Morocco’s uprisings and all the king’s men

Defiant demonstrators seeking democracy send a clear message against state repression and police violence. Thousands poured into the streets of Rabat on Sunday June 5 to condemn the death of a protester and to demand an end to the country-wide government crackdown on peaceful demonstrations. “We are here today to […]

Love in a time of torture

A young man’s account of sadistic torture in a Syrian secret prison, and how a girl’s note helped him through his pain. Arrested during a protest in the first days of the Syrian uprising, a young man endured acts of sadism and torture at the hands of Bashar al-Assad’s secret […]

Sale of babies

IN the absence of functioning mechanisms, certain sorts of criminal behaviour become inevitable. This is the lesson to be read into the arrest on Friday of a Peshawar doctor on the charge of selling newborn babies. After receiving a tip-off, a policewoman posing as a potential customer contacted the doctor, […]

In Courts, Money Does the Talking

The recent arrest of a judge for bribe-taking shows Indonesia should start putting in place firm antigraft measures across the country’s courts, especially as the practice could be more common than most think. A leading antigraft organization pointed out on Sunday that established patterns of courtroom corruption, which follows set […]

Europe’s rising Islamophobia

The key voices of intolerance are neither marginal nor can they be dismissed as old-style far-right activists. They are today often heads of government, important ministers or powerful politicians. Their words express an emerging refrain of official xenophobia. Successive recent salvos by the French president and German chancellor on the failure […]

Indonesian Women Hail Passing of Immigration Law

Indonesian women have welcomed the passage of the Immigration Law that boosts the rights of foreign spouses of Indonesian citizens. Isabelle Mace Panggabean, 31, who is half French and half Indonesian and married to an Indonesian, hailed the new law, saying said she would now be able to gain permanent […]

Pakistani refugees released on bail Monday

A group of almost a hundred Pakistani refugees and asylum seekers, including several dozen children and a baby born in detention, will be released on bail Monday. The Thai Committee for Refugees, which helped organise the release, said the 96 people — most of whom were arrested in December — […]

Pakistani refugees freed on bail from Thai jail

BANGKOK – ALMOST 100 Pakistani refugees have been freed from Bangkok’s overcrowded immigration prison in an initiative spearheaded by Thai human rights activists. The Thai Committee for Refugees says the 96 members of Pakistan’s Ahmadiyya Muslim sect were freed on bail on Monday in the first such large-scale release of […]

Bethlehem Bible College Celebrates Graduation

Bethlehem – PNN – Bethlehem Bible College held a graduation ceremony to celebrate the students graduating from its biblical studies, tour guide and mass media programs Friday night. Graduates, dignitaries, family and friends attended the ceremony It was the 24th biblical studies, 7th tour guide and 4th mass media class to […]

Israeli troops kill 20 in Syrian border protests

MAJDAL SHAMS, Golan Heights (Agencies) – Israeli troops opened fire on Sunday as protesters from Syria stormed a ceasefire line in the occupied Golan Heights, with Damascus saying 20 demonstrators were killed and scores more were wounded. The clashes, marking the anniversary of the 1967 Mideast war, drew Israeli accusations […]