FRONT PAGES FROM AROUND THE GLOBE
MONDAY Times, London
Sexual slavery
Islamic State militants have kidnapped and forced into sexual slavery hundreds, possibly thousands, of girls and women in the past five months, the Times has learned, in what is believed to be the biggest case of enslavement in this century. Girls as young as 12 and their mothers have been seized and raped by Islamic State fighters. The group has even published a guide to advise jihadists on permissible practices with a “concubine” and how to punish them. Sex with prepubescent girls is allowed under certain circumstances. Teenage girls who escaped their Islamic State captors were interviewed by Times reporters in Iraq.
Sir Elton weds
Sir Elton John married partner David Furnish in a ceremony Sunday, above, attended by their two sons, close friends and celebrities including soccer star David Beckham and actor Sir Michael Caine. The musician, 67, and his husband, 52, who were united in a civil partnership in 2005, made their vows nine months after same-sex marriage was legalized in England and Wales.
TUESDAY Buenos Aires Herald
Personhood for orangutan
A front-page photo shows 29-year-old orangutan Sandra looking through a window inside her enclosure at the Buenos Aires zoo. A court granted Sandra habeas corpus, which is typically filed when a human is unlawfully detained or imprisoned. The Association of Officials and Lawyers for Animal Rights argued that Sandra, who has lived in Argentine zoos for most of her life, is too intelligent to be considered an object. The zoo has 10 days to file an appeal.
Pope attack
Argentine-born Pope Francis launched a blistering critique of Vatican bureaucracy Monday, denouncing how some of the Church’s highest officials lust for power, live hypocritical double lives and suffer from “spiritual Alzheimer’s” that has made then forget they are supposed to be “joyful men of God.” He listed 15 “ailments and temptations” that weaken their service to the Lord, inviting them to begin a “true self-examination.” ahead of Christmas.
WEDNESDAY Arab News, Saudi Arabia
Blood money
Saudi scholars and lawyers want to stop the large tribal gatherings to demand exorbitant amounts in diya, or blood money, from relatives of convicted murderers. They argue that even though demanding blood money is the right of the victim’s kin, it doesn’t follow Islam’s teaching of forgiveness and tolerance. Shariah law gives relatives of murder victims three options: forgive without diya; forgive and accept diya or demand execution.
Editor’s note: In Islamic law, crime victims typically have a say on a criminal’s punishment. The victim’s relatives may even choose to excuse a murderer from the death penalty in exchange for funds. The murderer will be sentenced by a judge, but the death penalty will be taken off the table.
Smuggling maids
The smuggling of maids from Bahrain and other Gulf nations is on the rise, Saudi officials say. Smuggling has increased because of it is difficult to recruit maids legally.
THURSDAY Global Times, Beijing
Dashing through Beijing
A front-page photo shows workers moving a Santa Claus figure outside a Beijing night club on Christmas Eve. The caption reads: “The Western festival has exploded in the officially atheist nation in recent years, with marketeers using everything from saxophones and Smurfs to steam trains to get shoppers to open their wallets.”
Identifying extremists
Some areas of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region plagued by frequent terrorist attacks have begun to distribute brochures telling the public how to identify extremist religious activities.
Editor’s note: Xinjiang is home to Uighur minority Muslims, who have complained of China’s repressive rule and economic disenfranchisement. Authorities are targeting what they call manifestations of religious extremism among Uighurs, such as beards and women’s veils.
FRIDAY
Nation, Bangkok
Tsunami anniversary
A front-page photo shows a man helping Buampan Nuamasinit place candles on the memorial tile at the Tsunami Memorial Park in Phang-nga for her daughter who died in the Dec. 26, 2004 tsunami along with four members of her family. More than 5,000 people were killed in Thailand, many of them vacationing foreigners. They are among 280,000 who died or went missing after devastating waves struck 14 nations on the Indian Ocean. Ceremonies are planned Friday to mark the disaster’s 10th anniversary.
Editor’s note: The tsunami was triggered by a magnitude 9.1 earthquake that sent waves roaring across the Indian Ocean at jetliner speeds as far away as East Africa.
Older tourists
Nan province in northern Thailand will develop tourism for foreigners and locals over 50. This includes working with hospitals for medical tourism, which is expected to reach 5 million by 2024.