(Hindu God Hanuman) The BBC reports today that a group of Indians are planning to present a statue of the revered Indian monkey God, Hanuman, to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. According to the report: “The group decided to order the idol after they read a magazine report saying that Mr Obama carried a good luck […]
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled unanimously that there is no justification for the “enemy combatants” designation of detainees held at the U.S. naval facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The case involves Hazaifa Parhat, a member of the Chinese dissident group, Uigher. The federal appeals court ruled the Pentagon […]
The Lambeth Conference for bishops of the Anglican Communion (held once a decade) will take place from July 20 to August 2. This year, however, a real divide has emerged, and according to an article in the New York Times, "a quarter of the bishops are expected to boycott the conference and attend a rival […]
"Any woman or girl who falls victim to this sort of violence, especially rape, is really having her possibilities for contributing to society greatly diminished." -Secretary-General's Special Representative in Liberia, Ellen Margrethe Löj (UN News Service). One of the biggest obstacles in the support and rehabilitation of survivors of sexual violence is finding them adequate […]
Here are two videos I saw the other day at the estimable DeSmogBlog. Have fun with these. [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/PLZ-hvVVGmY” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /] [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/snPdEl0Duoo” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /]
Senator John McCain has stated that if he were elected President, he would re-establish the US Information Agency as an independent office. The merging of the US Information Agency into the State Department is a sore subject for many public diplomacy watchers. The efficacy of the merge, which took place under the Clinton administration, to is hotly […]
Several posts on this blog have discussed the place of dialogue and cultural understanding in world politics, specifically in the context of religion. Recently, a newsletter of the Organization for Defending Victims of Violence (ODVV is an Iranian human rights organization) raised the question of Islamic Feminism. In this regard, Hiba Arshad, the author of a […]
I wrote a post last week on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's then planned state visit to India. Now that his trip has concluded, I thought I would provide some highlights from Syria's state-run SANA News Agency's in-depth coverage. As previously mentioned, al-Assad sought to strengthen bilateral relations with India on both political and economic matters. […]
On Thursday night the House of Representatives passed a vast supplemental spending bill (HR 2642), which would provide $161.8 billion in war funding, an expanded veterans' education benefit, an extension of unemployment insurance and money to deal with flooding in the Midwest. The bill now goes to the Senate for approval, where Democratic leaders have […]
In recent months I have brought you a number of posts regarding gender-based violence, including the use of rape as a weapon on war. While the subjects of of gender-based violence and rape warfare are nothing new, their voice has continually been silenced by impunity and rarely a massive topic of world leaders. However this […]
The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has launched the second part of its multi-phase campaign to detect and treat widespread malnutrition in Togolese children. The agency is now targeting dozens of more isolated villages in the Savanes and Kara regions in the north of the West African country and the Maritime region in the far south […]
No one would venture to say that there is ever a good place to be a refugee, however conditions do vary greatly, and in many country's life as a refugee gives one little hope for the future. According to a recent survey, The Worst Places for Refugees, conducted by the advocacy group US Committee for […]
The Palestinian Ma’an news agency featured a report today on its English language website that provides an overview of how both Palestinian and Israeli newspapers have been responding to the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, which took effect in Gaza on Thursday morning. People on both sides have voiced some skepticism as to whether […]
In London, on June 17th, thousands gathered in Trafalgar Square, including schoolchildren, to taste what life in Sudan's troubled Darfur region was like. The event followed UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres early kick off to World Refugee Day celebrations. Following a tour of the mock refugee camp, Guterres announced the results of the […]
There really are a ton of stories out there. Here’s a sampling: Cars – I’ve written recently about electric cars and other exciting initiatives. There are more developments on the automotive front. Mitsubishi and Peugeot have entered into an alliance to supply key components for electric vehicles and may build their own as well. See […]