Indian Court Tells Zoo to Change 'Blasphemous' Names of Lions, Sparks Outrage
Voice of America
FILE - A lioness yawns as she stands beside a lion at Delhi Zoo, in New Delhi, India, June 28, 2002. A zoo in India has sparked a religious controversy by keeping lioness Sita, named after a Hindu goddess, and lion Akbar, a 16-century Muslim emperor, in the same enclosure.
The naming of two lions in India – one after a Hindu goddess – and the other after a 16-century Muslim emperor, is causing an uproar and sparking concerns about the rising trend of religious intolerance by hard-line Hindu groups there.
A drone view shows Georgia's parliament building covered with paint and damaged during recent opposition protests against the government's decision to suspend talks on joining the European Union, in Tbilisi, Georgia December 3, 2024.
This handout taken and released on December 4, 2024 by the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) shows a China coast guard ship, right, deploying a water cannon at a Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources vessel.
Charles Chikunda, UNESCO’s officer for climate education in southern Africa, speaks in Pretoria, South Africa, Dec. 3, 2024. Sosten Chiotha, director of the Leadership for Environment and Development Southern and Eastern Africa, in Pretoria, South Africa, Dec. 3, 2024.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu and French President Emmanuel Macron review an honor guard during a ceremony in Paris on Nov. 28, 2024, as part of Tinubu's state visit to France.
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Vietnamese real estate tycoon Truong My Lan, 2nd left, attends trial in an appeal she filed against her death sentence in a financial fraud case in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Dec. 3, 2024.
U.S. President Joe Biden shakes hands with Angolan President Joao Lourenco ahead of their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Luanda on Dec. 3, 2024. U.S. President Joe Biden inspects the honor guard with Angolan President Joao Lourenco at the Presidential Palace in the capital, Luanda, on Dec. 3, 2024.
FILE - The benches of a school sit empty in Kabul, Afghanistan, Dec. 22, 2022. A Taliban decree that reportedly took effect Dec. 3, 2024, bans medical schools in Afghanistan from admitting female students.
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