Wait, What!?

• (1) Jason Patterson, upset that New Zealand's health care administration has rejected paying for gastric bypass surgery, announced in July that he will protest publicly by going on a hunger strike. "The first two to three days (will be) really hard," he told Channel 3 News.

• (2) Local officials in China's Xinjiang region informed Muslim shopkeepers and restaurateurs in May that they will henceforth be required to sell alcohol and cigarettes (even though Islam forbids their consumption). An official told Radio Free Asia that the government aims to weaken religion. [TV3News (Auckland), 7-6-2015] [Washington Post, 5-5-2015]

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