Meanwhile, it is “same old, same old” at the UN:
UN approves religious criticism proposal

The UN’s human-rights body approved a proposal by Muslims nations Thursday urging passage of laws around the world to protect religion from criticism.

The proposal put forward by Pakistan on behalf of Islamic countries - with the backing of Belarus and Venezuela - had drawn strong criticism from free-speech campaigners and liberal democracies.

A simple majority of 23 members of the 47-nation Human Rights Council voted in favor of the resolution. Eleven nations, mostly Western, opposed the resolution, and 13 countries abstained.

Opponents of the resolution included Canada, all European Union countries, Switzerland, Ukraine and Chile.

India, which normally votes along with the council’s majority of developing nations, abstained in protest at the fact that Islam was the only religion specifically named as deserving protection.

India’s Ambassador Gopinathan Achamkulangare said the resolution “inappropriately” linked religious criticism to racism.