Author Archive
3 Jun, 2014
151 Days of Alcohol-related Blackouts | Alternet
by May Wilkerson I was a blackout drinker from the first time I ever got drunk at 16, and my blackouts would cut broad swathes of time right out of my memory, ranging from an hour to an entire night. After waking up the next day, I would search my immediate surroundings for physical clues. […]
more…2 Jun, 2014
World Cup 2014 in Brazil ready to welcome Muslim fans
A compilation of progressive, positive, inspiring and motivating events and developments in the world of Islam for the week ending 02 June 2014 (04 Sha’baan 1435). Pls click on any of the headlines to go to the story. ============ ISLAMIC TOURISM CENTRE – GATEWAY TO MALAYSIA, THE MUSLIM-FRIENDLY DESTINATION The Islamic Tourism Centre in Malaysia […]
more…1 Jun, 2014
Americans Say U.S. multinationals do poor job helping grow U.S. economy
PRINCETON, N.J. — (Gallup Polls) May 27, 2014 – Americans see large U.S. companies as having a more positive effect overseas than they do domestically. While 66% of Americans believe that large U.S. companies do a good job creating good jobs for citizens in other countries where they do business, far fewer, 43%, say the […]
more…31 May, 2014
Investigative Journo exposes the U.S-Israeli lies over the Iranian “nuclear threat”
Harpers magazine interview with investigative journalist Gareth Porter The claim of an Iranian nuclear-weapons program has been based on false history and falsified records. The description of the Iranian nuclear program presented in official documents, in commentaries by think-tank “experts,” and in the media bears no resemblance to the essential historical facts. One would never […]
more…27 May, 2014
Siem Reap to host 1st UNWTO-UNESCO global conf on tourism and culture
The world’s first ministerial-level conference on tourism and culture is to be held in Siem Reap, home of the World Heritage temple complex of Angkor Wat, between February 4-6, 2015. It will jointly organised by the UN World Tourism Organisation in cooperation with UNESCO. Announcing the event at the UNWTO’s regional meetings for Asia in […]
more…26 May, 2014
Damac launches Sharia-compliant hotel apartments
A compilation of progressive, positive, inspiring and motivating events and developments in the world of Islam for the week ending 26 May 2014 (27 Rajab 1435). Pls click on any of the headlines to go to the story. ============ THE ISLAMIC IMPERATIVE — SUPPORT MALAYSIA IN ITS TIME OF NEED The tragedy of MH370 has led […]
more…24 May, 2014
Get the data: What the drones strike | Bureau of Investigative Journalism
The Bureau is publishing, for the first time, data showing the types of targets that have been reportedly attacked by CIA drones in Pakistan. The research is a joint project by the Bureau, Forensic Architecture, a research unit based at Goldsmiths University, London, and Situ Research in New York. The data feeds this interactive website […]
more…24 May, 2014
Most US drone strikes in Pakistan attack houses – Bureau of Investigative Journalism
Domestic buildings have been hit by drone strikes more than any other type of target in the CIA’s 10-year campaign in the tribal regions of northern Pakistan, new research reveals. By way of contrast, since 2008, in neighbouring Afghanistan drone strikes on buildings have been banned in all but the most urgent situations, as part […]
more…24 May, 2014
On Using ‘Anti-Semitism’ to Promote a Political Agenda in America
by: David Harris-Gershon Fifteen years ago, on a dirt road in rural Missouri, I was followed by two men in a beat-up Ford pickup for three miles, their middle fingers raised and their faces strained, screaming words I could not hear – words I did not need to hear. This was during my yarmulke-wearing days. […]
more…23 May, 2014
Man faces arrest in Goa for making anti-Modi comment – Hindustan Times
An anti-Narendra Modi comment on Facebook may now lead to the arrest of a 31-year-old shipbuilding professional, even as police in BJP-ruled Goa suspect a “larger game plan to promote communal and social disharmony in the state”. Civil society activists and the Opposition plan to picket outside the police headquarters on Saturday against what they […]
more…23 May, 2014
Philippines, Indonesia sign ‘model’ maritime border accord – The Jakarta Post
Indonesia and the Philippines on Friday signed a maritime border accord, hailing it as a model for peacefully settling increasingly tense territorial disputes in the region. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the agreement, the result of 20 years of negotiations, showed that the escalating rows in the South China Sea could be resolved without […]
more…23 May, 2014
IRIN Asia – Laos “land grabs” drive subsistence farmers into deeper poverty
“Land grabs” in Laos are driving poor farmers, including ethnic minorities, off their land, away from livelihoods they know and into further poverty, activists and experts say. “When these lands [are given] to companies and converted to industrial agriculture or other uses, it destroys the foundation of rural people’s lives, livelihoods and knowledge systems, as […]
more…22 May, 2014
Most students believe they don’t get value for money at university: Survey – The Independent
