Virginia | Pakistan

WASHINGTON: The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organisation in the United States, has filed a federal lawsuit against one of America’s largest public school systems, alleging that four Muslim students were unlawfully disciplined because of their religion and ethnic background. The lawsuit accuses Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), a school district serving nearly 180,000 students in the suburbs of Washington, DC, of discriminating against students at the prestigious Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, one of the nation’s top-ranked public schools. Filed in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, the suit claims that school officials violated the students’ constitutional rights and federal civil rights laws by suspending them over a social media video while allowing similar conduct by other student groups to go unpunished. The case stems from a video posted in October 2025 by members of the school’s Muslim Student Association (M...

WASHINGTON: Virginia’s legislature has passed a new education law that bars public schools from teaching former President Donald Trump’s version of recent history, particularly regarding the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. Under the measure, approved by the Democratic-controlled Virginia General Assembly, schools cannot present the attack as a “peaceful protest” or claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen through widespread fraud. Instead, teachers are required to describe January 6 as a violent assault on democratic institutions aimed at overturning the election results. Similar efforts are underway in New York. Democratic Representative Chuck Lavine of Long Island has introduced a bill that would require all public school students in the state to learn about the insurrection and its consequences. Lavine said failing to teach an accurate account would be a “grave disservice” to students and to the nation. Trump and his allies have characterised the events of January 6 as patriotic and ...