Aug 31, 2012
Lufthansa Hit by Strikes
Lufthansa Hit by Strikes: An eight-hour strike by Lufthansa cabin crew at Frankfurt Airport has left thousands of passengers stranded and disrupted international flights to and from Europe's third-busiest airport.
Low-Cost Mobile Service Grows in France
Low-Cost Mobile Service Grows in France: Iliad said its new low-cost mobile phone service has grabbed 5.4% of France's mobile market in less than six months, reshaping both the strategies of rivals and the everyday behavior of cellphone customers.
Shell Edges Closer to Arctic Drilling
Shell Edges Closer to Arctic Drilling: Royal Dutch Shell was cleared to do preparatory work on an oil well in the Arctic Ocean's Chukchi Sea, though it stills lacks a final U.S. permit for drilling deep enough to find oil.
Tokyo Court Sides With Samsung
Tokyo Court Sides With Samsung: A Tokyo court ruled against Apple's claim that Samsung infringed on one of its patents, the latest development in a series of battles between the two tech giants.
Apple Patent Fight: Google in Cross Hairs
Apple Patent Fight: Google in Cross Hairs: Apple is flexing its legal muscle more squarely at Google in another patent fight against Samsung Electronics.
Online Upstart Qihoo Rattles Baidu
Online Upstart Qihoo Rattles Baidu: China's Baidu has managed to replicate Google's dominance of Internet search. But with rivals vying for control of the gateway to search in web browsers and smartphones, that dominance can't be taken for granted.
Aug 30, 2012
Muslim extremists attack Libyan school, mosques - Sacramento Bee
Muslim extremists attack Libyan school, mosques - Sacramento Bee:
Muslim extremists attack Libyan school, mosques Sacramento Bee TRIPOLI, Libya – An estimated 200 heavily armed Islamists destroyed 30 graves at a historic Turkish school in Tripoli's old city early Wednesday and an unspecified number of other mosques also were attacked, further signs that Libya's government is ... and more » |
'Civil War' Among Muslims Shakes Russia's South - Voice of America
'Civil War' Among Muslims Shakes Russia's South - Voice of America:
 AFP | 'Civil War' Among Muslims Shakes Russia's South Voice of America In the most politically significant case, a female suicide bomber attacked Sheikh Said Atsayev, a leading moderate Muslim cleric in Dagestan who had been leading peace talks with militant adherents of Wahhabism, the form of Sunni Islam that is widely ... Russian police identify female suicide bomber who killed Muslim leader in ...Washington Post Islamic cleric warns of civil war in Russia's DagestanReuters Suicide bomber kills Muslim cleric as Putin urges unityChicago Tribune AFP all 473 news articles » |
Dozens feared dead off Indonesia coast
Dozens feared dead off Indonesia coast: At least 55 people rescued, while more than 100 asylum seekers are still missing after their boat went missing.
Morsi criticises Syria at Tehran meeting
Morsi criticises Syria at Tehran meeting: Syrians walk out after Egypt's president calls for "solidarity with struggle" against "oppressive regime" at NAM summit.
Pakistan court delays blasphemy case hearing
Pakistan court delays blasphemy case hearing: Lawyer challenges validity of medical report putting age of Christian girl accused of burning part of Quran at 14.
France and UK say all options open on Syria
France and UK say all options open on Syria: Both nations say options include military-enforced no-fly zone to aid civilians, as UN Security Council holds meeting.
Angola opposition members arrested
Angola opposition members arrested: Several CASA-CE party members detained after trying to enter electoral commission building on eve of general election.
