Today’s news briefs include an Iranian woman paralyzed for not wearing hijab; Popular circus animals banned; US Navy low on ships; and India’s doctors strike.
Most circus animals banned
Circuses, carnivals, and fairs are banned from using lions, tigers, bears, elephants, giraffes, and primates, for entertainment, under a new law beginning Jan. 1. Massachusetts will make exceptions for animals that live at a zoo and the use of animals in filming movies. The law allows horses, chickens, pigs, and rabbits. With the new law, The state becomes the 11th to restrict the use of wild animals in traveling exhibits and shows. The AP reports “Shows put on by the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey no longer include elephants and other live animals. The Topsfield Fair stopped displaying elephants after a municipal ban in 2019. King Richard’s Faire, the largest Renaissance festival in New England, ended its exotic cat show in 2020.”
India’s doctors on strike over rape
More than 300,000 doctors have gone on strike across India to demand better protection for health workers after a resident doctor was raped and murdered. One suspect has been arrested reports CNN. “Around 300,000 doctors across the country have joined the protest and tomorrow we expect more to join,” said Dr. Sarvesh Pandey, general secretary of the Federation of Resident Doctors Association. Images showed doctors in Kolkata and the capital Delhi holding signs reading: “Save our doctors, save our future.” In the southern city of Hyderabad, doctors held a candlelight vigil. A survey in 2015 by the Indian Medical Association found 75% of doctors in India had faced some form of violence, local media reported at the time.
Navy ship production at lowest level since 1990s
The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) are underway in formation during Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2022, July 28, 2022.
Photo: Canadian Armed Forces by Cpl. Djalma Vuong-De Ramos
Military experts have long said America’s next major war will be with China. Now, a disturbing new report says Navy shipbuilding has had its “worst production in 25 years, putting the U.S. behind rival China in production pace,” according to news reports. “I don’t see a fast, easy way to get out of this problem. It’s taken us a long time to get into it,” Eric Labs, a longtime naval analyst at the Congressional Budget Office, told ABC News, adding that the Navy’s shipbuilding was now in “a terrible state. One of the issues is an inability to recruit and retain employees to build ships. The Biden administration was criticized this year in its 2025 budget request to build only six new battle force ships while divesting 10.
Iranian woman paralyzed by bullet for not covering head
The BBC reports an Iranian mother of two is now a paraplegic after being shot by police for not covering her head with a hijab. “She is paralyzed from the waist down, and doctors have said it will take months to determine whether she will be permanently paraplegic or not,” her family says. Arezoo Badri, 31, was driving home with her sister in the northern city of Noor on 22 July when police attempted to pull her over to confiscate her car after noticing her head was uncovered. When she didn’t pull over the officers shot into the car. The incident comes after Iranian police announced a clampdown on women defying the nation’s compulsory dress code. The regime is now using CCTV on roads and highways, not to catch speeders or red light-breakers, but to identify female drivers.
–Dwight Widaman and news services