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Showing posts from May 19, 2013

Myanmar introduces child limit for Rohingya Muslims - See more at: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/myanmar-introduces-child-limit-for-rohingya-muslims/1120532/#sthash.SfI8p9q9.dpuf

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Authorities in Myanmar's western Rakhine state have introduced a two-child limit for Muslim Rohingya families in an effort to ease tensions with the Rohingya's Buddhist neighbors after a spate of deadly sectarian violence, an official said Saturday. Local officials said the new measure, part of a policy that will also ban polygamy will be applied to two Rakhine townships that border Bangladesh and have the highest Muslim populations in the state. The townships, Buthidaung and Maundaw, are about 95 percent Muslim. The measure was enacted a week ago after a government-appointed commission investigating the violence issued proposals to ease tensions, which included family planning programs to stem population growth among minority Muslims, said Rakhine state spokesman Win Myaing. The commission also recommended doubling the number of security forces in the volatile region. "The population growth of Rohingya Muslims is 10 times higher than that of the Rakhine (Buddhists

Violent clashes erupt in Guinea-Conakry protests

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Violent clashes have broken out between security forces and opposition activists in the capital city of Guinea-Conakry, leaving over a dozen people injured. The clashes erupted as anti-government protesters shut down large parts of the capital Conakry and put up barricades across roads to block major highways into the city center. Medics say four of the severely injured are now in critical condition. The government spokesman, Damantang Albert Camara, said in a statement that the "protest had turned into a day of vandalism and assaults on representatives of law enforcement," adding, "Bystanders and hooligans ... attacked peaceful civilian populations and private businesses." The protests were called on Friday by opposition activists, a day after six people were killed in anti-government rallies. The clashes are the latest in a series of disputes between the opposition leader Cellou Dallein Diallo and the ruling party over the details of parliame

Tibet Advocate Groups Boycotting InterContinental Hotel Group Over Lhasa Resort

A group of activists have launched a campaign that will boycott all hotels under the InterContinental Hotels Group (NYSE: IHG) brand over the company’s plans to open up a resort in Lhasa. The campaign is being led by Free Tibet , a non-profit organization that campaigns for the “end to Chinese occupation of Tibet,” among other things, and is backed by the Students for a Free Tibet group. The campaign is urging the hotel group withdraw its plans for a vast 2000-room resort in the Tibetan capital, calling the hotel a “PR coup for the Chinese government.” The group believes such a development will detract from the concerns and human rights issues of the Tibetan people have and will further marginalize the Tibetans. “InterContinental’s marketing portrays Lhasa as a paradise and trades on images of an ancient Tibetan culture which in reality is being systematically destroyed by China,” Eleanor Byrne-Rosengren, director of Free Tibet said in the report. According to a r

Rwanda is key to peace in eastern Congo: Ban

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United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says Rwanda is the key to ensuring peace and stability in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Ban made the remarks in the Rwandan capital Kigali on Friday, a day after he started a visit to the Great Lakes region of Africa to promote a new deal to end the long-running conflict in mineral-rich eastern Congo, which shares a border with Rwanda. In February, 11 African countries signed a UN-mediated peace agreement to end the crisis in the east of the DRC, which led to the establishment of a special brigade of UN peacekeepers with a mandate to attack rebel groups. That deal "is the best chance for peace in many years," Ban told reporters in Kigali. "I am appealing to all leaders to play their part… Rwanda is critical to the framework's success," he added. The UN and Kinshasa have accused neighboring Rwanda and Uganda of helping the rebels in Congo. Rwanda and Uganda have repeatedly denied the

Nepal’s Tibetan Refugees Struggle Under China’s Shadow

KATHMANDU — Tibetan refugees in Nepal say they face increasing restrictions from Nepalese authorities due to pressure from China. VOA correspondent Aru Pande talks to Tibetans who, for decades, have made the Himalayan country their home. Dolma Lama learned to weave Tibetan carpets from her mother - who fled Tibet and settled in Kathmandu after a failed Tibetan uprising against Chinese occupation in 1959. Dolma was born in Nepal and has been weaving since she was 19. “It’s very important [to preserve our culture] because we are in exile and not in our country.  Carpet weaving is part of our culture. We wear Tibetan dress all the time, which is also part of preserving our culture. We eat Tibetan food at home, practice the religion, have a Tibetan flag in our home," said Dolma Lama. As Bollywood music plays in the background, the weavers at the Jawalakhel Handicraft Center sit for hours each day, tying knots to assemble carpets that are sold at a showroom. The c

