Hundreds of Venezuelans held a candlelight vigil Friday, Feb 22, for President Hugo Chavez, praying for their leader while he remained in a hospital undergoing cancer treatment. According to The Associated Press, Chavez’s supporters gathered on a wide stairway in a hillside park near the presidential palace. They lit candles at sunset and sang along [...]
Venezuelans Hold Candlelight Vigil For Ailing Chavez
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Moody’s Cuts United Kingdom’s Top AAA Credit Rating
The UK has lost its top AAA credit rating for the first time since 1978 on expectations that growth will “remain sluggish over the next few years”, BBC News reports. The ratings agency Moody’s became the first to cut the UK from its highest rating, to Aa1. Moody’s said the government’s debt reduction program faced [...]
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Truce With Boko Haram Remains Elusive In Violence-Torn Nigeria
The 28 January ceasefire declaration by purported Boko Haram commander Muhammed Abdulazeez Ibn Idris, on behalf of Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, led to mixed reactions from security analysts in Nigeria. While some welcomed it as a good step towards peace others dismissed it as a ruse. Since 28 January there have been several kidnapping [...]
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UAE: Charge Or Release Detained Egyptians, Says HRW
United Arab Emirates authorities should charge or release 13 Egyptians with alleged ties to the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and grant them immediate access to lawyers, Human Rights Watch said today. UAE security services detained the Egyptians between November 21, 2012 and January 7, 2013. While no charges have been filed, local media have alleged that [...]
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Obama Asks Supreme Court To Overturn Gay Marriage Ban
The administration of U.S. President Barack Obama has filed a legal brief with the Supreme Court to strike down a 1996 law defining marriage exclusively as a union between a man and a woman. The document, filed Friday, marks the first time a U.S. president has endorsed same-sex marriage rights before the high court. The [...]
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Iran ‘Finds’ Mass Uranium Deposits, Picks 16 New Nuclear Sites
Iran has decided on 16 locations to build new nuclear power plants in a drive to boost the country’s electricity output over the next 15 years. Tehran also announced the discovery of substantial uranium deposits to fuel the country’s nuclear program. Experts from the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) chose the 16 sites across [...]
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Spain: Thousands Join Rallies In 80 Cities Across Country
Thousands of people took part in rallies held in 80 cities in Spain on Saturday evening. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets over cuts in public spending and the current political situation in the country. The largest protest march was held in Madrid. Rally participants expressed dissatisfaction not only with the austerity [...]
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Corollaries Of The Syrian Crisis – OpEd
The danger in Syria is not that it is a new kind of a crisis; the danger is that it is becoming a replication of another one. The twin terrorist bomb attack in the capital Damascus on February 21, 2013, which took the lives of at least 100 civilians and injured another 235, echoes what [...]
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Human Rights Watch 2013 Sri Lanka: Sexual Violence – OpEd
By Shenali Waduge “‘We will teach you a lesson’: Sexual violence against Tamils by Sri Lankan Security Forces” is a 140page report published on 22 February 2013 giving 75 cases of alleged rape and sexual abuse between 2006-2012 in official and secret detention centres throughout Sri Lanka The 140page report gives 3 accounts out of [...]
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South Asia Media Summit In Islamabad – OpEd
The two-day South Asia Media Summit (SAMS) initially scheduled for January was held this month amid much uncertainty and confusion. The Summit organized by All Pakistan Newspaper Society (APNS) was graced by Prime Minister Raja Ashraf, despite his hectic schedule. The delight was presence of Indian media tycoons, who managed to finally reach Islamabad, despite [...]
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Terrorist Attack ‘Bigger Than 7/7′ Thwarted By British MI5, Cops
Three suspects from Birmingham, England, were found guilty on Thursday of plotting a bombing campaign intended to be even larger than the 7/7 London attacks that occurred on May 7, 2005, in which 52 people were killed. Although the intended targets of the three Islamists remain unknown, it is clear to the police and members [...]
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U.S. Antares Rocket Completes Hotfire Test
The new medium-sized rocket intended for missions to the International Space Station successfully completed the final ground test on Friday evening, its developer said. Preliminary analysis of data from the 29-second hotfire test of the Antares launch vehicle indicate that its engines and fueling systems are fully operational, Orbital Sciences Corporation said. The result paves [...]
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Anti-Qaeda Militia Attacked While Protests Rage In Iraq
Seven members of an anti-al Qaeda militia were killed as Sunni-led protests against new anti-terror legislation continued across Iraq, Al Jazeera reported on Friday. According to Iraqi officials, speaking to the news agency, members of the pro-government militia, known as ‘Sahwa’ were attacked in a town north of the capital, Baghdad. Sahwa members fought with [...]
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All Eyes On U.S. Immigration Reform – OpEd
By Darya Vakulenko The time for broad immigration reform in the United States has arrived. As a country founded by immigrants, the United States, which has long extolled the American dream and the pursuit of happiness, has a moral obligation to right the wrongs in its immigration system. It is clearly useless to implement only [...]
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Hindus Ask Czech Republic Not To Treat Roma Kids As Children With Disabilities
Hindus want immediate end to reported practice of treating Roma (Gypsy) children as children with mild disabilities in Czech Republic. Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muiznieks, in a report based on findings of his visit to Czech Republic and published on his website dated February 21, said: “Segregation of Roma children in [...]
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Achieving Lifelong Fitness
(CORDIS) — More and more Europeans are living longer. It has been predicted that by 2050, the number of people in the EU aged 65 and above will grow by 70%, while the number of people aged over 80 will increase by 170%. This raises important challenges for the 21st century: meeting the higher demand [...]
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Does LeJ Aim At Initiating Civil War In Balochistan?
The Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) has announced it plans to stage more demonstrations on Sunday and block all major national highways linking Quetta to Karachi, Jacobabad, Taftan and Afghanistan. This announcement came after at least seven persons were injured on Saturday when gunmen opened fire on a rally of the ASWJ at Liaquat Baazar, [...]
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Chinese Cyber Spies Targeted By New U.S. Security Strategy
The White House on Thursday announced a new Obama administration strategy to combat a number of trade secret thefts perpetrated by the China government and other perpetrators from other nations. The strategy report lists threats to corporate intellectual property from cyber attacks and more conventional methods of economic espionage. The report was released on the [...]
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Armenian Defense Ministry Refutes Azeri Claims Of Armenian Hostages
Information circulating in Azeri forums, suggesting Azerbaijani armed forces have captured 8 soldiers while preventing an Armenian-organized attack is false, Armenian Defense Ministry spokesman said. As Artsrun Hovhannisyan told PanARMENIAN.Net, “let them show at least one hostage if they claim to have captured 8. That’s what we do. Armenian side always openly announces about Azeri [...]
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Illegal Hiring Of Sri Lanka Maids Continues Despite Instructions
Brokers and labor offices are continuing to promote recruitment services of housekeepers from Indonesia and Sri Lanka despite an announcement by the Ministry of Labor that negotiations for recruitment are still ongoing. Recruitment from these countries was suspended following a series of incidents involving housemaid abuse. “These offices are run by brokers who take advantage [...]
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