In an immediate response to the attack on the US Embassy in Yemen, local authorities (with much American aid) have arrested at least 30 people in or around the capital. The terrorist attack, which left 16 dead including the assailants, highlights an increasing trend of small-arms, non-sophisticated explosives, and loosely affiliated individuals targeting immediate "soft-targets'. […]
The media in the two top Western financial centers, London and New York, differed in emphasis in their reporting of Sunday's dramatic turmoil on Wall Street – including the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers – with the British media tending to highlight the human side, while their American counterparts stressed the enormity of the blow to […]
The 9th Session on Human Rights is fond of statements, of pointing out the obvious, the atrocious. It is its duty to bring world attention to the baser instincts of human nature. But translated into action these causes often lack the will and sincerity of governments. Yesterday morning, Hillel Nueur of the United Nations Watch […]
The White House website informs Americans about yesterday's official Iftaar dinner. President Bush attended the dinner and gave a small speech to commemorate the holy month of Ramadan. Muslim congressmen Keith Ellison and Andre Carson were noted to be in attendance, and the President specifically mentioned the role of Muslims in the United States in […]
Over the last week news of investigations into China's latest manufacturing scandal has made headlines and once again shaken parents. Shocked consumers are no longer outraged by toxic toys, but toxic infant formula! The scandal first broke last week as China detained 19 as Toxic Formula Sickens Hundreds of Infants on Monday in connection with […]
Agence-France Press reports indicted Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic repeated his allegations that he was offered immunity by Richard Holbrooke to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) today, asserting that Holbrooke acted on behalf of the entire United Nations Security Council and, therefore, that his immunity offer should be considered binding. Despite […]
The United States is the largest arms merchant in the world, selling to great powers and small countries alike. According to this report in The New York Times, business is good: From tanks, helicopters and fighter jets to missiles, remotely piloted aircraft and even warships, the Department of Defense has agreed so far this fiscal […]
An international poll released last week shows that there is no consensus outside the United States about who was behind the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. From the press release: “A new WorldPublicOpinion.org poll of 17 nations finds that majorities in only nine of them believe that al Qaeda was behind the 9/11 terrorist […]
The 9th Session of Human Rights Council discussed the issue of Darfur. Yesterday morning Sima Samar,the UN special rapporteur for Sudan, presented her report. Her findings reveal Sudan's human rights have eroded since the surprise attack against Khartoum on May 10th. Government crackdowns against supposed dissidents are widespread. Violence against children and women continues unabated […]
Palestinian media sources report that Hamas-allied security forces killed seven members of the Army of Islam (AI) group in a shootout in the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City yesterday. The shooting involved members of the Daghmoush clan, killing the brother of AI's leader Ibrahim Daghmoush. The total body count was reported to be 11, according […]
There are two important reports just out on energy efficiency. One is from the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) and the other is from American Physical Society. There is also a major building energy conservation program getting underway in the UK. (I have written about the critical subject of energy efficiency here, here and here since […]
Child marriage is not one of a mere social and gender discrimination issue, but also a global health problem. Child marriages lead to early pregnancies, which leave girls at high risk for death in childbirth, complications, and low birth weights. What is the global cost of child marriages? According to a new World Vision report, […]
The Obama Administration has scuttled plans for radar and ballistic missile interceptor sites in the Czezch Republic and Poland, respectively. This is a most welcome change in policy and will go ways to repairing America’s relationship with Russia. But what does it mean for the Czech Republic and Poland? It is only twenty years ago […]
Catching Osama bin Laden has become an issue on the campaign trail, with both Barack Obama and John McCain using the fate of the elusive terrorist mastermind to attack each other (CBS News – McCain And Bin Laden). Osama bin Laden is widely believed to be hiding somewhere in the mountainous tribal areas of […]
Rasim Delic, a former commander of the Bosnian Muslim army, received a three-year prison sentence at The Haque for failing to intervene in torture committed against captured Serb soldiers in the 1990s. Prosecutors had sought a 15-year prison term for the former commander, The New York Times reported, though trial judges failed to find sufficient […]