The days of traditional university lectures may be over as new research shows students are boycotting them because they believe they can get all the information they need on the net. The finding emerges from a survey of 15,000 students which shows a large majority of those attending English universities no longer believe they get […]
more…22 May, 2014
Jobs, Government, and Economy Remain Top U.S. Problems
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 19, 2014 (Gallup media release) — Twenty percent of Americans name unemployment or jobs as the most important problem facing the country in May, up from 14% who mentioned these issues in April. Dysfunctional government (19%) and the economy in general (17%) also rank among the top problems. These three issues — […]
more…22 May, 2014
Gallup Polls: Americans’ Satisfaction With Direction of U.S. Remains at Low 25%
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 16, 2014, (Gallup media release) — Americans are as satisfied with the way things are going in the U.S. as they have been for the past five months. One in four (25%) say they are satisfied with current direction of the country, while 74% express dissatisfaction. Americans’ satisfaction with the country’s direction […]
more…22 May, 2014
AirAsia CEO: “Visit Thailand to see what a coup that is not a coup looks like”
Manila – AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes says he has seen no downward impact of the Thai martial law on flights to Thailand. On the contrary, he told delegates at the World Economic Forum on East Asia, AirAsia is promoting Thailand and encouraging people “to go and see what a coup that is not like […]
more…20 May, 2014
Chinese state councilor urges cooperation in Silk Road projects
(China Daily) 2014-04-11 – Asian countries should build trust and optimize development mechanisms in the spirit of regionalism to advance the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiatives, a senior Chinese official said on Thursday. “China’s proposal for ‘The Belt and The Road’ is an open and cooperative proposal,” State […]
more…19 May, 2014
China to promote business services via favorable tax rates, investments
Beijing (China Daily) 2014-05-15 – China will boost its business service industries to restructure its economy, stimulate domestic demand and increase job opportunities, according to a statement released after a State Council executive meeting on Wednesday. The announcement is part of a broader central government effort to build up the nation’s long underdeveloped service sector […]
more…19 May, 2014
An open letter to Narendra Modi from Gopalkrishna Gandhi, The Hindu
All religious minorities in India, not just the Muslim, bear scars in their psyche even as Hindus and Sikhs displaced from West Punjab, and Kashmiri Pandits do. There is the fear of a sudden riot caused with real or staged provocation, and then returned with multiplied retribution, targeted very specially on women. Dalits and Adivasis, […]
more…19 May, 2014
Britain’s richest 1% own as much as poorest 55% of population – The Guardian
Britain’s richest 1% have accumulated as much wealth as the poorest 55% of the population put together, according to the latest official analysis of who owns the nation’s £9.5tn of property, pensions and financial assets. In figures that also lay bare the extent of inequality across the north-south divide, the Office for National Statistics said […]
more…19 May, 2014
Families paying the price of a new financial order – Sydney Morning Herald
Life just got a little squeezier for people in middle age. Already wedged between the demands of paid work, dependent children and ageing parents, changes forecast by this week’s federal budget have forced them firmly into the ”heavy lifting” corner. With educational expenses set to increase, the kids are likely to stay in the family […]
more…19 May, 2014
The internet generation will be a lot better at forgiveness than older people – The Guardian
Their private tutorials were supposed to be about the finer points of Aristotle’s philosophy, but “more words of love than reading passed between us and more kissing than teaching”. Héloïse d’Argenteuil was nearly 20 years younger than her teacher, the celebrated theologian Peter Abelard. And their 12th-century love affair became the stuff of legend – […]
more…19 May, 2014
Everyone should know just how much the U.S. government lied to defend the NSA – The Guardian
Intelligence director James Clapper’s infamous lie to Congress – in which he claimed just months before Snowden’s leaks that the NSA was not collecting data on millions of Americans – will certainly follow him for the rest of his career even if it never leads to his prosecution. But while Clapper almost certainly broke the […]
more…19 May, 2014
Management study: Female CEOs more likely than men to be fired – The Observer
The perception that high-achieving businesswomen are more vulnerable than their male counterparts to being abruptly fired – pushed off the “glass cliff” in the contemporary corporate vernacular – has been borne out by a new study from a global management consultancy. Researchers at Strategy&, formerly known as Booz & Company, found that women are forced […]
more…19 May, 2014
Qatar Airways to shift to new Doha airport hub on 27 May
A compilation of progressive, positive, inspiring and motivating events and developments in the world of Islam for the week ending 19 May 2014 (20 Rajab 1435). Pls click on any of the headlines to go to the story. ============ THE ISLAMIC IMPERATIVE — SUPPORT MALAYSIA IN ITS TIME OF NEED The tragedy of MH370 has […]
