Day: June 14, 2011

USA grapples with legacy of forced sterilisation

More than 60,000 Americans were sterilised, many against their will, as part of a eugenics movement that finished in 1979, aimed at keeping the poor and mentally ill from having children. Now, decades on, one state is considering compensation. In 1968, Elaine Riddick was raped by a neighbour who threatened to […]

Bali named RI’s cleanest province

Despite recent criticism about severe land and water pollution, Bali has the best environment of all of the provinces, a government study shows. The report on Indonesia’s environmental quality index in 2010 conducted by the Environment Ministry showed that Bali had a score of 99.65, the highest of all the […]

Conservative youth support democracy

Although most young Indonesian Muslims see religion as a salient identity emphasizing Islamic values and attitudes, they approve democratic values, a survey shows. The survey came amid increasing concern about radicalism among young Muslims, as students are reportedly the primary targets of radical Islamic movements. An Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) […]

Islam and Psychology

The case of those who take helpers besides Allah is like unto the case of the spider, who makes for herself a house; and surely the frailest of all houses is the house of the spider, if they but knew!  (Al Quran 29:42)     Sigmund Freud remembered all his […]

New movement: Slutwalk

Pravda.Ru. It started in the USA and Canada after a Toronto policeman said if women want to avoid being raped or victimised, they should not dress like sluts. The reaction was instead of telling women how to dress, the police should tell men not to rape. Now the movement has […]

Quakes continue to hit Christchurch

Sizable aftershocks are continuing to shake Christchurch today, as the Prime Minister says authorities need time to sort out what parts of the city will be abandoned due to quake damage. An earthquake of magnitude 4.8 shook Canterbury this afternoon, part of a continuing series of aftershocks shaking the region. […]

Ahmadis panic over ‘hit list’

The Ahmadi annual presecution report 2010 released in March this year Terrified Ahmadis are seeking government protection after an extremist group circulated pamphlets branding them “fit to be killed.” The All Pakistan Students Khatam-e-Nabuwat Federation recently handed the pamphlets out in public areas in Faisalabad in Punjab province, inciting people […]

Ahmadiyya community fit to be killed

Pamphlets branding members of the minority Ahmadiya community as “wajib-ul-qatl” (fit to be killed) and inciting people to attack them are being openly circulated in Pakistan’s textile industry hub of Faisalabad, according to a media report. The pamphlets list the names of several Ahmadiya industrialists, doctors and businesses. The first […]

Westerwelle warns of Mideast peace problems

Berlin believes unilateral moves – such as declaring Palestinian independence – would be “very counterproductive” to the Middle East peace process, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle warned on Tuesday.   Westerwelle, who spoke after talks with Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad in Ramallah, did not specifically refer to Palestinian plans […]

Is the US ready for a Mormon president?

Mormon Mitt Romney is an early frontrunner among the Republicans vying to run for president – and one new opinion poll shows him in a surprise dead heat with Barack Obama. Another Mormon, Jon Huntsman, is expected to enter the race. Will their religion be an issue? It’s a nation […]

Israel’s new energy

In the first 25 years after Israel’s founding in 1948, it was repeatedly attacked by the large armies of its Arab neighbours. Each time, Israel prevailed on the battlefield, only to have its victories rolled back by Western powers who feared losing access to Arab oilfields. The fear was and […]