation, are planning to hold a public mass on May 16 in Sarajevo for Croatia's pro-Nazi collaborators and civilians killed by communist partisans at the end of World War II.

The commemoration, usually held every May near the southern Austrian town of Bleiburg, was canceled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Bosnian and Croatian churches have stepped in and are organizing the event under the auspices of the Croatian parliament, which in 2016 reintroduced state sponsorship of the commemoration after having revoked it in 2012 amid criticism that it was rehabilitating the Nazi-allied Ustasha regime.

Sarajevo Archbishop Vinko Puljic is due to hold the mass in the cathedral of the Bosnian capital.

All three members of Bosnia's tripartite presidency, along with most political parties and nongovernmental organizations, as well as the Serbian Orthodox Church, Jewish leaders, and the U.S. and Israeli embassies have condemned the event.

[...]

The war-time Independent State of Croatia (NDH) controlled by the Nazi-backed Ustasha included Bosnia and parts of Serbia. The Ustasha persecuted and killed hundreds of thousands of Serbs, Jews, and anti-Nazi Croatians.

At the end of the war, the Ustasha, accompanied by civilians and Slovenian and Serbian collaborators, fled towards Austria, but British forces there refused their surrender.

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