Pakistan releases militant group leader

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Pakistan has released the leader of the banned Pakistani militant group, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Malik Mohammad Ishaq from prison. Malik Ishaq was released in the Punjabi capital Lahore on Thursday without being prosecuted. He was arrested and held in custody in February. His group was outlawed by the Pakistani government shortly after his arrest. Most terrorist organizations like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sipah-e-Sahaba are believed to be enjoying the support of external powers. Ishaq’s imprisonment was a precautionary measure during Pakistan’s election. He has orchestrated numerous terrorist attacks against Shia Muslims in Pakistan. Most of the attacks have been in the city of Quetta in southwestern Pakistan where more than 180 Shias have been killed since January. Pakistan held elections on May 11. Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-N Party won the National Assembly elections. Source:  http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/05/25/305277/pakistan-releases-militant-group-leade

Sexual assaults threaten trust in US Army: President Obama

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As recent reports show a serious rise in sexual assault cases in the US Army, President Barack Obama says the problem is undermining trust in US military. “Those who commit sexual assault are not only committing a crime, they threaten the trust and discipline that makes our military strong,” Obama said during the US Naval Academy graduation ceremony at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland, on Friday. Addressing the Academy graduates including 841 men and 206 women, Obama said crime has no place in the US military, adding, “That is why we have to be determined to stop these crimes.” Obama went on to note that misconduct by US Army soldiers has the potential to damage other parts of the society. “Even in our military we've seen how the misconduct of some can have effects that ripple far and wide,” Obama said. The remarks came as Washington is facing a crisis due to the rising number of sexual assaults in the country’s military. A newly-rel

12 die in clashes between Filipino troops, Abu Sayyaf militants

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Twelve people have been killed when army troops launched an offensive against al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf militants in the southern Philippines. Military spokesman, Brigadier General Domingo Tutaan, said seven Filipino marines and five Abu Sayyaf gunmen were killed on Saturday during a one-hour gun battle that erupted on the outskirts of the coastal town of Patikul in Sulu Province. He added that nine other Filipino troops and 10 Abu Sayyaf militants were also wounded in the fierce fighting. Meanwhile, government troops are combing the area to hunt down the gunmen at large, who were reportedly led by militant commander, Julaswan Sawadjaan. Sulu's military commander, Colonel Jose Cenabre, said one of Sawadjaan’s sons was believed to have been killed in the firefight. Sawadjaan's men are held accountable for a series of kidnappings for ransom, including a Jordanian journalist and two European tourists who are still being held captive, in the southern Philippines

Pakistan Reiterates Opposition to US Drone Strikes

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   Pakistan has reiterated its opposition to U.S. drone strikes on its territory, after U.S. President Barack Obama justified "constrained" drone usage to save lives. Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said Friday that drone strikes are counter-productive, kill innocent civilians, have human rights implications, and violate national sovereignty and international law. Pakistan said, however, it welcomes Obama's acknowledgement that "force alone cannot make us safe." In a major speech Thursday on U.S. counter-terrorism policy, Obama said the U.S. military prefers to detain, interrogate and process terrorists, instead of using drones.  He justified drone strikes, a secretive and rarely talked about military tactic, as "narrowly targeting" al-Qaida and its affiliates. President Obama said U.S. military action in foreign lands impacts public opinion overseas and risks creating more enemies.  But he said the U.S. cannot let terrorists create

US abetting Wahhabi-Zionist allies to foster Shia-Sunni strife

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A new wave of deadly terrorist bombings in Iraq, mainly targeting Shias, has resulted in a civilian death toll of over 700 with over 1600 injured in the month of April, 2013. This follows 229 deaths in March, 418 in February and 319 in January of 2013 for a total of over 1,600 killed in armed violence in Iraq up to May. So far in May, the death toll exceeds 250. On Monday, May 20, deadly bomb attacks in Iraq took the lives of more than 70 Shia Muslims. Serial terrorist acts were executed from Basra in the south, where 2 car bombs and a blast inside a bus terminal took the lives of 14, to Balad, some 80 km north of Baghdad, where a parked car detonated next to a bus carrying Shia pilgrims from Iran, killing 12. Other car bombings took the lives of at least 30 Iraqis in predominantly Shia districts of Baghdad. On the same day, a monster tornado struck outside Oklahoma City in the south central U.S. state of Oklahoma killing over 20. The event received round-the-cl

