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Northern Europe
Norwegian boys change gender to get into study program
Changing your gender is as easy as switching to a new phone subscription, a Norwegian student says. And for some, gender reassignment is just enough to get into their favourite study program. To increase the number of women in the study program of Industrial Economics and Technology Management at the…
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Northern Europe
Sweden: Investigation launched after Christian refuses to make cake for same-sex wedding
A Swedish bakery has been reported to the Discrimination Ombudsman after refusing to make a wedding cake for a gay couple. But the Christian bakers think it was a set-up all along. In hindsight, they already suspected something was wrong, say the Christian owners of the bakery in the Swedish…
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Central Europe
Confessional movement Germany calls “God is queer” statement “heretical”
Saying that God is queer is heretical, according to a some at the German Kirchentag. The debate over a German pastor's “God is queer” statement continues. The German Confessional Movement (Bekenntnisbewegung) “No other gospel” rejects the statement, according to the conservative German news service Idea. “Now is the time to…
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Northern Europe
Swedish PM “extremely concerned” about book burnings
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Thursday he is “extremely concerned” about the consequences if more Qurans are burned. Nevertheless, another burning is scheduled for Friday. Kristersson fears something bad will happen if the protests continue, he told Swedish news agency TT. “I am extremely worried about what it could…
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European Union
Study: faith increasingly divides generations
Western Europe is secularising. But a new study shows that young people increasingly believe in the supernatural despite this. Faith increasingly divides generations. That is the conclusion of a new research report by Ipsos. Countries with more baby boomers (those born in or before 1964) who say they believe in…
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Northern Europe
Norwegian court maintains Jehovah's Witnesses' ban on sealing marriage
The Jehovah's Witnesses in Norway will not get a temporary license to perform marriages. They lost this right last year, and two courts already refused their appeal. The Norwegian Jehovah's Witnesses have been engaged in court cases for about a year already. Last year, the Norwegian authorities ruled that the…
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Southern Europe
Italy closer to banning surrogacy abroad
Italians who want to obtain a child through surrogacy via foreign countries will be punishable as far as parliament is concerned. Now only the Senate has to decide whether surrogacy for Italians will be criminalised worldwide. The Italian parliament on Wednesday approved a bill making surrogacy a “universal crime.” Although…
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Eastern Europe
Kremlin tells Russian media to conceal low birthrate
The Russian authorities told the national news agencies to conceal the demographic crisis in the country under Putin's regime. They are not to write or broadcast anything about the low number of births, two sources told Moscow Times. Journalists are not even allowed to cover the official statistics of Rosstat,…
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Northern Europe
Cleaning company refuses to wash the windows of a Norwegian church
The windows of a church building get dirty, just like the windows of any other building. However, a Norwegian cleaning company refuses to wash them. “We want to remain neutral.” The conflict started in April when the congregation prepared for spring cleaning. The General Manager of the Hafrsfjord Parish of…
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Eastern Europe
War leads to huge demand for books in Ukraine
Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, bookstores in the country are flourishing. Ukrainians are determined to preserve their cultural memory. Ukrainian literature that was almost forgotten suddenly appears in the list of bestsellers again. New book cafés are popping up regularly. Since the initial shock of the Russian…
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