more…18 May, 2014
The Japan Times Editorial Blasts Plan to Open Casino Resorts
Japan’s government is considering legalizing gambling in Japan, one of the world’s last untapped markets for gambling. Two billionaire casino operators are pushing to open casino resorts and turn Japan into the third-largest center for gambling after the United States and Macau. Gambling will bring problems. The examples of the U.S. and the United Kingdom […]
more…18 May, 2014
American Pedophile posed as “teacher” to abuse dozens | The Jakarta Post
He was one of the most beloved teachers in the small world of international schools that serve the children of diplomats, well-off American expatriates and local elites. He was often the first to arrive in the morning, and the last to leave each day. He led students on class trips to exotic places, treating them […]
more…18 May, 2014
First book on MH370 mystery blames US war games – Brisbane Times
Seventy-one days after Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared, the first book about the disaster will go on sale on Monday with a theory about what might have happened. And as the international search continues for the aircraft Irene Burrows, the Queensland mother who lost her son and daughter-in-law on the flight, said it was too […]
more…15 May, 2014
China urges Central, Eastern European states to realise the Silk Road dream
Beijing, (chinadaily.com.cn), 2014-05-14 – Foreign Minister Wang Yi has called on China and central and eastern European countries to combine their own development with the building of a New Silk Road Economic Belt and other proposals of major international cooperation. Wang met visiting national coordinators from the 16 central and eastern European countries during the […]
more…15 May, 2014
China travel boom reshapes spending patterns
Shanghai (China Daily) 2014-05-15 – Chinese consumers’ spending on dining, hotels and entertainment has surged more than 60 percent in the past three years because of increased overseas travel, a report said on Wednesday. UnionPay International, a unit of China UnionPay Co Ltd whose activities include cross-border transactions, surveyed Chinese consumers in more than 140 […]
more…15 May, 2014
Melbourne city centre aims to be smoke-free by 2016 – The Business Times
[MELBOURNE] Melbourne is pushing to become one of the first cities in the world to be completely smoke-free, officials said Thursday, with anyone wanting a cigarette required to use a designated shelter. Melbourne city councillor Richard Foster said there was overwhelming support to extend smoke-free areas following a test in one of the Australian city’s […]
more…15 May, 2014
Avoid the Protests: Bangkok’s Traffic-free River to the Rescue
As Bangkok struggles to stay afloat in the midst of the ongoing political uncertainty, it’s most important icon, the Chao Phraya river, is set to come to the rescue. Eight upmarket hotels have joined forces under an umbrella grouping known as the Bangkok Riverside Marketing Partnership to position their location as the primary Leisure and […]
more…15 May, 2014
Break the silence: world war is beckoning – By John Pilger
Why do we tolerate the threat of another world war in our name? Why do we allow lies that justify this risk? The scale of our indoctrination, wrote Harold Pinter, is a “brilliant, even witty, highly successful act of hypnosis”, as if the truth “never happened even while it was happening”. Every year the American […]
more…15 May, 2014
Ex-UK drugs company executive accused of running bribery network in China – The Independent
A former executive at the British drugs company GlaxoSmithKline has been accused of running a “massive bribery network” in China in which hospital staff were paid to use the firm’s medical products and boost sales. Mark Reilly has been charged with bribery and fraud for allegedly instructing his subordinates to pay off health officials, forcing […]
more…13 May, 2014
Writer Amos Oz calls Israeli vandals ‘Hebrew neo-Nazis’
Israel’s best known writer, Amos Oz, says that Israelis behind a wave of hate crimes against Muslims and Christian are “Hebrew neo-Nazis,” Haaretz newspaper reported on its website Saturday. It quoted the award-winning author as saying terms such as “price tag,” widely used to describe attacks on Palestinians and others by Jewish extremists, are sanitised […]
more…13 May, 2014
Asia’s Growing Imbalance Chasm: Excessive Prosperity, Grinding Poverty
Sydney (China Daily), 2014-05-12 – Asia’s affluent middle class is rising rapidly as wealth in China is set to overtake Japan’s by 2015. No matter how you try to measure it, Asians are becoming wealthier. Fly into any capital city in the region and at once you will be struck by the display of wealth. […]
more…13 May, 2014
The UK APD reform “victory”: The Real Story
When the Pacific Asia Travel Association holds its various board and annual general meetings in Xuhai this week, one of the key issues will be an extension of the three-year contract for PATA CEO Mr. Martin Craigs. In the last few weeks, a slew of announcements has emerged from PATA to indicate that the association […]
more…12 May, 2014
Myanmar’s Peace Paradox – Situation Getting Both Better and Worse
