An Azerbaijan court sent three political activists to pretrial detention in recent days on dubious charges of illegal weapons possession. The arrests bring to seven the number of youth activists detained in connection with a peaceful protest on March 10, 2013. The Nasimi District Court sent Uzeyir Mammadli, 25, and Rashadat Akhundov, 28, to pretrial [...]
Azerbaijan: Authorities Targeting Youth Activists
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Budget Cuts Hit US Foreign Aid Programs
By Tatiana Vorozhko The mandatory U.S. federal budget cuts that recently went into effect — known as “sequestration” — are affecting more than the government’s domestic programs. The $85 billion across-the-board cuts are also taking their bite out of international aid and development efforts. Despite the challenges and the rhetoric, many feel the future of [...]
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Judges And Military Hold Up Kosovo-Serbia Deal
Kosovo and Serbia on Tuesday agreed on the formation of a multi-ethnic police force in the Association of Serbian Municipalities, an EU diplomat told Balkan Insight. But the eighth round of talks in Brussels failed to yield an agreement on the judiciary and on the presence of the Kosovo military in Kosovo Serb areas. According [...]
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Pew Poll: Declining Democratic Preference For Israel – OpEd
M.J. Rosenberg just featured the latest Pew poll on American attitudes toward Israel and Palestine. He focussed on a decline among Democrats in those who say they favor Israel over the Palestinians. In the past 35 years, those who declare their sympathies lay more with Israel declined from 44% to 39%. While preferences among Republicans [...]
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Things You Probably Did Not Know About Afghanistan – OpEd
By Emil Asadulla and Zmarak Yousufzai Describing Afghanistan, Michael Luongo, a freelance writer and photographer writes: “Afghanistan is a mystery to most Americans, a place of fear and terror. The reality is that it is one of the most beautiful and welcoming countries I have ever been to, in spite of all its ongoing problems. [...]
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Global Paradoxes Of Poverty And Affluence – Analysis
Amid deep economic crisis and fatal pessimism, noted British Economist John Maynard Keynes said in 1930, “In spite of an enormous growth in the population of the world, which it has been necessary to equip with houses and machines, the average standard of life in Europe and the United States has been raised, I think, [...]
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NY: Former Transit Worker Files Lawsuit For Religious Harassment And Discrimination
Sheikh Ahmed, a former New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) worker, filed a lawsuit Wednesday alleging that the NYCTA violated his rights by subjecting him to persistent harassment due to his Muslim beliefs and denied him reasonable workplace accommodation of his religious observances. According to his supporters, Mr. Ahmed had a track record of over [...]
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New Report On U.S. Aid To Haiti Finds “Troubling” Lack Of Transparency, Effectiveness
A new report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) identifies significant problems with the delivery of U.S. aid in Haiti and finds an overall lack of transparency on how the billions of dollars obligated for U.S. assistance to Haiti are being used. The report, “Breaking Open the Black Box: Increasing Aid Transparency [...]
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Japan’s Nuclear Future – Analysis
In the wake of the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant two years ago following the earthquake and the tsunami of March 11, 2011, Japan is still debating the future of its energy plans, with no consensus emerged to date on its future options. The debate swings like a pendulum between the protagonists [...]
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Prince Of Asturias Opens New Units At Repsol’s Bilbao Refinery
His Royal Highness the Prince of Asturias has opened the new Coker unit at the Petronor refinery in Múskiz (Biscay), the largest industrial investment ever made in the Basque Country. Repsol Chairman, Antonio Brufau, Petronor Chairman Josu Jon Imaz, and the Chairman of Bilbao Bizkaia Kutxa, Mario Fernandez accompanied Don Felipe at the opening ceremony [...]
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Jordan To Declare “Disaster Zone” Over Syrian Refugee Influx
Jordan is intending to declare the north of the country a “disaster area,” Jordanian Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour said in remarks published on Wednesday. The prime minister voiced concerns over a wide-scale flow of Syrian refugees into Jordan as a result of possible flare-up major armed confrontations in Syria. The number of Syrians in Jordan [...]
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Rosneft To Acquire Aviation Refueling Businesses In Five Russian Airports
Rosneft agreed Wednesday heads of terms to acquire aviation refueling businesses from Basic Element in the airports of Krasnodar, Sochi, Anapa, Gelendzhik and Abakan operated by BASH (Basel Aero Supply and Handling). The agreement was signed by Igor Sechin, Rosneft President and Chairman of the Management Board, and Oleg Deripaska, Chairman of the Supervisory Board [...]
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The Jihadists – OpEd
“Know your enemy,” said the ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu, “and know yourself – that is the recipe for victory a hundred times over.” Do we in the civilized world know ourselves? There is no consensus on most of the big issues that confront us. For example, what is more important to us, individual [...]
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Asian Muslim Action Network Statement On Recent Violence In Myanmar
By Asian Muslim Action Network (AMAN) AMAN is deeply saddened and concerned with the current and ongoing violence in Myanmar. There are many reports of killing and the destruction of properties and places of worship, particularly in the Meikhtila Township, majority of who are Muslims. AMAN would like to categorically condemn such acts. We extend [...]
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Laos: Rhetoric Vs. Reality? – Analysis
By Aparupa Bhattacherjee The arcane disappearance of a Laotian citizen, award-winning activist, Sombath Somphone has baffled the world. The Laos government is facing criticism from their neighbouring countries, and especially from the US, due to their inability to probe into the case after more than hundred days of Mr. Sombath’s disappearance. Interestingly, this is not [...]
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Saudi Arabia: Strain Of Uncertain Future Takes Toll On Foreigners
By Fouzia Khan The Ministry of Labor’s surprise checks of shops, institutions and businesses have wreaked havoc on the lives of many expatriates. Expat workers told Arab News of the closures of their employers’ grocery shops, beauty parlors, salons, cafeterias, electric and plumbing stores and private schools. The expatriates asked for a legal solution to [...]
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Insulting Religion Or Mursi? – OpEd
By Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed Bassem Youssef, the satirist, appears once a week on the CBC channel in Cairo. But it seems this one time was enough to anger Egyptian President Muhammad Mursi who came to power following a revolution that sought freedom and dignity. Mursi has made a mockery of the revolution, providing opportunities to [...]
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Foreign Funding In Egypt After The Revolution – Analysis
By Mohamed Elagati Prior to the outbreak of revolution on 25 January 2011, Egypt’s vibrant civil society already played an important role in raising public awareness. In the aftermath of the revolution, however, controversy over foreign funding to Egyptian civil society organisations (CSOs) within both the Egyptian press and the public spearheaded. This occurred especially [...]
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Argentina Declares Mourning After Floods Kill 54
The government in Argentina has declared three days of national mourning after flash floods killed 54 people, BBC News reported. One of the heaviest storms recorded moved through the province hitting both the capital, Buenos Aires, and the city of La Plata. At least 48 people were killed in La Plata and six others in [...]
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Obama Calls For Passage Of Stalled Gun Control Legislation
President Barack Obama has urged Congress to pass stalled U.S. gun control legislation, saying the vast majority of Americans support new restrictions, BBC News reported. In Colorado, Obama accused the gun lobby of instilling fears of government gun confiscation to rally opposition. Gun control opponents maintain the U.S. Constitution forbids the restrictions Obama and gun [...]
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