FOOD: Recognizing the African woman farmer
FOOD: Recognizing the African woman farmer:
 | JOHANNESBURG, 29 August 2012 (IRIN) - Boys learning new ideas of masculinity around campfires in rural Africa and “sisterhoods” formed to provide a common voice to women are starting to change attitudes about African women farmers, say the authors of a forthcoming book about gender and agriculture. But it will take many more such efforts to support women food producers, who make up 43 percent of the agricultural labour force in developing countries. In some countries, that number rises to 70 to 80 percent. |
Analysis: Palestinian refugees from Syria feel abandoned
Analysis: Palestinian refugees from Syria feel abandoned:
 | RAMTHA/BEIRUT/DUBAI, 29 August 2012 (IRIN) - In Jordan and Lebanon, the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) has registered nearly 5,000 Palestinian refugees from the 17-month conflict in Syria. As both countries are already home to large Palestinian refugee populations, the newly arrived have become a political issue - with Palestinians feeling they are treated unfairly. |
SRI LANKA: Government welcomes refugee repatriation from India
SRI LANKA: Government welcomes refugee repatriation from India:
 | COLOMBO, 30 August 2012 (IRIN) - The Sri Lankan government is to step up efforts to repatriate more Sri Lankan refugees from India next year. |
MALAWI: Need for food aid outpaces response
MALAWI: Need for food aid outpaces response:
 | BLANTYRE, 30 August 2012 (IRIN) - Prolonged dry spells followed by poor harvests in Malawi's maize-growing central and southern regions have created widespread food shortages, yet it has taken months to fully determine the extent of the crisis, and it may take several more to fund and implement a comprehensive response. |
INDONESIA: Mixed progress on reducing child malnutrition
INDONESIA: Mixed progress on reducing child malnutrition:
 | JAKARTA, 30 August 2012 (IRIN) - While Indonesia in relative terms is cutting the number of malnourished children under the age of five, wasting and stunting - especially in certain pockets of the country - remain a major concern, say health experts. |
HEALTH: Rates of extensively drug resistant TB grow
HEALTH: Rates of extensively drug resistant TB grow:
 | JOHANNESBURG, 30 August 2012 (IRIN) - A new international study published in The Lancet finds that extensively drug resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) is more widespread than previously thought, and growing, leading researchers to reiterate calls for better infection control and new drugs. |
OPT: Gaza’s water could be undrinkable by 2016
OPT: Gaza’s water could be undrinkable by 2016:
 | JERUSALEM, 30 August 2012 (IRIN) - Polluted water in the Gaza Strip is seriously affecting people's health and the situation looks set to get worse, the UN warns in a new report. |
BURKINA FASO: Gold rush hits education
BURKINA FASO: Gold rush hits education:
 | OUAGADOUGOU, 30 August 2012 (IRIN) - A boom in Burkina Faso's gold mining over the past three years has made the country one of Africa's leading producers, but it is also luring children - some as young as six - out of school. |
AID POLICY: Money in a hurry
AID POLICY: Money in a hurry:
 | LONDON, 30 August 2012 (IRIN) - A new quick-disbursing humanitarian funding facility is being used for the first time to help tackle a serious cholera outbreak in Sierra Leone, where more than 220 people have died and the authorities have declared a national emergency. |
ICG Report - Indonesia: Defying the State
Indonesia: Defying the State: Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono needs to act more firmly against institutions and officials that defy national court rulings or his inaction risks prolonging local conflicts.
U.S. confirms killing of Haqqani leader in Pakistan
U.S. confirms killing of Haqqani leader in Pakistan:
Obama administration officials confirmed Wednesday that the military operations commander of the Taliban-allied Haqqani militant network was killed by a U.S. drone-fired missile last week in Pakistan.
Badruddin Haqqani was the third-ranking official of the militant group, which the administration considers the most potent threat to U.S. efforts in Afghanistan, and the most senior member killed to date. His father, Jalaluddin Haqqani, founded the network and remains its titular head, and his brother, Sirajuddin, is its current leader.
Read full article >>
Obama administration officials confirmed Wednesday that the military operations commander of the Taliban-allied Haqqani militant network was killed by a U.S. drone-fired missile last week in Pakistan.