Bangkok – While businessmen have rushed into Myanmar to tap the profit potential, the country’s almost overnight shift from military dictatorship to quasi-democracy has created a slew of problems ranging from land grabs, more communal violence, higher drug production and terrorism related to business conflicts. The role of foreign aid has also come under scrutiny […]
more…12 May, 2014
Kyrgyzstan looks to tourist season with optimism
A compilation of progressive, positive, inspiring and motivating events and developments in the world of Islam for the week ending 12 May 2014 (13 Rajab 1435). Pls click on any of the headlines below to go to the story. ============ THE ISLAMIC IMPERATIVE — SUPPORT MALAYSIA IN ITS TIME OF NEED The tragedy of MH370 has […]
more…11 May, 2014
Israel’s Aggressive Spying in the U.S. Mostly Hushed Up – Newsweek
Always lurking, former intelligence officials say, was the powerful “Israeli lobby,” the network of Israel’s friends in Congress, industry and successive administrations, Republican and Democratic, ready to protest any perceived slight on the part of U.S. security officials. A former counterintelligence specialist told Newsweek he risked Israel’s wrath merely by providing routine security briefings to […]
more…10 May, 2014
Code of conduct vital to protect corporate whistleblowers
He was the first gaijin ”salaryman” who rose through the ranks to become the chief executive of a major Japanese company. But within a matter of months he was out the door – and then he blew the whistle on almost $US2 billion in corporate malfeasance. Now he has thrown his weight behind a push […]
more…10 May, 2014
Radioactive cesium-137 from Fukushima 1.5 times Tepco estimate | The Japan Times
VIENNA – The total amount of radioactive cesium-137 released into the atmosphere and seawater from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant is estimated at between 17,500 and 20,500 terabecquerels, a study by a Japanese research team showed Friday. The team’s finding on the cumulative amount of cesium-137 is nearly 1.5 times more than […]
more…10 May, 2014
Japanese women’s group launches bid to deny sex to pro-war men | The Japan Times
A women’s group has started a campaign vowing to swear off sex with any man who is pro-war, to protest Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s push to reinterpret the pacifist Constitution. The campaign was launched a week ago, on Constitution Day, on a website that encourages women to pledge “not to have sex with men who […]
more…10 May, 2014
Jewish fanatics scrawl “Jesus is garbage” graffiti on Jerusalem church
Vandals sprayed anti-Christian graffiti on a Jerusalem church on Friday, despite Israeli police stepping up security around religious sites ahead of a visit by Pope Francis later this month. “Price tag… King David for the Jews… Jesus is garbage” was spray-painted in Hebrew on the wall of St George’s, a Romanian Orthodox church near an […]
more…10 May, 2014
Why the Israel-Palestine peace talks collapsed, by Richard Falk: Al-Ahram Weekly
It has been painfully obvious ever since the Oslo Accords in 1993 that there is something fundamentally deficient about the double role played by the United States in relation to such negotiations. How can it be trusted when American officials declare over and over again that the country will forever remain the unconditional ally of […]
more…10 May, 2014
Boko Haram’s Deluded Understanding of Faith and Women
By Haris Tarin As a man who was brought up by remarkable women and who today has strong women in my life, I say enough. Enough justification of criminality and medieval behavior against women in the name of my faith. Enough subjugation of women for cultural and political agendas in the name of my faith. […]
more…10 May, 2014
Palestine Chief Negotiator Erekat: “With Status Quo on Its Side, Israel Happily Rejects Peace”
Palestinian reconciliation can be rejected only by those who aim to perpetuate the status quo. This is precisely what the government of Israel has been doing during nine months of negotiations: killing 61 Palestinians, advancing more than 13,000 units in Israeli settlements, conducting almost 4,500 military Operations on Palestinian land, demolishing 196 Palestinian homes and […]
more…10 May, 2014
Silence aids Israeli aggression | The Electronic Intifada
by Tristan Thomas When I was pulled aside for questioning at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv a few weeks ago, I was relatively unconcerned. It had happened on a previous trip, and this time I was more prepared. Before I traveled, I had heard many stories of people being denied entry because of their […]
more…10 May, 2014
US states should act against Israel’s denial of entry to Americans | The Electronic Intifada
On 13 September 2012, an Israeli soldier pointed his gun at an American college student and ordered her to board a bus back to Jordan. The student, Yara Karmalawy, was attempting to travel to the occupied West Bank and present-day Israel as part of a university-sponsored trip with other students from the University of California, […]
more…10 May, 2014
Israelis’ Independence Day Rallying Cry: “Death to Arabs” | Mondoweiss
Hundreds of Palestinian cars displaying flags slowly crawled along the highway toward Lubya while Israeli vehicles headed to Independence Day celebrations waved their respective flags. As traffic came to a standstill, many busloads of Palestinians exited and walked along the shoulder of the highway toward the march. A large group of Israelis in a nearby […]