Mosque blast kills 12 in eastern Afghanistan

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Twelve people have been killed when explosives, which were being transported by suspected Taliban members, accidentally went off inside a mosque in Afghanistan’s eastern province of Ghazni. Local official Qasim Desewal said on Saturday that four civilians and eight militants died in the blast during evening prayers in the Andar district of the province on Friday. He added that the Taliban had apparently stopped at the mosque while traveling, and the explosives they were carrying detonated while they were inside. The explosion was on the same day as a major Taliban assault on an international compound in Kabul left dozens of people dead. A Taliban spokesman claimed that at least 44 people were killed in the attack, and the fatalities mostly included CIA agents. On Saturday morning, a bomber died when his explosives-rigged vest went off prematurely in the capital, Kabul. Police spokesman, Hashmatullah Stanekzai, said no one else was killed or wounded in the explosion.

Dagestan: Russia’s Wild But Beguiling Southern Frontier

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Journalists love superlatives, and Russia’s southernmost republic, Dagestan, obliges. Car bombs keep the tourists away. On a lovely May morning, we had the 2,000-year-old Derbent Fortress, a UNESCO World Heritage site, all to ourselves. VOA Photo: James Brooke Of Russia’s 83 regions, Dagestan last year recorded the highest level of political violence — 53 bombings and 405 dead. Last year, Tamerlan Tsarnaev spent six months in Dagestan. Last month, world attention swiveled to Dagestan when Tsarnaev emerged as the lead suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings. This week, Dagestan’s reputation for violence was underlined when two car bombs exploded Monday in Makhachkala, the republic’s capital, killing four and injuring 44. I just spent four days driving around Dagestan, talking to people. There is more to this majority Muslim republic on the Caspian Sea than car bombs. First of all, it is Russia’s southernmost republic, blessed with 245 hours of sunshine in May,

Roma union targets inclusion issues

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Representatives in the parliaments of Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia and Slovakia created the Roma Inter-Parliamentary Union in order to resolve the lack of institutional state support for Roma communities in the region. The union aims to initiate Roma inclusion in all life areas, support governments in resolving Roma issues and foster better co-operation with international organisations. The Serbia parliament, which hosted the first meeting of the union earlier this month, adopted several laws to improve the Roma position, including legislation on Roma integration and on judicial proceedings that contribute to the visibility of a minority without identification documents. "By adopting such laws and by initiating such activities … we recognised Roma people as a potential stability factor, which provides new qualities in the approach to Roma integration in social and political life," Nebojsa Stefanovic, the president of the parliament, told SETimes

A decade of Human rights: no turning back

Ten years after Néstor Kirchner took office, the government’s Human Rights policy seems to be irreversible. Trials against military, police forces and civilians who committed crimes during last dictatorship have been taking place throughout Argentina. Former clandestine detention centres have become sites of remembrance. However, is it possible to say that there still are outstanding debts? On a cold March 25, 2003, Kirchner took office. He reached the presidency with only a 22 percent of voters’ support. He was mostly an unknown politician but that day he promised to establish a new Argentina. “We absolutely reject the identification between governance and impunity,” he stated. “I have not and I will not ask for blank checks. However, I came here to offer you a dream: the construction of truth and justice,” he completed. Those words had been insistently uttered by human rights organizations and activists but not by state officials. That promise seemed to be a ray of h

Human rights museum in the wrong, say Ukrainians

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The Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg is scheduled to open in 2014. - Photo courtesy of the CMHR Members of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress are demanding that the new Canadian Museum for Human Rights more fully recognize abuses suffered by Ukrainians in Canada and in the former Soviet Union. When the museum opens next year in Winnipeg, it will downplay the wartime internment of Ukrainians in Canada and virtually ignore communist crimes committed during the Joseph Stalin era, said UCC executive director Taras Zalusky. “When we saw how, first of all, the internment of Ukrainians (in Canada) during the First World War was not going to have an exhibit, it was only going to be represented by a photo, we were kind of upset,” said Zalusky, who toured the museum in February. Zalusky also expressed dismay about the museum’s treatment of the Holodomor, a famine created by Stalin

