News updates

On May 15, Israel celebrated the 62nd year of its existence. Looking back, it claims that it outshines all the other states in the Middle-Eastern region as a true democracy. It also boasts that it is the only country in the region that upholds the fundamental rights of its citizens. However, it cannot boast about its record of human rights …

The Department of Muslim Religious and Cultural Affairs, which has been shrouded in corruption has allegedly defied instructions by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to revise the five-member official delegation to be sent to Saudi Arabia to make arrangements for the forthcoming Hajj Pilgrimage. The initial five-member delegation, comprising Minister A.H.M. Fowzie (head of delegation), S. Alavi Moulana (Governor of the Western …

UNITED NATIONS, May 18, 2010 (IPS) – The United States, and most of the Western world, have transformed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad into a virtual bogeyman, thereby spreading fear throughout the neighbouring countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC): Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). A nuclear-powered Iran, so the argument goes, is a …

“Educate and inform the whole mass of the people… They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.” -Thomas Jefferson We are approaching another ominous anniversary in American History without anyone acknowledging it- not even a peep from the mainstream media. When Iranian students took hostages in Tehran and kept them for 444 days, for those of …

With tongue firmly entrenched in his cheek, an Arab diplomat recounts an Israeli cabinet meeting interrupted by an aide rushing in with the latest statistics on the state of the economy. The crops were down, growth was low, reserves were minimal and inflation was high, he announced, portraying a rather gloomy economic picture. Momentarily, the prime minister seemed flustered by …

Britain has a Conservative prime minister after 13 years of Labour governments. For the first time since World War II, Britain is governed by a coalition after the May 6 elections produced a hung parliament. The coalition came into being after days of painstaking talks between the Conservative Party, which emerged as the largest party in the House of Commons, …