China rejects US criticism of human rights record
China has rejected US criticism over deteriorating human rights saying that China’s progress in human rights “is an objective fact”. Read More
China-US make progress on trade but differences remain
The world’s two biggest economies ended a two-day meeting with both sides saying progress had been made. China said it will allow American companies easier access to sectors of its market. Read More
Obama to lay out new Mideast strategy
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama will give a major speech, possibly as early as next week, laying out his new Middle East strategy after the killing of Osama bin Laden and amid upheaval in the Arab world, U.S. officials said on Wednesday. A key sticking point is whether Obama, […]
Daughter of the Third Richest People In Indonesia gave SGD $ 1 Million for Japan
SINGAPORE, KOMPAS.com – Elaine Low (24), daughter of Low Tuck Kwong (62), number 3 richest people in Indonesia, gave assistance to tsunami victims of Japan’s for $ 1 million Singapore dollars, or about Rp. 7 million . The assistance was handed Elaine through the Japanese Embassy in Singapore and received […]
Zurich set for vote on assisted suicide
by Ariane Gigon in Zurich, swissinfo.ch Voters in Zurich are being given mixed messages about whether to allow or prevent people from being able to decide how to end their own lives. The slogans are punchy and powerful: “Freedom at the end!” on one side against “Save life!” on the […]
Beginning the End of America’s Longest War
In roughly two months, President Barack Obama is going to announce the beginning of the end of America’s longest war. He could not have known, when he initially set this summer for the beginning of the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, that the timing would work out so perfectly. […]
Well-Off Fleeing Iraq Find Poverty and Pain in Jordan
After her husband’s killing, Amira sold a generation of her family’s belongings, packed up her children and left behind their large house in Baghdad, with its gardener and maid. Now, a year later, she is making meat fritters for money in this sand-colored capital, unable to afford glasses for her […]
Graham: Iraq may “go to hell” without US troops
(CBS News) South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham on Sunday called for a continued U.S. military presence in Iraq, and warned that pulling American troops out in 2011 would seriously jeopardize progress there. Graham also argued that providing State Department contractors with military equipment after the withdrawal of American troops would […]
Peace Corps Volunteers Speak Out on Rape
WASHINGTON — Jess Smochek arrived in Bangladesh in 2004 as a 23-year-old Peace Corps volunteer with dreams of teaching English and “helping the world.” She left six weeks later a rape victim after being brutalized in an alley by a knife-wielding gang. When she returned to the United States, the […]
British SAS to help US hunt down al-Qaeda leaders
Britain has offered the US government SAS anti-terrorist units to help hunt down senior al-Qaeda commanders in an attempt to capitalise on information seized in the compound where Osama bin Laden was killed. The Prime Minister, David Cameron, has told the White House that he intends to stand shoulder to […]
NOAM CHOMSKY: MY REACTION TO OSAMA BIN LADEN’S DEATH
Via Guernica: It’s increasingly clear that the operation was a planned assassination, multiply violating elementary norms of international law. There appears to have been no attempt to apprehend the unarmed victim, as presumably could have been done by 80 commandos facing virtually no opposition—except, they claim, from his wife, who […]
Judge will allow Muslim man to wear head covering in court
A Henry County state judge has reversed his own decision and will allow a Muslim man to wear his head covering into the courtroom. “The Court finds through its own research that there is a basis in the Quran for both men and women to cover their heads as […]
Give unity deal a chance, Palestinian PM urges
RAMALLAH, West Bank: Palestinian unity is crucial to peace with Israel and the pact between the secular Fatah and Islamist Hamas movements must be given a chance, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said on Friday. “I am satisfied that we are on the verge of the process of putting the […]
Obey rulers to ensure stability, says Grand Mufti
By YOUSUF MUHAMMAD | ARAB NEWS MADINAH: Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh on Tuesday emphasized the need to obey rulers, saying it would strengthen unity and stability and ensure protection for people’s honor and properties. Delivering a lecture at the girls’ section of Taibah University in Madinah, he said: […]
Gulf states welcome Jordan membership bid
By Hani Hazaimeh AMMAN – Jordan on Tuesday welcomed an announcement by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) supporting the Kingdom’s request to join the GCC. The GCC welcomed bids by Jordan and Morocco to join the six-nation grouping, its secretary general, Abdullatif Al Zayani, told reporters yesterday. “Leaders of the […]
A CONVERSATION WITH | STEPHEN HAWKING Life and the Cosmos, Word by Painstaking Word
TEMPE, Ariz. — Like Einstein, he is as famous for his story as for his science. This week: A rare interview with a physics superstar, and up in the trees with a sleeping bird. At the age of 21, the British physicist Stephen Hawking was found to have amyotrophic lateral […]
Israel’s Diamond Export Grows from $6 Million in 1948 to $80 Billion+
Israel’s diamond exports today are 13,400 times what they were when the state was founded – having grown from $6 million to some $80.5 billion, Calcalist reports, quoting data from the Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute. The figures also show changing trends in Israel’s export economy. Whereas at the beginning […]
Israel admits it covertly canceled residency status of 140,000 Palestinians
Document obtained by Haaretz reveals that between 1967 and 1994 many Palestinians traveling abroad were stripped of residency status, allegedly without warning. Israel has used a covert procedure to cancel the residency status of 140,000 West Bank Palestinians between 1967 and 1994, the legal advisor for the Judea and Samaria […]