IFRC warns of civil unrest in Europe

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Portuguese demonstrate in a massive Labor Day rally against the government’s tough austerity measures in Lisbon, May 1, 2013. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has warned that rising unemployment and poverty in some parts of Europe could cause civil unrest. “If the number does not start being affected and start coming down, the more uneasy people become,” IFRC Secretary General Bekle Geleta said on Friday. “I don't rule out social exclusion, tensions, uneasiness and unrest, because if people don't have anything to do, and if people don't see anything in the future, there is mental agitation, there is political agitation.” Geleta called on the European governments to address the humanitarian consequences of their austerity measures, saying the situation may get even worse as the figures show no sign of improvement. “The figures are not going down, said Geleta. “So we are worried, and we would like to warn govern

UNHCR: Keep Borders Open to Fleeing Syrians

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GENEVA — The United Nations refugee agency is appealing to nations to keep borders open to refugees fleeing worsening violence in Syria. With Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Iraq already hosting more than 1.5 million Syrian refugees, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) warns the number is expected to grow as the conflict intensifies. Responding to reports that Syrians attempting to flee may be backed up at the international border crossings, agency officials say they are disturbed by accounts showing that many refugees are being prevented from leaving the war-torn nation. The constant flow of refugees from Syria into Jordan's Zaatari camp has slowed to a near halt in recent days, and UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming says she does not know whether restrictions are being imposed on those wishing to leave Syria. Explaining that Jordan is keeping borders open to refugees, she speculates that other factors are hindering people from crossing over

Greece's Jews take on neo-Nazi party

With Greece's neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party accused by critics of being behind the increasing assaults on immigrants as it rises in popularity, Jewish community leaders are worried about what they said are the extremists' anti-Semitic positions. The calls come as Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is struggling to find a way to deal with the Golden Dawn phenomenon. The party, which got 0.29 percent of the vote in 2009, gained 18 seats in parliament last year with almost 7 percent of the vote, and has nearly doubled that in some recent polls. Its rise has vexed critics in a country famed for its unrelenting resistance to the Nazis in World War II and where most of the Jewish population was exterminated. Samaras, whose coalition government has been split over an anti-racism bill, vowed a crackdown on the group in a speech in March marking the 70th anniversary of the first deportations of Thessaloniki's Jews to the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. The Greek govern

Stockholm has calmest night ever since riots spread

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A nearly week-long spate of rioting spread outside Stockholm on Friday but authorities said police reinforcements sent to the Swedish capital had reduced the violence there, even though dozens of youths set cars and a recycling station ablaze. The rioting set off earlier this month by the police shooting of a 69 year old man continued for a sixth night in mainly poor immigrant areas in Stockholm. In a country with a reputation for openness, tolerance and a model welfare state, the rioting has exposed a fault-line between a well-off majority and a minority often young people with immigrant backgrounds who are poorly educated, cannot find work and feel pushed to the edge of society. Two cars were torched in Stockholm but the city appeared to have had its calmest night since the trouble began. "It is a bit calmer. Of course, there are still fires," said Towe Hagg, a police spokeswoman in Stockholm. But in Orebro, a town in central Sweden, some 25 masked youths set fi

Blasts hit Narathiwat and Yala

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Five soldiers were injured when a roadside bomb sent their truck flying through the air on Saturday in Narathiwat. They were among 13 people hurt on another violent day in the troubled South. In another incident, several police officers in Narathiwat narrowly escaped injury when a bomb was detonated after they were lured to the scene to investigate gunshots in the area. More bombings also took place in Yala, as security officials and civilians endured another stressful day in the troubled border provinces. The attacks came a day after five military rangers were killed in a bomb explosion in Sai Buri district of Pattani on Friday. In Yala, a bomb planted in a culvert near a car dealership in tambon Tha Sab of Muang district injured four police officers who were returning from investigating other explosions that had knocked out power. Three civilians were also hurt. The explosion damaged two vehicles, one of them carrying Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) p