more…10 May, 2014
Ron Paul: Why the U.S. is No Longer Number One | The Lone Star Watchdog
The American government pursues many of the same flawed policies as the Chinese. For example, because of the increase in regulations, subsidies, and bailouts, many American businesses are putting more resources into manipulating the political process than producing goods and services desired by consumers. Many big businesses even lobby Congress and the federal bureaucracy for […]
more…9 May, 2014
If India’s Narendra Modi wins… by Siddharth Varadarajan – Al Jazeera English
What can India and the world expect if Narendra Modi, the self-styled “Hindu nationalist” who is front-runner in the elections, ends up winning a plurality of seats when results are declared on May 16? If he is forced to form a government with allies, the argument goes, Modi would not have the freedom to pursue […]
more…9 May, 2014
Outgoing UN Rapporteur Richard Falk on Israel: It’s apartheid – Al-Ahram Weekly
The outgoing UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, Richard Falk, submitted in accordance with Human Rights Council (HRC) Resolution 5/1 his last report on the dire conditions under which the Palestinian people have to live. Falk’s final presentation addresses Israeli settlements in the West Bank […]
more…9 May, 2014
Israel Won’t Stop Spying on the U.S. – Newsweek
Israel’s espionage activities in America are unrivaled and unseemly, counterspies have told members of the House Judiciary and Foreign Affairs committees, going far beyond activities by other close allies, such as Germany, France, the U.K. and Japan. A congressional staffer familiar with a briefing last January called the testimony “very sobering…alarming…even terrifying.” Another staffer called […]
more…9 May, 2014
FREE Download: Report Says Marketers Overwhelmed by Technology Vendors
May 5, 2014 – Most marketers (63%) at midsize companies say they have too many marketing technology vendors to manage effectively, according to a recent report from DNN Software. Just over half (53%) of marketers say their organization manages five or more technology vendor relationships, and 15% say their company manages 10 or more. The […]
more…8 May, 2014
The 10 worst city tourism videos – theguardian.com
Bad acting, sexual innuendo and a parrot riding a tricycle – from Astana to Cincinnati to Singapore, come and marvel at the funniest and most baffling promotional tourism videos for cities Read the rest: The 10 worst city tourism videos | Cities | theguardian.com.
more…7 May, 2014
Hindutva redux in Uttar Pradesh – The Hindu
Not surprisingly then, Mr. Modi’s own rhetoric has gradually, almost inevitably, changed from livelihood talk and lofty promises of highways and bullet trains to issues around Pakistan and alleged Muslim appeasement. From insinuating a Pakistani connection in the case of Arvind Kejriwal (AK-49 for his 49 days as Delhi Chief Minister) to alleging a pink […]
more…7 May, 2014
Modi-run govt will be a bullying one: Salman Rushdie | The Indian Express
During his address, Rushdie described Modi as a “highly divisive figure”, a “hardliner’s hardliner” and voiced concern that the attacks on freedom of expression and literary works could worsen. He said for India, democracy should not mean just conducting free and fair elections but also ensuring the right to free speech. “If freedom of expression […]
more…6 May, 2014
Chinese tourists now get 24-hour travel passes to visit North Korea
The first group of 35 Chinese cyclists enter the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea via Tumen port in Jilin on Friday, after Tumen opened a one-day tour taking visitors to the DPRK. During the six-hour tour, the cyclists visited the Nanyo railway station and a statue of Kim Il-sung. [Photo/Xinhua] 2014-05-05, (China Daily) – Tumen […]
more…6 May, 2014
Another shooting at Dayton, Ohio, medical complex — RT USA
A suspected gunman is in custody on Monday after police say he opened fire and injured one man at a Department of Veterans Affairs medical complex in Dayton, Ohio. The gunman, 59-year-old Neil Moore, is a retired employee of the VA hospital. At approximately noon local time, witnesses heard gunfire in the basement of the […]
more…6 May, 2014
Malaysia will need to rebuild image in China after MH370, experts say
Beijing, (China Daily), 2014-05-05 – The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 has led to a decline in the number of Chinese tourists to Malaysia during the May Day holiday, the China National Tourism Administration said. Many travel agencies have changed the once popular “Singapore-Malaysia-Thailand” itinerary to a “Singapore-Vietnam-Thailand” one due to the negative impression […]
more…6 May, 2014
The banksters too big to jail – Sydney Morning Herald
Australian Funds manager Mike Mangan of 2MG keeps a passing eye on some of the less salubrious aspects of banking in his newsletter for clients. His current missive deals with banks that are not just too big to fail, but “too big to jail”. More worryingly, he suggests some of them might also be “too […]
more…6 May, 2014
China sees huge market for senior-services providers, including travel
