March 19, 2010 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
A prominent muslim scholar and cleric has issued a 600-page fatwa, or religious edict, drawing from authoritative historical sources and scripture, to rule that true Islam bars any form of bloodshed. Dr. Tahir ul-Qadri, a muslim theologian from Pakistan, who lives and teaches in Britain, said an honest examination of the teachings and doctrines of Islam demonstrates an absolute prohibition on the shedding of blood for political or religious purposes.
More on page 6169
December 28, 2009 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
Iran’s supreme leader, the Ayatollah Ali Khamene’i, has reportedly been transported by military helicopter to a secure location, on a military base outside Tehran. Reports emerging from Iran suggest the security forces’ brutal crackdown on unarmed civilians during the festival of Ashura has sparked active resistance. There are now reports of ongoing clashes across the capital.
More on page 5679
December 27, 2009 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
Iranian police have fired on crowds of unarmed civilians demonstrating in Tehran on the feast day of Ashura, the commemoration of the most sacred martyr of the Shi’a strain of Islam. At least four people are reportedly confirmed killed, including one nephew of the leading opposition politician, Mir Hossein Mousavi, whose supporters —along with numerous international observers— believe he won the disputed presidential elections in June of this year.
More on page 5655
December 24, 2009 :: Evelyn Winston Perez :: No Comment Yet
The Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri died this past weekend, opening a period of seven days of mourning for one of the nation’s most influential clerics. The seventh day of mourning happens to coincide with the Shi’a holy day of atonement, Ashura. Ashura marks the killing of Hossein, grandson of the prophet Mohammed, by the Caliph Yazid, in the year 680. Yazid is often portrayed as a tyrannical ruler in Shi’a tradition, and the festival lends itself to an expression of the very anti-dictatorship language used by the reformist opposition.
More on page 5630
November 28, 2009 :: Eva Scherson :: No Comment Yet
Dubai is the jewel of the Arabian peninsula, the region’s financial capital and a city of global importance. Exorbitant wealth has become something like a national sport there, and major institutions there took the position that they could outlast the global financial panic without substantial government intervention.
More on page 5193
November 11, 2009 :: Anjika Sridhar :: No Comment Yet
Lebanon has formed a new government of “national accord”, which will include majority leader and prime minister designate Saad Hariri and also representatives of Hezbollah, the militia group seen as a terrorist threat by Israel, and which was the target of an Israeli bombing campaign in 2006. The UN Security Council congratulated Lebanon on moving forward with national unity and wished the new government well.
More on page 5083
November 11, 2009 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
This report alleges widespread routine abuse of foreign-born domestic workers in Lebanon. Domestic workers are excluded from Lebanese labor regulations and does not monitor treatment in the home. It is reportedly common for employers of foreign domestic workers to illegally seize their passports upon arrival and forbid them to leave the home.
More on page 5090
October 16, 2009 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
There are rumors circulating that Iran’s supreme leader, the Ayatollah Ali Khamene’i, is dead, or in a coma. The rumors are unconfirmed, which also means not proven false, and this has spurred still further speculation that the rumors might be true and Iran’s government struggling to determine how to see a smooth transition to a successor’s reign. The most prominent cleric after Khamene’i is a staunch opponent of the government of Mahmoud Ahmedinejad.
More on page 4909
September 27, 2009 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
Iran’s precarious ruling power bloc, centered around Ayatollah Ali Khamene’i and Pres. Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, continues to use detention as a means of silencing the opposition. The Green Path of Hope movement started by Ahmedinejad presidential rival, the opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, has continued to stage protests and demands the release of leading politicians being held for protesting the legitimacy of the 12 June election.
More on page 4747
September 22, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: No Comment Yet
The UN General Assembly, which brings together every head of government in the world, to offer their country’s position on issues, their country’s demands regarding trade and conflict negotiations, their country’s hopes for a more harmonious world, this year truly grapples with issues of global consensus. Economic recovery, for many parts of the world, will require an unprecedented expansion of women’s rights and sustained attention to responsible environmental stewardship.
More on page 4498
August 31, 2009 :: staff :: One Comment
A new innovation developed by scientists in Israel may be able to detect traces of lung cancer in human breath, by identifying molecules linked to the condition. The device would be hand-held and easy to use, and could potentially be available at any family doctor or general practitioner’s office, in the future.
More on page 4225
August 30, 2009 :: staff :: 3 Comments
Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmedinejad has thrown off the veil of pretending to honor democratic constitutional process, calling for the prosecution of opposition candidates for their criticism of his policies and the handling of the election. Even as Ayatollah Ali Khamene’i, the supreme leader, acknowledged Wednesday that opposition leaders are not in league with any foreign [...]
More on page 4201
August 25, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: 4 Comments
Iran has put on trial a fourth group of leading opposition supporters, including some who served as ministers in the reformist government of former president Mohammad Khatami. The prosecution alleges the accused are guilty of conspiring with foreign powers to sow civil unrest in Iran and destabilize the republic. Opposition leaders and independent observers say the accused are being put on trial for nothing more than being in the opposition, within a democratic system.
More on page 4156
August 17, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: One Comment
The Iranian government has ordered the closure of an opposition newspaper which was to publish a statement by opposition candidate Medhi Karoubi —3rd in the June election tally—alleging Iranian security forces were raping political prisoners. Karoubi had made the claim previously, and says there is evidence to support the claim; his statement was to defend himself against criticism from the government and might have included evidence. The paper’s closure effectively stops the publication of his statement in the Iranian press.