Badruddin Haqqani was the third-ranking official of the militant group, which the administration considers the most potent threat to U.S. efforts in Afghanistan, and the most senior member killed to date. His father, Jalaluddin Haqqani, founded the network and remains its titular head, and his brother, Sirajuddin, is its current leader.
Read full article >>
Aug 29, 2012
Officials Slam Rights Report
Officials Slam Rights Report:
Cambodian government officials have rejected a report by a United Nations expert pushing for electoral reforms and accusing the government of rights violations over economic land concessions.
They said that the report by Surya Subedi, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, does not paint an accurate picture of the current status of human rights in the country.
Subedi warned in the report that Cambodia may plunge into violence if it does not reform the current electoral system to allow for fair and free elections.
He also said that the human costs of economic land concessions in the country has been high, adding that the absence of proper consultation and negotiation with the people affected when granting such concessions has been a major concern.
Om Yin Tieng, head of the government’s Human Rights Committee said Subedi was taking a biased approach to the situation in Cambodia, accusing him of siding with the country’s political opposition and civil society.
“Subedi should work as an advisor to the opposition instead of as the U.N. Rapporteur,” he said.
“The situation of human rights in Cambodia is not as bad as what he wrote in his report.”
Phay Siphan, spokesperson for the Council of Ministers, also dismissed Subedi’s findings, calling the information “outdated” and saying it did not reflect the “positive developments of human rights in Cambodia.”
“The government has been promoting democracy, human rights, and land reforms with great success,” he said.
Report praised
But Subedi’s report received praise from Cambodia’s political opposition and nongovernmental organization (NGO) communities, which said that the government should stop denying the problems it has caused and work together to solve them.
Rong Chhun, head of the Cambodian Independent Teacher’s Association, hailed Subedi’s report as highlighting “much-needed truth.”
“The rights to assembly and expression, and the rights to housing and agricultural land, have been threatened by the government’s economic land concessions,” he said.
Yim Sovan, Member of Parliament for the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, also expressed support for Subedi’s report.
“The government has forced villagers from their homes and land for development without proper compensation,” he said.
“The government has to be responsible for the violation of human rights in this country and should not try to make any pretext or excuse to cover up the situation.”
Tools of repression
Opposition Human Rights Party MP Ou Channrith said that the government has used the very institutions meant to protect the rights of the people as tools to stifle them.
“The government has used the armed forces and judicial system to threaten and suppress the opposition party, civil society, workers, and citizens,” he said.
Subedi’s report is to be presented to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva at its upcoming September meeting.
In the report, the Special Rapporteur detailed "major flaws" in the administration of elections in Cambodia and called for "urgent and longer-term reforms" to give Cambodians confidence in the electoral process and in the National Election Committee, which organizes and manages polls.
Reported by Touch Yuthea for RFA’s Khmer service. Translated by Yanny Hin. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Cambodian government officials have rejected a report by a United Nations expert pushing for electoral reforms and accusing the government of rights violations over economic land concessions.
They said that the report by Surya Subedi, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, does not paint an accurate picture of the current status of human rights in the country.
Subedi warned in the report that Cambodia may plunge into violence if it does not reform the current electoral system to allow for fair and free elections.
He also said that the human costs of economic land concessions in the country has been high, adding that the absence of proper consultation and negotiation with the people affected when granting such concessions has been a major concern.
Om Yin Tieng, head of the government’s Human Rights Committee said Subedi was taking a biased approach to the situation in Cambodia, accusing him of siding with the country’s political opposition and civil society.
“Subedi should work as an advisor to the opposition instead of as the U.N. Rapporteur,” he said.
“The situation of human rights in Cambodia is not as bad as what he wrote in his report.”
Phay Siphan, spokesperson for the Council of Ministers, also dismissed Subedi’s findings, calling the information “outdated” and saying it did not reflect the “positive developments of human rights in Cambodia.”
“The government has been promoting democracy, human rights, and land reforms with great success,” he said.
