Palestinians read a sign on the gate of the United Nations distribution center at the Jabalia refugee camp. The camp was established after the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict for 35,000 refugees who had fled from villages in southern Palestine.
>> Photo by AP
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh speaks during a press conference in Srinagar. After some years of relative calm in the Kashmir Valley, recent months have seen some of the most intense anti-India feeling for about 20 years.
> AP Photo by Mukhtar Khan
The tensions were sparked by a plan to grant land to a board that oversees the running of a Hindu shrine. The proposal led to serious friction between the Muslims of the valley and their neighbours in the Hindu-dominated Jammu region. More than 30 people have been killed by the police since the protests began.
> Kashmir on Talk-Desi
BBC News Says: Curfew in Kashmir comes to an end
A nation - forced off their land & subjected to military-occupation by Israel.
> "Palestine Is Still The Issue": One - Two - Three - Four
A nation - forced off their land & subjected to military-occupation by Israel.
> "Palestine Is Still The Issue": One - Two - Three - Five
Tibetan activists in-exile take part in a candle-light peace march in Mumbai. More than eighty people have so-far died after the Chinese crackdown on Tibetans.
> Getty Images
The torture of journalist Tasneem Khalil by Bangladesh's notorious military intelligence agency highlights abuses under the country's state of emergency and the government's failure, Human Rights Watch has said in a new report.
The 39-page report, "The Torture of Tasneem Khalil", graphically details Khalil's 22-hour ordeal in May 2007 in Bangladesh's clandestine detention and torture system -- a setup well known to the government & ordinary Bangladeshis.
"Rampant illegal detention and torture are clear evidence of Bangladesh's security forces running amok," said Brad Adams, of Human Rights Watch.
"Bangladesh's international friends need to make the eradication of torture a top priority in their relations with Bangladesh," said Adams.
Excerpts from Tasneem Khalil's statement:
"[A member of the arresting party] jumped up from the chair, pulled out a revolver, pushed it against my lips, and started shouting, 'You are under arrest.' I started shouting back, telling them that what they were doing was illegal."
"Then they asked me about my connections with Human Rights Watch. I told them I work as their consultant. When they inquired further, I told them I had worked with Human Rights Watch since 2006. I worked with Human Rights Watch on a report about extrajudicial killings by RAB. That suddenly infuriated them so much that all of them started hitting the table with hands and sticks and started shouting at me. 'How dare you write against our brothers in RAB?"
"They started beating me again mercilessly, from all possible directions with hands and batons and kicks. I said I would not do those things again. But one person said I had already 'made the blunder'."
Via Bangladesh-Blogger
The myths of globalisation have been incorporated into much of our everyday language. "Thinking globally" and "the global economy" are part of a jargon that assumes we are all part of one big global village. In 2001, John-Pilger made 'The New Rulers of the World', a film exploring the impact of globalisation.
It took Indonesia as the prime example, a country that the World-Bank described as a 'model pupil' until its 'globalised' economy collapsed in 1998.
Reporter Ramita-Navai travels through India exposing the horrific plight of the country's millions of Dalits: literally "the broken people".
Corruption is a part of each and every Bangladeshi life, both rural & urban.Bangladesh Blogger says:
The presence of corruption has made us obtuse in recognizing corruption. We routinely take part in various forms of corruption, without realizing.
What do you do as a common-citizen trying to obtain a passport, which is your right as a citizen, but; cannot obtain without a bribe? A passport is not-issued until a favourable police verification-report is submitted with an application.
Therefore, a common-citizen must pay a bribe for that. However, if you have power and influence, you will not face these obstacles.
Many of us feel extremely bad when we have to compromise with corruption, unfortunately the only recourse maybe to seek solace with family. We must refuse to surrender to corruption and only a social-movement can liberate us.
Via Shahzaman-Mozumder, Bir-Protik
I personally had to pay Taka-10,000 to get a passport in Feb, 2007. This unofficial-fee was paid to a a police-officer Called 'Babar', in Sylhet. His mobile-phone number at the time was (017-122-02417). However I resisted, I was told by an elder - this was the norm, "you must pay a fee to the DB-officer..,".
Will write more about-this, soon. God willing.
Mother of Ruhullah-Bhat, a militant commander, clings to her son's body as it is carried during the funeral procession at Frisal, 60 km south of Srinagar.
> AP Images
Iran has sentenced three members of the Bahai faith to four years for security offences and 51 others to suspended terms.
The authorities said they were proselytising in the southern city of Shiraz under the cover of helping the poor. They were convicted for propaganda against the system in the southern city of Shiraz, a judiciary spokesman said.
Via BBC
Kenya's police are struggling to restore order as ethnic-gangs are rampaging across parts of the capital, Nairobi, Rift Valley and western Kenya attacking members of rival-communities.
The violence began following last month's disputed presidential-election but now has descended into a vicious-cycle of revenge attacks, leaving scores dead.
> In pictures: Fleeing mobs
A nation - forced off their land & subjected to military-occupation by Israel.
> "Palestine Is Still The Issue": One - Two - Four - Five
Bangladesh's government has banned two popular live political talk shows, the private satellite television channel ETV has said.
"The information ministry handed us a written order saying that we cannot telecast out our live talk shows," a senior ETV official told AFP.
ETV, the country's first terrestrial television station, was banned by a court order during the previous Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led government in 2002.
It resumed operation last year after foregoing its terrestrial rights.
Via Bangladesh-Blogger
He also sought to ease worries about Pakistan's nuclear arsenal as Islamic-extremists step up their fight with his government, insisting that tight security would prevent the weapons from falling into the wrong hands.
Ron from Dhaka says >
August 20, 2007: Dhaka-University (DU) erupts in violence as army men beat students. The army-personnel mercilessly beat 3 DU-students & humiliated a teacher over a petty-dispute concerning comments passed by spectators watching a soccer match on the university ground.
August 30, 2007: General-Moeen imposes curfew in all major cities; warns tough action against trouble makers; all universities closed for indefinite period.
Background
The army sneaked into power on January 11, 2007, through a bloodless-coup.
Via Bangladesh-Blogger
Residents in the Gaza-Strip are facing the closure of the territory's only power plant as Israel continues a shutdown of its border crossings. "There is no fuel coming in and we have no reserves," Kanaan Abeid, deputy chairman of the Palestinian Energy Authority in the Gaza Strip, said.
However, Arye-Mekel, the Israeli foreign ministry spokesman, said that supplies of petrol used in cars, as well as diesel, had been halted but not essential-fuel.
The UN organisation supporting Palestinian refugees, warned that the shortages would drastically affect hospitals and water facilities. "The logic of this defies basic humanitarian standards," Christopher Gunness, UNRWA spokesman, said.
Via Al-Jazeera
Protests across Kenya against Mwai-Kibaki, the Kenyan president, have seen over 20-people lose their lives. Al Jazeera's Andrew Simmons reports from Nairobi on the third-day of opposition-backed demonstrations.
