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Friday, July 23, 2010

Random News Generator- Kuwait

The United States is far from the only country with controversy over what they teach in their schools, as witnessed today in the Random News Generator, which has landed on Kuwait.

And, unsurprisingly, it involves the prophet Mohammed... or at least, two of his companions, which are a point of contention among Sunni and Shiite Muslims. Among Sunni Muslims, the companions are highly regarded. Among Shiites, they are demonized.

The controversy is that Minister of Education Moudhi Humoud met with some Islamic studies teachers concerning questions about the companions on a 9th-grade final exam, telling them that they might want to skip over the questions, which have been seen as promoting a Sunni viewpoint, sparking outcry from Shiites.

For this, some Sunnis in the Kuwaiti parliament are calling for a 'grilling', which is a line of questioning that means pretty much what you think it means, and which usually ends in the emir pressuring the minister to step aside before the questioning gets too probing. They've had it in for Humoud ever since she arrived, dating back to when she was sworn in without a headscarf.

We'll have to wait to see how that goes. While we're here, we should check in on some previous RNG stories...

UAE: The trial of the 17 Indian foreign workers on death row has been adjourned to September 1st. This is the third such adjournment; all have been over matters of finding a good interpreter. The first two, on May 19 and June 16, were due to no interpreter being available; this one is due to the found interpreter not being accepted by the court.
Macedonia: No, they and Greece still haven't come to terms over their name, preventing them from ascending to the EU or NATO. As far as the Macedonian public is concerned, that is perfectly fine by them.
Peru: The deadline for Doe Run to restart operations at its infamously polluting La Oroya smelter, under environmental regulations imposed by the Peruvian government, is tomorrow, or else Peru will shut it down for good. So far, it's not open, and a last-ditch effort by Doe Run to settle with its various creditors fell through last night. That probably has sealed La Oroya's fate, but we'll check back and make it official.

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