Beijing, China Daily. 2014-05-05 – China’s aging population has created a huge market for senior-services providers from both home and abroad. Civil Affairs Minister Li Liguo made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the third China International Senior Services Expo, which kicked off in Beijing on May 4. The market value of nursing care […]
more…6 May, 2014
With India’s Election, A Reminder of Horrors of 2002 Gujarat Riots – NYTimes.com
AHMEDABAD, India — Gulbarg Society, a complex of 18 bungalows and two apartment blocks once occupied by upper-middle-class Muslims in the largely Hindu neighborhood of Chamanpura, is now a cluster of doorless burned shells. Inside the complex, Qasim Allah Noor Mansour, 70, sat on a patio, catching his breath after chasing away a homeless boy […]
more…6 May, 2014
Number of children in Japan drops for 33rd year | The Japan Times
The number of children 14 and under has fallen for the 33rd consecutive year to a record low of 16.33 million as of April 1, the government said Sunday, reflecting the continued downward trend in the Japan’s birthrate. The number of children in Japan fell by 160,000 from the previous year, and has declined by […]
more…6 May, 2014
Cathay Pacific female uniform too revealing, says union
Cathay Pacific flight attendants want the Hong Kong airline to redesign their uniforms because they are too revealing and may provoke sexual harassment, a union said on Monday. Female cabin crew members say the white blouses are too short and the red skirts too tight, leaving them uncomfortable at work, the Cathay Pacific Airways Flight […]
more…5 May, 2014
Jakarta to host first Global Forum on Islamic Tourism
Jakarta – Tourism industry officials and executives from 57 countries of the Islamic world and beyond are to meet in Jakarta between 2-3 June 2014 for the first International Forum on Islamic Tourism. It is being organised by the Indonesia Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy in line with the commitment made at eighth Islamic […]
more…5 May, 2014
Astana hosts first Asian Development Bank Annual Meeting
A compilation of progressive, positive, inspiring and motivating events and developments in the world of Islam for the week ending 05 May 2014 (06 Rajab 1435). Pls click on any of the headlines below to go to the story. ============ THE ISLAMIC IMPERATIVE — SUPPORT MALAYSIA IN ITS TIME OF NEED The tragedy of MH370 […]
more…5 May, 2014
Kedarnath shrine reopens for devotees – The Times of India
Sacred portals of the Kedarnath temple were reopened to devotees amid elaborate rituals early this morning, about a year after the Himalayan shrine was marred by flash floods that had left hundreds of people dead and many others stranded. Chief priest of the shrine (Rawal) Bhima Shankar Ling presided over the rituals as its gates […]
more…5 May, 2014
Why 2002 Gujarat riots still matter – By Karishma Vyas, Al Jazeera
The Gujarat riots are a crucial election issue. Not only because of the human rights concerns, but because Modi and the BJP have campaigned hard on a platform of good governance. The obvious question that arises is if Modi could not compel Gujarat’s security forces to clamp down on communal violence for weeks, how effective […]
more…5 May, 2014
Gunman kills 3 in Arkansas shootings – theguardian.com
Police said on Sunday a gunman who shot and killed three people and injured four in north-east Arkansas was an acquaintance or friend, but a motive was unknown. Sergeant Doug Formon of Jonesboro police said the shooter was 40-year-old Porfirio Hernandez, who recently had been released from a mental-health treatment facility. A 38-year-old man and […]
more…4 May, 2014
UAE: Not-so-great Britain? How the London hotel hammer attack hurt ‘Brand UK’
Two consecutive attacks on UAE nationals visiting London in recent weeks have left several scars: horrific physical ones (such as those left on the victims of the atrocious Cumberland Hotel “Hammer Attack”) as well as reputational scars which are worsened by increasing questions on whether or not London is still the popular tourist destination that […]
more…4 May, 2014
A Palestinian’s Open Message to the Jews: Even the holocaust began with “innocuous” graffiti on walls
The shocking absence on the part of Jewish leaders and intellectuals in Israel and abroad to the growing Jewish terrorist campaign against the Palestinian community in the occupied territories and Israel proper is raising many eyebrows among observers and intellectuals. Once again, we observe not only total inaction but a deafening silence among Jews toward […]
more…3 May, 2014
Amount of money stolen via phone fraud soaring | The Japan Times
The number of reported cases in which fraudsters use the phone to trick people into parting with cash continues to increase. According to National Police Agency sources, the amount of cash swindled this way in the first three months of the year soared 41 percent from a year earlier to roughly ¥13 billion. That outstripped […]
more…3 May, 2014
Asia Times Online: How the US created, and lost, Afghan war
To understand how America’s battle in Afghanistan went so wrong for so long, a (hidden) history lesson is in order. In those early years after 2001, driven by the idee fixe that the world was rigidly divided into terrorist and non-terrorist camps, Washington allied with Afghan warlords and strongmen. Their enemies became ours, and through […]
