The Independent: The authorities in Saudi Arabia have begun dismantling some of the oldest sections of Islam’s most important mosque as part of a highly controversial multi-billion pound expansion. Photographs obtained by The Independent reveal how workers with drills and mechanical diggers have started demolishing some Ottoman and Abbasid sections […]
by Robert Fisk, The Independent What is a child’s life worth against all the antiquities of Syria? Any reflection of Syria’s architectural disasters must include this question. The child, a humanitarian must say, is worth all the columns of Palmyra and mosques of Damascus. The child, a cold-hearted historian might […]
Source: The Economist: The continent has entered its 2nd decade of sustained growth. Most countries have been growing at more than 5% every single year since 2003, and projections show that this momentum will continue. While the new services industries are important, they alone will not enable African countries to […]
by Robert Fisk, The Independent So will it be tragedy, farce or tourism? Obama’s a tourist, so says the Davy Crockett of the American journalistic frontier and philosopher king of The New York Times (aka T Friedman, Esq), but he’s wrong. The winner of the Nobel Prize for Public Speech-making […]
Friday, Dec. 18, 2009 will be noted as a sad day in the history of Indonesia. On that day, a group of people on their way home from attending an Islamic New Year parade attacked the Santo Albertus church under construction in Bekasi. Fortunately, no one was injured in the […]
Source: Spiegel Polish special forces and US Navy Seals pose for pictures under a portrait of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in the port of Umm-southern Iraq in March 23, 2003. A decade on, polls suggest that a majority of Americans view the 2003 invasion of Iraq as a mistake. Right […]
by Ahmed Rashid NYR BLOG This spring was supposed to open a new chapter in Pakistan’s tenuous embrace of inclusive democracy. At midnight on March 17, following constitutional rules, the […]
Source: Spiegel. The Catholic Church is out of touch with believers, and risks losing more of the flock if it fails to reform. An important step would be giving national […]
Jeddah: ARAB NEWS Thursday 21 March 2013 Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf said that yesterday’s positive rating announced by Fitch Ratings, an international agency, would enhance confidence in the strength of Saudi economy and its continued growth. His remarks came after Fitch Ratings affirmed Saudi Arabia’s Long-Term foreign and local currency […]
Source: Spiegel dapd Amid accusations of waste, nepotism and smear campaigns, long-established members of Berlin’s Jewish Community are in open conflict with relative newcomers from abroad. Severe financial difficulties are at the core of their problems with one another. More:
Epigraph: Then We caused Our Messengers to follow in their footsteps; and We caused Jesus, son of Mary, to follow them, and We gave him the Gospel. And We placed […]
Source: Asia Times. By Nan Chen From the eight-lane Nairobi-Thika highway built by Chinese construction companies to the ubiquitous Chinese restaurants around town, the signs of China’s activity are everywhere in Kenya – right down to the friendly nihao called out by Kenyans as I walk down a Nairobi street. […]
Source: JORDAN TIMES TARTOUS — This once sleepy Syrian port now buzzes with shoppers milling about crowded marketplaces. Lines of cars wait patiently at traffic lights — a rare mark […]
Source: Asia Times: By Pepe Escobar. So here’s a modern geopolitical parable that would puzzle Aesop. Bibi publicly insults POTUS. He unabashedly supports Mitt Romney (who?) in the US presidential elections. He hits the “peace process” with a barrage of Hellfire “facts on the ground” (with loads of Palestine “collateral […]
Source: TOI CANBERRA: The Australian government plunged into crisis with Prime Minister Julia Gillard caving in to building pressure and calling a leadership ballot of her ruling Labor party for later Thursday. Her decision follows senior cabinet minister Simon Crean openly calling for the move with Gillard lagging badly in […]
Source: TOI ISLAMABAD: The Interpol has turned down Pakistan’s request to issue a red corner notice for the former military ruler PervezMusharraf for refusing to cooperate in the probe into BenazirBhutto’s assassination, days ahead of his homcoming from self-exile. Musharraf has cleared the final hurdle to his plans to return […]
Source: Dawn.Com Photo shows a copy of the letter sent by the Delhi Dharam Parchar Committee to the Pakistani High Commission. A copy of the letter in its entirety can be seen here. SHIKARPUR/KARACHI: A huge rift over the alleged desecration of a holy book was averted in Shikarpur after […]
ar 21, 2013 – 01:31 BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Serbia and Kosovo failed to reach an agreement on Wednesday to end the ethnic partition of the former Serbian province, but European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said she hoped a new round of talks next month would seal a deal. […]
Mar 20, 2013 – SWISSINFO Switzerland had the sixth most asylum requests of any country in 2012 – the most since 1999 – and requests were up eight per cent […]
Huff Post: by Candida Moss. Even the earliest, most ostensibly trustworthy martyrdom stories have been edited and reworked. The authors of these accounts borrowed from ancient mythology, changed the details of events to make the martyrs appear more like Jesus, and made the Roman antagonists increasingly venomous. The motivations of […]