Report praised
But Subedi’s report received praise from Cambodia’s political opposition and nongovernmental organization (NGO) communities, which said that the government should stop denying the problems it has caused and work together to solve them.
Rong Chhun, head of the Cambodian Independent Teacher’s Association, hailed Subedi’s report as highlighting “much-needed truth.”
“The rights to assembly and expression, and the rights to housing and agricultural land, have been threatened by the government’s economic land concessions,” he said.
Yim Sovan, Member of Parliament for the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, also expressed support for Subedi’s report.
“The government has forced villagers from their homes and land for development without proper compensation,” he said.
“The government has to be responsible for the violation of human rights in this country and should not try to make any pretext or excuse to cover up the situation.”
Tools of repression
Opposition Human Rights Party MP Ou Channrith said that the government has used the very institutions meant to protect the rights of the people as tools to stifle them.
“The government has used the armed forces and judicial system to threaten and suppress the opposition party, civil society, workers, and citizens,” he said.
Subedi’s report is to be presented to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva at its upcoming September meeting.
In the report, the Special Rapporteur detailed "major flaws" in the administration of elections in Cambodia and called for "urgent and longer-term reforms" to give Cambodians confidence in the electoral process and in the National Election Committee, which organizes and manages polls.
Reported by Touch Yuthea for RFA’s Khmer service. Translated by Yanny Hin. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Bin Laden book 'differs on death'
Bin Laden book 'differs on death': A first-hand account of the May 2011 raid that killed Osama Bin Laden by an ex-US Navy Seal contradicts the official story, AP reports.
VIDEO: West Papua 'losing independence'
VIDEO: West Papua 'losing independence': Resistance leaders in West Papua say they are losing their 50 year struggle for independence because Indonesian authorities have stepped up their policy of persecution.
Islamic tools to the rescue
Islamic tools to the rescue: The misuse of oil cash by Persian Gulf rulers has created dire domestic problems while spreading corruption and self-enrichment beyond the region. The domestic time-bomb can still be defused, although a policy turn-around is required as endorsed by Islamic teaching. This is the 15th article in a special series on oil and the Persian Gulf.
SPEAKING FREELY : Taliban ties with al-Qaeda run deep
SPEAKING FREELY : Taliban ties with al-Qaeda run deep: An internal struggle between lower tiers of the Afghan Taliban favoring negotiations with the United States and top leaders refusing to sever links with the al-Qaeda-linked Haqqani network will intensify as Washington steps up its overtures. - Aasim Zafar Khan (Aug 29, '12)
Tehran summit echoes to war chants
Tehran summit echoes to war chants: US-Israeli efforts to discredit Iran as it hosts the Non-Aligned Movement summit created a brief window for consensus between Washington and Jerusalem as bitter rhetoric intensified over Tehran's nuclear program and the options for war. Prominent hawks now say a US-led assault before November's presidential vote need not hurt Barack Obama's re-election hopes. - Victor Kotsev (Aug 29, '12)
Muslim diversity of belief, practice evident in Pew study - BP News
Muslim diversity of belief, practice evident in Pew study - BP News:
 Kenilworth Weekly News | Muslim diversity of belief, practice evident in Pew study BP News "About 20 percent of any Muslim population is actually committed to Islam having the leading role in their society," said Edens, who teaches at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary after serving 26 years in the Middle East with the International ... Zar Alam Khan: Muslims ponder tolerance in R.I.The Providence Journal (blog) Muslim Brotherhood's prima donnaToronto Sun all 18 news articles » |
Blasphemy and the Law - New York Times
Blasphemy and the Law - New York Times:
