There are 846 articles

  • Syria files reveal regime espionage

    In the ransacked and burnt-out remains of various security headquarters in al-Bab lie many clues to the means used by Bashar al-Assad's government to stay in power, revealing why life under the regime had become increasingly intolerable for its citizens. In the widely-hated building of military security, the formerly locked cupboards containing files.. More

  • Report blasts Myanmar treatment of Rohingya

    Myanmar security forces have killed, raped or carried out mass arrests of Rohingya Muslims after deadly sectarian riots in the northeast in June, a rights group has said, adding the authorities had done little to prevent the initial unrest. Aid workers were blocked and in some cases arrested in a government crackdown on the largest group of stateless.. More

  • The foot soldiers in Syria's war

    The food is piled high. Steaming pots of seasoned tomatoes and potatoes, yogurt and cucumber, cheese and piles of tortilla-like khubz, dipped in oil. A dozen or so young Syrian men crowd around, chattering excitedly about the day's events. These men are foot soldiers in the public relations wing of the Syrian revolution - activists whose self-appointed.. More

  • Israel restricts Jordan Valley water access

    At a time when the Palestinian Authority is facing a severe financial crisis, a report by the UK-based non-governmental organization Oxfam International has revealed that Palestinians could generate an extra $1bn a year by some estimates if Israel removes restrictions on the use of land, water and movement in the Jordan Valley. "The Jordan Valley&helli.. More

  • Scant compassion for Muslim Rohingya refugees

    Entering the Rohingya camps along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border is restricted. Officially they don't even exist, but in reality authorities ‘tolerate’ their presence. Bangladeshi official say there are about 300,000 unregistered Muslim Rohingya refugees from Myanmar living in dismal and squalid conditions with no electricity or drinking.. More

  • ‘Democracy’ and slaughter in Burma

    By Ramzy Baroud While Western corporations are lining up leach Burma's natural resources, the "promise" of democracy now at hand, no one is talking about the genocidal violence the country's Muslim Rohingyas are facing. The widespread killings of Rohingya Muslims in Burma (or Myanmar) have received only passing and dispassionate coverage.. More

  • Physical inactivity kills 5 million a year: report

    A third of the world's adults are physically inactive, and the couch potato lifestyle kills about five million people every year, experts said in the medical journal The Lancet recently. "Roughly three of every 10 individuals aged 15 years or older - about 1.5 billion people - do not reach present physical activity recommendations," they.. More

  • Israeli blockade takes its toll on mental health in Gaza

    Stress-related and mental health disorders are on the increase in the Gaza Strip, brought on by loss of jobs and dignity, and lack of freedom under Israel's blockade. For as long as Farah can remember, her father has never worked. Nor, in recent years, has she particularly wanted to spend time with him. She and her three younger siblings love Abu Shawareb,.. More

  • Srebrenica: A town still divided

    Mina Subasic slowly walks with a cane into the missing persons' identification center in Tuzla, northern Bosnia and Herzegovina. On the table in front of her is a handful of bones. Her face frozen with pain, Subasic listens to a forensic expert who explains why it would be good if the remains of her 20-year-old son, Mesud, were buried on July 11, along.. More

  • West Speaks with a Forked Tongue on the Arab Spring

    By Haroon Siddiqui We profess fidelity to democracy, especially in the Arab world. But our commitment seems to come with the caveat that the will of the people is acceptable only if it confirms our prejudices. If not — as in Egyptians’ choice of the Muslim Brotherhood for both parliament and the presidency — some of our leaders,.. More

  • Syria running '27 torture centers'

    A new report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that Syrian intelligence agencies are running torture centers across the country where detainees are beaten with batons and cables, burned with acid, sexually assaulted, and their fingernails torn out. The report released on Tuesday by the New York-based group identified 27 detention centers that it says.. More

  • Study shows spanking boosts odds of mental illness

    People who were hit or spanked as children face higher odds of mental ailments as adults, including mood and anxiety disorders and problems with alcohol and drug abuse, researchers said Monday. The study, led by Canadian researchers, is the first to examine the link between psychological problems and spanking, while excluding more severe physical or.. More

  • Evolving tactics of Syrian opposition fighters

    As violence appears to have escalated in Syria, the BBC's Ian Pannell reports on the situation in the north of the country, where he has just spent the last two weeks with some of the opposition fighting groups in Idlib province. The commander had "gone to ground" and we sat for endless tense hours in a breathless heat waiting for news. For.. More

  • Rising prices ignite Sudan street protests

    In a small roadside market in Khartoum, Ali is leaning across the piles of neatly folded trousers he is selling, trying to keep the attention of his one potential customer. It is a difficult job, especially once he tells the man the price. The cost of the trousers he is selling has nearly doubled in recent weeks from 20 Sudanese pounds (SDG), or about.. More

  • Palestinian village faces demolition by Israel

    Palestinians in this hamlet have clung to their arid acres for decades, living without proper electricity or water while Israel provides both to Jewish settlers on nearby hills. But the end now seems near for Susiya: Demolition orders distributed last week by the Israelis aim to destroy virtually the entire village. Before it does, Israel could encounter.. More