Suicide bomber dies in blast as bomb goes off prematurely: Afghanistan - See more at: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/suicide-bomber-dies-in-blast-as-bomb-goes-off-prematurely-afghanistan/1120545/#sthash.g66gNLcU.dpuf

A would-be suicide bomber died when his explosives-rigged vest went off prematurely in Afghanistan's capital on Saturday morning, police said. The apparent failed attack came a day after a major Taliban assault on an international compound in Kabul left 10 people dead including the six attackers. Another blast in the country's east killed 12 people at a mosque during evening prayers late Friday. Authorities in Ghazni province say explosives transported by suspected Taliban fighters accidentally detonated while they were stopped at a mosque. In Kabul, a man wearing an explosives-filled vest died when the vest went off as he left home in the capital's southeast, police spokesman Hashmatullah Stanekzai said. No one else was killed or wounded, but the accidental detonation may have averted another attack in the city, which has seen two deadly suicide attacks in just over a week. On Friday afternoon, a suicide car bomber kicked off an assault targeting a guest house for a

Rising extremism in Europe causes concerns in the Balkans

The rise of extremism in Europe and its possible threat to the region concerns Balkan analysts, who said the solution is in close political, security and judicial co-operation. "The Balkans was always one of the most risky terrorist threat areas. It's the only part of Europe [excluding former Soviet Union] that had brutal wars at the close of the 20th century," Dragan Popovic, executive director of the Belgrade Policy Centre, told SETimes . He said the key element in fighting terrorism is regional co-operation. "It is impossible to deal with such a threat without strong and substantial co-operation within the Balkans, including close co-operation on political, security and judicial levels," he said. Popovic also emphasised NATO's role in the regional anti-terrorist fight. "The Balkans should use the most effective anti-terrorist umbrella in the world, NATO. Even in countries like Serbia, though far from NATO membership, regional co-

Malaysia urges all parties in conflict to discard extremism

KUALA LUMPUR : Malaysia has urged all parties in conflicts to discard extremism and move instead towards promoting a culture of peace to resolve differences. Malaysia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) in New York, Datuk Hussein Haniff said such a culture would bring together all actors and could be undertaken by community and religious leaders, parents, families, teachers, artists, academicians, civil societies, journalists, students and people from all walks of life.   "Malaysia's call for a global movement of moderates is aimed at promoting an everlasting global peace and harmony. We invite everyone present here today, to join this movement, in their own way to promote moderation, at the international, regional, national and local levels," he said in his statement at the Wesak Day Celebration at the UN in New York, yesterday.    The statement was sent to Bernama through fax today.   About Wesak Day in Malaysia

What Triggers Someone to Embrace Muslim Extremism?

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A man leaves a floral tribute for Drummer Lee Rigby, of the British Army's 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, at a security fence outside army barracks near the scene of his killing in Woolwich in southeast London. Police investigating the murder of the soldier on a busy London street are looking into whether the two suspected killers, British men of Nigerian descent, were part of a wider conspiracy. (Photo: Luke MacGregor/REUTERS) The two main suspects in the gruesome killing of British soldier Lee Rigby are Nigerian and at least one was raised by devout Christians. Michael Adebolajo, 28, converted to Islam and embraced a particular brand of extremism. He is known to have attended meetings of the extremist group Al-Muhajiroun , which is now banned in Britain. What attracted Adebolajo to Islamic extremism? Usama Hasan has a few id

Exclusive: Woolwich suspect Michael Adebolajo was inspired by cleric banned from UK after urging followers to behead enemies of Islam

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Latest: Second suspect named as footage emerges of pair being shot by police The cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed has been secretly filmed stating that decapitation of the enemies of Islam was permitted × One of the suspected killers who attempted to behead and disembowel a young soldier in the horrific Woolwich attack had listened to the preachings of a radical Muslim cleric banned from Britain over extremist activities, including alleged links to al-Qa’ida, The Independent has learnt. The cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed has been secretly filmed stating that decapitation of the enemies of Islam was permitted. Today, in comments met with outrage, he told The Independent that he could understand the feeling of rage that had motivated the attackers and that what they had done could be justified under certain interpretations of Islam. Michael Adebolajo, a British-Muslim convert of Nigerian origin who gave a video interview with a meat cleaver in his bloodied ha