more…3 May, 2014
Palestine: Peace by piece – By S. Nihal Singh, The Asian Age
The truth is that Israel has been using the façade of talks to go on encroaching on more and more Palestinian land on the West Bank and in occupied East Jerusalem confident in the knowledge that its friends in the US Congress and Senate will back it, apart from the influential American Jewish lobby. Mr […]
more…3 May, 2014
China mulls ‘mega’ Free Trade Agreement for Asia-Pacific region
Beijing, Xinhuanet.com, May 02, 2014 – China has proposed studying the feasibility of a mega free-trade agreement in the Asia-Pacific region as the many flourishing FTAs in the area could burden businesses with different standards, a senior official said on Wednesday. “We made a proposal to establish a working group to study the feasibility of […]
more…3 May, 2014
PressTV – UN urges citizenship for Myanmar Muslims
The top UN envoy to Myanmar has emphasized on the urgency for the Muslim minority in the country’s violence-ridden Rakhine state to get on the path to citizenship. The UN secretary general’s special adviser on Myanmar, Vijay Nambiar, warned on Thursday that the security of the Rohingya Muslims, who are considered illegal immigrants by the […]
more…3 May, 2014
Glenn Greenwald debates ex-NSA director on state surveillance — RT USA
The ongoing debate over whether Americans should value privacy or security stretched into Toronto, Canada Friday night when four of the most influential voices on the matter sat down to discuss the leaked NSA surveillance programs and their fallout. Former National Security Agency and Central Intelligence Agency chief Michael Hayden joined with Harvard law professor […]
more…3 May, 2014
Australian retirement age rise to 70 by 2035 – Sydney Morning Herald
Australians born after 1965 will have to work until they are 70 before they are eligible for the age pension, Treasurer Joe Hockey has announced, as he warned there was “no such thing” as a free visit to a doctor or free welfare. Mr Hockey confirmed on Friday that while nobody currently on the pension […]
more…2 May, 2014
Global Media Freedom Loses Ground in 2013
WASHINGTON, D.C. May 2, 2014 (Gallup Polls) — Ahead of World Press Freedom Day on Saturday, Gallup’s global surveys show perceived media freedom declining in many countries. A median of 63% of adults across 132 countries polled last year say the media in their country have a lot of freedom — on the low side […]
more…2 May, 2014
Apple, Facebook, others defy authorities, notify users of secret data demands – Washington Post
Major U.S. technology companies have largely ended the practice of quietly complying with investigators’ demands for e-mail records and other online data, saying that users have a right to know in advance when their information is targeted for government seizure. This increasingly defiant industry stand is giving some of the tens of thousands of Americans […]
more…2 May, 2014
Using Mobile Technology for Work Linked to Higher Stress – Gallup Polls
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 2, 2014 (Gallup Polls) — U.S. workers who email for work and who spend more hours working remotely outside of normal working hours are more likely to experience a substantial amount of stress on any given day than workers who do not exhibit these behaviors. Nearly half of workers who “frequently” email […]
more…2 May, 2014
Xinhua Insight: Online travel agencies capitalize on China’s smart tourism boom
HAIKOU, May 1 (Xinhua)– On the eve of the three-day long Workers’ Day holiday, IT engineer Feng Yue from south China’s Hainan Province is planning a trip to southwestern province of Yunnan with his girlfriend. While his parents consult local travel agencies for a group tour, Feng, 26, gets all the itinerary, tickets and accommodation […]
more…2 May, 2014
Who’s really ‘presenting lies as facts’? — RT Op-Edge
Mr. Richard Stengel, the US Under Secretary of State who wrote such an impassioned “takedown” of RT in the US State Department blog, did get one thing right. Propaganda IS the deliberate dissemination of information that you know to be false or misguided. And boy, does Mr. Stengel make a valiant attempt at propagandizing, because […]
more…1 May, 2014
Modi victory will see ideology of hate penetrate Indian govt machinery: Nandita Das
May 1, 2014, STOCKHOLM: Actress and social activist Nandita Das has warned that a victory for Narendra Modi in the ongoing general elections will result in an ideology of hate to penetrate into the government machinery and influence institutions and policies. Nandita, who showcased her hard hitting and poignant film Firaq at the India Unlimited […]
more…1 May, 2014
Hindu seers say Modi a ‘grave sinner’, not fit to be PM – Hindustan Times
Two of Hinduism’s key religious heads attached to traditional monasteries knowns as ‘mutts’ have opposed BJP leader Narendra Modi’s bid for prime-ministership, calling him a “grave sinner” trying to “mislead” the nation. The two pontiffs – one heads the Puri peeth (seat) of the Advaita school of Hindu philosophy, while the other leads its Dwarka […]
more…1 May, 2014
900,000 crimes, including rape, not pursued by UK police in 2013
