Israel begins building wall on Lebanese border
Reuters. Jordan Times METULLA, Israel — Israel began building a wall on Monday along a one-kilometre stretch of its border with Lebanon, saying the barrier was necessary to boost security […]
Extremism thrives in Pakistan despite bin Laden death
AFP: ISLAMABAD: A year after Osama bin Laden died in a US raid, Al-Qaeda keeps spreading its message of terror in Pakistan, analysts say, with splinter groups threatening the country’s fragile […]
Panetta, Clinton to discuss Philippine role in Pacific strategy
Philippine News Secretary Leon Panetta and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will meet with top Philippine counterparts next week to discuss America’s expanding military role in the country. Panetta and Clinton will sit down with Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario and Secretary of National Defense Voltaire Gazmin next Monday, DOD spokesman Capt. John Kirby […]
A history of the world, BRIC by BRIC
By Pepe Escobar Credit: Asiatimes: Goldman Sachs – via economist Jim O’Neill – invented the concept of a rising new bloc on the planet: BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa). Some cynics couldn’t help calling it the “Bloody Ridiculous Investment Concept.” Not really. Goldman now expects the BRICS countries […]
Betrayed by India: The tale of the Pakistani Hindu refugee
Credit: First Post India by Wasim Sroya Pakistani Hindus carry an idol of Ganesha, for immersion at Laxmi Narain Temple in Karachi last year. Pakistani Hindu’s in India are in perpetual hope that the Indian government will offer them permanent refuge. Reuters “Hindus are like a fish out of water […]
Put Religious Freedom Before Harmony in Indonesia, Activist Urges
The Jakarta Globe: Michael Victor Sianipar | Efforts by the government to insert itself more prominently into religious matters, coupled with its unclear stance on the role of religion in the state, will only exacerbate interreligious tensions in the country, leading rights activists warn. Veteran human rights activist Todung Mulya […]
Israel joins UN list of states limiting human rights organizations
UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay lists Israel along with countries such as Belarus, Zimbabwe, Egypt, Ethiopia and Venezuela. Haaretz: A senior UN official in Geneva last week listed Israel among the countries that she says are restricting the activities of human rights groups. The statement, issued on Wednesday by […]
Jinnah’s liberalism: A secular Muslim at heart
Daily Times: Yasser Latif Hamdani: Jinnah believed in equal rights for all people, regardless of religion or gender, because he believed in freedom of speech and freedom of expression. He […]
Bin Laden is dead, but has done better than we think
By David Ignatius The Daily Star, Lebanon In the year since Osama bin Laden’s death, it has been a comforting thought for Westerners to say that he failed. And that’s certainly true in terms of Al-Qaeda, whose scorched-earth jihad tactics alienated Muslims along with everyone else. But in terms of […]
Ancient murals reveal secrets of early Islamic art
by Taylor Luck, Jordan Times. AMMAN — Restoration work on 1,300-year-old murals in Qusayr Amra have shed new light on early Islamic art as conservationists continue work to save one […]
New gov’t ‘last chance’ for reform
by Taylor Luck, Jordan Times AMMAN — More than the country’s fourth government since the launch of the Arab Spring, observers say the Prime Ministry’s latest occupant may represent the […]
Lahore Fort may be removed from the list of endangered world heritage sites.
Courtesy: Maqsood Ahmad Malik, Deputy Director, Directorate General of Archeology Youth Affairs, Sports, Archeology and Tourism Department A monitoring mission from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)is […]
Indian teenager annuls her child ‘marriage’
Source: BBC News A young woman has had her child “marriage” legally annulled in northern Rajasthan state, in what is thought to be the first case of its kind in India. Laxmi Sargara, 18, wed Rakesh when she was just one and he was three. She grew up with […]
UN chief Ban laments rich-poor divide on trip to India
Source: BBC News India has made impressive economic progress but there are “serious disparities between rich and poor”, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said. “There are many people who don’t have [access to basic services,” he told reporters in Delhi on the second day of a three-day visit to India. […]
Missing British aid worker Khalil Dale found dead in Quetta, Pakistan
The body of missing British aid worker Khalil Dale has been found in Pakistan, four months after he was kidnapped by armed men, the International Committee of the Red Cross […]
Should religion help conscience of those who rule us? India: a case in point
Written by Muhammad Azimul Haque Gujarat’s encounter specialist and suspended super cop D.G, Vanzara who is in Ahmedabad jail alleged involved in many fake encounters of Muslims including Mumbai based […]
Israel’s ex-spy master: Netanyahu, Barak unfit to tackle Iran
Reuters, ARABNEWS JERUSALEM: A former Israeli spymaster has branded the country’s leaders unfit to tackle the Iranian nuclear program because of what he called the “messianic feelings” behind their threats to launch a pre-emptive war on Iran. read more here: http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article620786.ece
Obama signs waiver to lift Palestinian aid barrier
AFP / JORDAN TIMES WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has signed a waiver to remove curbs on funding to the Palestinian Authority, declaring the aid to be “important to the security interests of the United States”. A $192 million aid package was frozen by the US Congress after the Palestinians […]
Saudi receives Bin Ladens on humanitarian grounds: report
The Daily Star, Lebanon JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia has allowed the three widows and children of slain Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden entrance into the kingdom on humanitarian grounds, a Saudi-owned […]
Israel: Scarecrow frightened of own shadow
By FAWAZ TURKI ARABNEWS UNLIKE the Gaza Freedom flotilla two years ago that sought to break Israel’s chokehold on the Strip, the Welcome to Palestine 2012 ‘flytilla’ two weeks ago, that sought to show solidarity with Palestinians in the West Bank, did not turn into a story that had legs. […]