Diplomatic immunity was originally meant to protect embassy personnel from arbitrary harrassment. But a new case in Berlin, involving the alleged abuse of a Indonesian servant, makes it clear that human rights sometimes get lost in the shuffle. The case could go to Germany’s highest court. Where else could […]
By GAUTAM NAIK The world’s 6,000 or so modern languages may have all descended from a single ancestral tongue spoken by early African humans between 50,000 and 70,000 years ago, a new study suggests. The finding, published Thursday in the journal Science, could help explain how the first spoken language emerged, […]
By Asma Afsaruddin Religious pluralism is one of the few truly modern expressions. The term refers to the acceptance of a multitude of religions existing in harmony despite internal doctrinal differences and variations in external rituals and practices. Although the term itself hails only from the 20th century, one might […]
This essay dates from November, 2005, but is still very valid. Stirrings in the Desert Heavy Hand of the Secret Police Impeding Reform in Arab World By NEIL MacFARQUHAR AMMAN, Jordan, Nov. 13 – At a cultural festival last year, Sameer al-Qudah recited a poem of his depicting Arab rulers […]
It was probably in the year 1995 when I attended a reception by the Ambassador of Pakistan to Thailand on the occasion of the Pakistani Independence Day. Tables and chairs were placed around the garden. On the next table some Quranic verses were quoted in a conversation. When I overheard […]
The Federal Court says the humanitarian situation in most regions of Afghanistan is too critical to send back asylum seekers whose requests were rejected by Switzerland. A court statement said security had deteriorated in all regions of Afghanistan over the past few years. It added the return of an asylum […]
By BRETT ZONGKER | AP WASHINGTON: A prize-winning journalist who reported for The Washington Post went public Wednesday with a secret he has been keeping for nearly two decades: He is an illegal immigrant. Jose Antonio Vargas, whose mother sent him from the Philippines to live with his grandparents in […]
By MD RASOOLDEEN | ARAB NEWS RIYADH: A Sri Lankan housemaid was kept against her will by her Saudi sponsor and not paid since she came to the Kingdom in 1997, sources from the Jazan governorate said on Tuesday. According to the sources, the authorities rescued 45-year-old Weerawardena Hettiarachchilage Indrani […]
The Jakarta Post | Sat, 06/18/2011 11:27 PM| MAKASSAR: South Sulawesi Governor Syahrul Yasin Limpo has approved a proposal to ban Ahmadiyah activities in his province. A gubernatorial bylaw will be deliberated together with representatives of Muslim community organizations in the province, the governor said Thursday. The approval apparently responded […]
see here for an interesting report: http://www.guidetoaction.org/parker/ahm-aff.html just one extract for your information: 17. In 1985, I worked with the United Nations Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities to bring to its attention the widespread violations of human rights in Pakistan, especially the clear persecution of Ahmadi […]
Telling the Human Story, 15 June 2011 © UNHCR/K. McKinsey Pakistani refugee Muhammmed Zakaria handing over his family’s passports to UNHCR’s Severine Weber to process them for resettlement. They left China for Canada in May. YANJIAO, China, June 15 (UNHCR) – Not many people can remember precisely what they were […]
By AHMED AL-HAJ | AP SANAA, Yemen: The head of Yemen’s most powerful tribal confederation warned Tuesday that Yemen could plunge into civil war if President Ali Abdullah Saleh is allowed to return home. Saleh is currently in Saudi Arabia, where he is receiving treatment for serious injuries from a […]
By ROBERTA FEDELE | ARAB NEWS JEDDAH: During a conversation regarding the venture of Manal Al-Sharif — the 32-year-old computer consultant arrested on May 22 for having uploaded on YouTube a video of herself driving — one young Saudi woman perceptively noticed: “What if all women here were aware of […]
By ARAB NEWS JEDDAH: The International Islamic Relief Organization-Saudi Arabia (IIROSA) has called on governments and international aid agencies to pay greater attention to the plight of displaced people around the world. In a statement issued on the occasion of the World Refugee Day on Monday, which is being marked […]
Press Statement Hillary Rodham Clinton Secretary of State Washington, DC June 17, 2011 Today, the UN Human Rights Council adopted the first ever UN resolution on the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons. This represents a historic moment to highlight the human rights abuses and violations that […]
Anti-Muslim Politics Jeff Sharlet, left, of Dartmouth College and Amy Sullivan of Time discuss anti-Muslim sentiment in American politics. Jeff Sharlet, left, of Dartmouth College and Amy Sullivan of Time discuss anti-Muslim sentiment in American politics.
NAQAB, June 21, 2011 (WAFA) – Bulldozers of the Israeli Ministry of Interior, under police protection, Tuesday demolished Palestinian homes in several Arab villages unrecognized by the Israeli government in Naqab, in southern Israel. Three homes have been demolished so far, and Israeli army forces are roaming additional areas in […]
JERUSALEM, June 21, 2011 (WAFA) – Extremist Jewish organization, the Israel Land Fund (ILF), Tuesday instigated in a press release to demolish Muhammad al-Fateh mosque in Silwan, a town south of Jerusalem, under the pretext of ‘illegal’ restoration work going on in the mosque. The mosque, also known as Ras al-Amud […]