Nearly a million criminal offences including rape have gone unrecorded by police in a single year, according to a damning report that could see the 20-year decline in recorded crime reversed when accurate statistics are calculated. Inspectors said they suspected “discreditable and unethical” behaviour by some officers and said they had discovered 14 reported rapes […]
more…1 May, 2014
Is this not apartheid? – Gideon Levy – Haaretz
The naysayers can find countless differences between the apartheid of Pretoria and that of Jerusalem. Pretoria’s was openly racist and anchored in law; Jerusalem’s is denied and repressed, hidden beneath a heavy cloak of propaganda and messianic religious faith. But the result is the same. Some South Africans who lived under the system of segregation […]
more…1 May, 2014
The truth, off the record – Haaretz
At a G-20 conference in Cannes in November 2011, then-French President Nicolas Sarkozy termed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “liar” and said he “can’t stand” the Israeli leader. U.S. President Barack Obama responded, “You’re tired of him; what about me? I have to deal with him every day.” These rare quotes, revealing truths that are […]
more…1 May, 2014
WSJ/NBC Poll: Americans Want Less Interventionist Foreign Policy
The Wall Street Journal of 30 April 2014 has the following headline on the front page: “Americans Want to Pull Back From World Stage, Poll Finds.” Americans in large numbers want the U.S. to reduce its role in world affairs even as a showdown with Russia over Ukraine preoccupies Washington, a Wall Street Journal/NBC News […]
more…30 Apr, 2014
Singapore, Ireland top havens for multinational tax dodgers
Australian companies sent almost $60 billion to related parties in tax havens in 2012, with payments to Singapore and Ireland featuring high on the list, according to new data. The data, never before released by the Australian Tax Office, provides an insight into how multinational groups shuffle money between countries and comes amid an international […]
more…28 Apr, 2014
Gallup Polls: Average U.S. Retirement Age Hits 62 as Baby-Boomers Opt to Work Longer
WASHINGTON, D.C., April 28, 2014 (Gallup Polls) — The average age at which U.S. retirees report retiring is 62, the highest Gallup has found since first asking Americans this question in 1991. This age has increased in recent years, while the average age at which non-retired Americans expect to retire, 66, has largely stayed the same. […]
more…28 Apr, 2014
Japanese consultants made 100 kickback payments for development aid work – Japan News
Japan Transportation Consultants, Inc. made 100 payments of illicit kickbacks totaling ¥160 million to 13 officials from the governments of Vietnam, Indonesia and Uzbekistan from 2009 to 2014, in return for orders received to conduct projects under Japanese official development assistance, a third-party committee investigating the incident said Friday. The JTC practice of making such […]
more…28 Apr, 2014
Photo exhibition highlights “Cairo: The Crossroads of Faith”
A compilation of progressive, positive, inspiring and motivating events and developments in the world of Islam for the week ending 28 April 2014 (28 Jumaada al-Thaani 1435). Pls click on any of the headlines to go to the story. ============ THE ISLAMIC IMPERATIVE — SUPPORT MALAYSIA IN ITS TIME OF NEED The tragedy of MH370 […]
more…28 Apr, 2014
China finally identifies its biggest challenge: Money worship
April 26, 2014 – Mao Xiaobing, party secretary of Xining, Qinghai Province, was added to the investigation list on April 24. He is the eighth provincial or ministerial-level official in trouble this year, an average of two a month. The fall of the high officials shows the determination of China’s endeavor in fighting corruption, though […]
more…28 Apr, 2014
People’s Daily Editorial: Asia’s “trust deficit” will hurt regional progress
April 27, 2014 – In the course of almost 70 years that have passed since the second world war, no one can overlook the birth of a new Asia, where the rise of industrialized countries and regions, as well as burgeoning emerging markets, has created a powerful engine for global economic growth. However, we can […]
more…28 Apr, 2014
Chinese see easier visa formalities as outbound travel surges
Sanya, Hainan (China Daily), 2014-04-27 – As China is expected to surpass the United States as the world’s largest travel and tourism economy in 2027, experts and industry insiders expect visa barriers targeting Chinese tourists to be eased in the near future. One of the major inhibitors of the tourism industry is the fact that […]
more…28 Apr, 2014
The French economist forcing America to wake up to the end of The Dream – The Independent
The central thesis of Capital in the 21st Century is that, left to its own devices, the capitalist system will increase the gap between rich and poor, as it always has done. Since the dawn of the industrial era, in countries such as Britain, France and the US, the return on investment and capital has […]
more…28 Apr, 2014
Delayed flights may cost airlines billions after test case rulings | The Observer
Airline passengers could be entitled to billions of pounds’ worth of compensation, depending on the outcome of two flight delay cases at the court of appeal next month. Rules state that passengers who reach their destination more than three hours late can claim up to €600 (£494) plus expenses, per person, if the delay is […]
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