 Brisbane Times | Blasphemy and the Law New York Times In different ways, both these cases raise the question of whether blasphemy should be punishable by law, as it may be in more than 30 historically Christian and Muslim countries, from Poland, Greece and Australia to Indonesia and Pakistan. As a ... Pakistani Muslim leaders support Christian girl accused of blasphemyNew York Daily News Pakistan postpones hearing for teenage Christian girl jailed for alleged blasphemyCBS News Pakistani Christians live in fear after girl's blasphemy arrestNBCNews.com (blog) Catholic Herald Online (blog) -The Nation all 551 news articles » |
The Middle East Channel: Syria's Kurdish challenge to Turkey - Foreign Policy (blog)
The Middle East Channel: Syria's Kurdish challenge to Turkey - Foreign Policy (blog):
 Foreign Policy (blog) | The Middle East Channel: Syria's Kurdish challenge to Turkey Foreign Policy (blog) As international attention remains focused on the fighting in Syria, Turkey's military has been fighting lethal battles on its southern border with the Kurdistan's Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged a bloody war against Turkey for almost three decades. and more » |
Turkey's New Role or Awakening the Sleeping Levantine Giant - Huffington Post (blog)
Turkey's New Role or Awakening the Sleeping Levantine Giant - Huffington Post (blog):
Turkey's New Role or Awakening the Sleeping Levantine Giant Huffington Post (blog) First, given its proximity to the fighting in Syria, and the fact that Turkey harbors a number of minority groups, including an important Alawite minority, the risk of a spill-over effect is not to be underestimated. Add to that the fact that Turkey ... Turkey's eastern trading bet pays offFinancial Times all 2 news articles » |
Suicide bombing kills Russian Sufi scholar
Suicide bombing kills Russian Sufi scholar: Female assailant targets Said Afandi and five of his followers after gaining access to his house in Dagestan.
Egypt puts former PM Shafiq on watch list
Egypt puts former PM Shafiq on watch list: Losing presidential candidate will be detained over an alleged corruption case if he returns from abroad, a judge says.
Karzai Is Overhauling Top Cabinet Posts, Western Officials Say
Karzai Is Overhauling Top Cabinet Posts, Western Officials Say: President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan has deepened a cabinet shake-up in the most important security and intelligence ministries, Western officials said Wednesday.
State of the Art: Amazon’s Streaming-Movie Service Offers Its Own Potluck - State of the Art
State of the Art: Amazon’s Streaming-Movie Service Offers Its Own Potluck - State of the Art: Amazon challenges Netflix in the streaming-movie arena with a free service. Well, it’s free with the purchase of an Amazon Prime membership.
Syria Needs ‘Time’ in Battle Against Rebels, Assad Says
Syria Needs ‘Time’ in Battle Against Rebels, Assad Says: President Bashar al-Assad gave a sober assessment of the resilience of the armed insurgency.
50 cents off chips, in the name of healthful eating
50 cents off chips, in the name of healthful eating:
Cook from scratch. Eat foods in season. Buy locally. That is the conventional wisdom on what Americans must do to become healthier.
Ben Gardner does not agree.
The founder of Linkwell Health knows that Americans, especially those with chronic diseases, should eat better. Consumers with diabetes buy twice as many candy bars and more than twice as much Mountain Dew as their healthy peers, according to the research firm Nielsen, while patients with heart disease buy 10 times as many frozen dinners. But instead of trying to persuade these customers to purchase fresh produce and prepare a home-cooked meal, Linkwell offers them coupons for more healthful frozen dinners or diet soda.
Read full article >>
Cook from scratch. Eat foods in season. Buy locally. That is the conventional wisdom on what Americans must do to become healthier.
Ben Gardner does not agree.
The founder of Linkwell Health knows that Americans, especially those with chronic diseases, should eat better. Consumers with diabetes buy twice as many candy bars and more than twice as much Mountain Dew as their healthy peers, according to the research firm Nielsen, while patients with heart disease buy 10 times as many frozen dinners. But instead of trying to persuade these customers to purchase fresh produce and prepare a home-cooked meal, Linkwell offers them coupons for more healthful frozen dinners or diet soda.
Read full article >>
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