Bonjour et Bienvenue au Récapitulation de Fin de la Semaine du Weekend pour Novembre 22-28, l’édition internationale!

Sunday: Silva Kashif, 16, was lashed 50 times after a judge ruled her knee-length skirt was indecent. Sudan, ruled by Islamic Shariah law, has come to the international spotlight over the last two years for the government’s harsh and ever-changing “indecency laws” for women. Kashif’s family plans on suing the police who arrested the girl and the judge who handed down the sentence, claiming that Silva is a Christian and should be exempt from the religious law. “Kashif’s lawyer Azhari al-Haj told Reuters he was preparing a case against the police and judge for arresting and sentencing an underage girl. He said according to the law, people under 18 should not be given lashes.” Cultural relativism? Fine, whatever, if you want to be ruled by a strict Islamic legal code, go for it. However, in this case, the victim was a Christian minor. Well, way to hit a little girl, Sudan. You sure showed her, I’ll bet she’s lining up to convert all ready.

Monday: LARGE. HARDON. COLLIDER. It works. It’s running. No one died. Lots of teeny, tiny, mind-bogglingly, counter-intuitively small explosions at speeds your human brain cannot possibly understand are being mapped RIGHT NOW at CERN laboratories in Switzerland. And France. Becuase this thing is HUGE. Now, I’m not a particle physicist, and I can’t pretend to be, so I’m not entirely sure what I’m supposed to be seeing, but check this shit out. (Click here for photos of crazy science)

Tuesday: Only in Sverige. “Swedish police say they’ve cleared a man who was arrested for allegedly murdering his wife after deciding the culprit was most likely a moose (AP).” Last year 63 year-old Agneta Westlund was found dead after taking an evening walk through the woods. Her husband was originally arrested and held for 10 days before charges were dropped due to a lack of evidence. Now, analysis of hair and saliva found on Westund’s body is leading investigators to believe she was attacked by a moose.

Wednesday: Ahem… “Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sought to expand Tehran’s influence in Latin America and deepen his alliance with Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez on Wednesday in a visit that offered him a platform to defend his country’s nuclear program. Chavez and Ahmadinejad were to meet Wednesday afternoon to discuss cooperation in energy, investments, trade and other areas. It was the final leg of the Iranian leader’s three-country goodwill tour of Latin America, after stops in Brazil and Bolivia. Iran has helped Venezuela set up factories that assemble cars, tractors and bicycles, and Iranian businesses have sent crews to build public housing under contracts with Venezuela. Both Chavez and Bolivian President Evo Morales have offered support for Iran’s nuclear program, saying it is peaceful and not aimed at developing nuclear weapons as the U.S. and European nations fear (AP).” Those italicized words are the parts I don’t believe.

Thursday: The Hajj, or annual pilgrimage to Mecca, began, and spurred a rash of swine flu craziness. Of the 2.5 million pilgrims, only some 10% had been vaccinated against H1-N1. Seventy-three cases had been reported, including 5 deaths, by the end of the rite on Sunday, though the full extent of the virus transmission will probably not be known until next week, after the pilgrims have returned to their home countries. “Saudi officials, along with American and international health experts, worked to curb any outbreak during the hajj. Health officials circulated among the sprawling tent camp at Mina where the pilgrims lived and gave the faithful cheek swabs for testing later. They also placed hand sanitizer dispensers on walls in the camps, near public bathrooms and at ritual sites, while pilgrims arriving at Saudi airports were scanned using a thermal camera and offered a free vaccine (AP).”

Friday: The parents of American Amanda Knox are being investigated for defamation after claiming Italian police brutalized their daughter before her arrest over a year ago for the November 2007 murder of her roommatein Perugia. This was to be the final week of the case, with a ruling expected in the next few days. Knox, her former boyfriend, and a fellow student are all facing various charges in the slaying of Meredith Kercher, of Leeds. Ina case ripped from th seediest episode of Law and Order: SVU, Kercher was tortured, raped, and killed during a strange, drug fueled sex orgy… thing. Details of the case are either “not released” or completely turned upside down by the Italian press. This case is never going away, is it?

Saturday: The Red Cross released a report stating that as many as 10,000 African albinos are now living in hiding after a recent rash of killings in East Africa. “The report says the market for albino parts exists mainly in Tanzania, where a complete set of body parts — including all limbs, genitals, ears, tongue and nose — can sell for $75,000. Wealthy buyers use the parts as talismans to bring them wealth and good fortune (AP).” Albinism has long been seen as a sign of bad luck or infidelity in many African cultures, and now many believe that people more with this pigmentation disorder are mentally retarded. Albinos in East Africa are rarely sent to school, and are forced in to menial jobs outdoors which puts them at great risk for skin cancers. The latest killing happened in late October in Tanzania’s Mwanza region, where a 10 year-old boy was beheaded and dismembered. Local healers and “witch doctors” claim albino body parts can have healing properties. These practices have seen a rise in business over the last few years, as African governments spurn Western medicines, most notably in South Africa under President Mbeki.