Categories : News

Bahrain ruling on Nabeel Rajab jail term condemned

Human rights groups have roundly condemned a ruling by a Bahraini court to affirm a two-year jail sentence of activist Nabeel Rajab, saying the verdict “illustrates the corruption” of the kingdom’s justice system. Rajab had been found guilty in July of “spreading rumours and untruthful information” against the government in TV interviews.

Pakistani politics risk aggravating problems and heightening regional tension

Credit: Balochistan Police Self-serving Pakistani politics threaten to aggravate the country’s myriad problems that have strained its relations with the United States and could heighten tension in the restless, key geo-strategic region of Balochistan, a vital node bordering Iran in China’s Belt and Road initiative and the earmarked home for the People’s Republic’s second foreign military base.

Dozens killed in Kabul suicide attack

At least 40 people have been killed and 30 wounded in a suicide attack in the Afghan capital, Kabul. A Shia cultural and religious organisation and media offices of the Afghan Voice agency were hit. The interior ministry told the BBC a suicide blast was followed by another two explosions in the area.

See also al Jazeera
See also Reuters
See also New York Times

Imminent execution of six in Saudi, Six sentenced to death in Bahrain VOB.ORG

There are fears among the inhabitants of East Arabia that the execution of six Shia Muslims from the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia may be imminent. Yesterday they were transferred from a prison in the Eastern city of Dammam to the capital, Riyadh, where executions often takes place.

Opinion | It’s time for the U.N. to sanction Saudi Arabia

Ripples of reform from Riyadh have been attracting positive press for the Saudis in Washington. The government recently pledged to permit women to drive, allow movie theaters into the country and to teach physical education to girls in schools. These are important steps, especially for gender equality.

A friend of Pakistan

French scholar Mariam Abou Zahab, who was considered an authority on Pakistan and sectarianism, is no more Pakistan lost a good friend on November 1, 2017, when French scholar Mariam Abou Zahab lost her fight against cancer in Paris, France. She was considered an authority on Pakistan and one of the few pro-Pakistan academicians in the West.

Tackling Sunni Muslim ultra-conservatism: A Pakistani-US collision in the making

A recent government surrender to militant demands for stricter adherence to Islam mediated by the military coupled with the release from house arrest of a militant leader designated by the United Nations and the United States as a terrorist sets the stage for a confrontation between Pakistan and the Trump administration.

New ADHRB White Paper – Sectarian Discrimination and Extremism in Bahrain’s Security Forces: Questions for US Policy

New evidence suggests that Bahrain’s military has directly propagated sectarian hate speech – yet the Trump administration has dropped reform conditions and authorized new multibillion-dollar arms deals for the kingdom. ADHRB’s white paper, Sectarian Discrimination and Extremism in Bahrain’s Security Forces: Questions for US Policy, analyzes the abusive recruitment and training practices that pervade the Bahraini security sector amidst increasingly unrestricted American defense support.

Divided We Fall: Mehdi Hasan and Wajahat Ali

UMAA comes to Dearborn in December 2017 Buy your tickets today – Click here Mehdi Hasan is an award-winning British journalist, broadcaster, author and political commentator. He is the presenter of both UpFront (filmed in Washington DC) and Head to Head (filmed at the Oxford Union).

Health of Bahrain’s Top Shiite Cleric Worsens

In a statement, the organization said Ayatollah Qassim, who is in his 70s and has other health problems, including high blood pressure and diabetes, was “in continuous pain and excreting blood.” The statement said the cleric’s family had implored the police surrounding his home to allow a visit on Sunday by doctors, who had recommended an emergency operation.