More on page 4088
July 25, 2009 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
The Iranian opposition has grown resurgent as top clerics decried the government’s crackdown on civilian demonstrators and called for the release of political prisoners and accountability and legitimacy among the leadership. Now, a global day of action has been organized by Iranian opposition groups in exile, with demonstrations in Manila, Seoul, Brussels, Berlin, London, New York and elsewhere.
More on page 3794
July 20, 2009 :: staff :: 2 Comments
Former president and leading reformist cleric Mohammad Khatami has urged that Iran hold a nationwide referendum to allow voters to judge whether the 12 June election was legitimate or whether the government has sought to stay in power through mass fraud and other illegal means. Several reformist websites have reportedly carried the news, with Khatami saying “Durability of order and continuation of the country’s progress hinge on restoring public trust”.
More on page 3693
July 18, 2009 :: Denver Lessing :: No Comment Yet
Pictures and video from Tehran yesterday showed government forces storming into huge crowds of unarmed civilians, many of them gathered to support the opposition leaders who had gone to Tehran University to listen to Ayatollah Rafsanjani, a leading cleric and former president, deliver a sermon at Friday prayers. The security forces rode motorcycles into crowds of demonstrators and used teargas and batons to assault those assembled.
More on page 3662
July 17, 2009 :: staff :: 4 Comments
Wearing green wristbands indicative of support for Mir Hossein Mousavi’s opposition movement, a large but undetermined number of protesters gathered outside Tehran University, after prayers led by Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, to express their support for the defeated presidential candidate and his charges of election fraud. The Ayandeh news web site estimates that between 1.5 million and 2.5 million people gathered around Tehran University, either to get a glimpse of Friday prayers or show support for the opposition.
More on page 3636
July 17, 2009 :: staff :: 2 Comments
Opposition presidential candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi will reportedly attend Friday prayers in Tehran, to be led by Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, their most powerful supporter in the clerical establishment, seen as a chief rival to Pres. Ahmedinejad and Ayatollah Khamene’i. The event will be the opposition leaders’ first public appearance since the disputed presidential election of 12 June.
More on page 3625
July 15, 2009 :: Webb Tisch :: No Comment Yet
A group of former Israeli soldiers is questioning the methods used in the Gaza offensive carried out by the IDF on orders from then outgoing prime minister Ehud Olmert. The group interviewed veterans of the Gaza offensive and has reported that serious abuses occurred and need to be further investigated and prosecuted. One soldier reportedly described a “moral Twilight Zone” in which any Palestinian could be viewed as a threat.
More on page 3585
July 15, 2009 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
A variety of desert rhubarb, indigenous to the deserts of Israel and Jordan, is the world’s first identified “self-irrigating” plant. The broad green leaves of the plant are unique in the harsh arid climate, and have been found to benefit from a system of water distribution which speeds rainwater down into the soil, toward the roots of the plant, by way of channels along the exterior of the leaves’ veins, lubricated by a substance that keeps the rainwater moving.
More on page 3567
July 11, 2009 :: Anjika Sridhar :: No Comment Yet
As part of its deal to transition major security operations in Iraq to the Iraqi military and civil authorities, the United States has released 5 Iranian officials it had been holding on charges of engaging in covert operations inside Iraq. The officials —whom Iran calls diplomats— were released into the custody of Iraqi authorities, were met personally by prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, and were officially freed by Iraq.
More on page 3517
July 10, 2009 :: staff :: 2 Comments
Post election demonstrations in Iran are getting more confrontational, as smaller numbers of angrier demonstrators continue to suffer physical assaults at the hands of militia and security forces. With conservative clerics stepping up their questioning of the legitimacy of both Pres. Ahmedinejad’s re-election and the continued rule of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamene’i, demonstrators have reportedly been heard chanting “Death to Khamene’i” for the first time.
More on page 3511
July 10, 2009 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
Thousands of opposition demonstrators gathered today in Tehran to mark the 10th anniversary of student pro-democracy demonstrations. Anecdotal reports cited widespread chants of “God is great”, “Death to the dictator” and “Down with Khamene’i”, a sign that the supreme leader has been stained by his actions in the disputed election. Security forces fired tear gas at demonstrators who joined the march to Tehran University.
More on page 3505
July 8, 2009 :: Anjika Sridhar :: One Comment
In an ongoing quest to sideline or incarcerate opposition figures, the leadership of Iran’s government continues to defend the disputed official results of the 12 June election and is now blaming Hungarian-American financier and open society activist George Soros, Liz Cheney —the daughter of the former US vice president— and the secretive Bilderberg group of a conspiracy to overthrow the Iranian government by backing opposition protests.
More on page 3489
July 8, 2009 :: staff :: One Comment
The Hot Spring Network has opened a discussion, in collaboration with Café Sentido, on the need to diversify the global wheat crop in order to prevent an evolved crop fungus, Ug99, from destroying as much as 80% of the global wheat harvest.
More on page 3468
July 6, 2009 :: staff :: 2 Comments
Pres. Obama has arrived in Moscow to negotiate with Russian leaders a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (StART). He faces a complex process of navigating the politics of a nuclear superpower with two leaders. Some expect Obama to work with Pres. Medvedev, keeping PM Vladimir Putin more to the sidelines, or to proffer an arms control center-ground, rooted in pragmatism, which neither of Russia’s political leaders could walk away from.
More on page 3448
July 5, 2009 :: staff :: No Comment Yet
A group that is thought to be the most important and influential body of clerics in Iran, the Association of Researchers and Teachers of Qom, has reportedly declared the disputed presidential election of 12 June “illegitimate”. The declaration, made by a body of top theologians, based in the holy city of Qom, confirms a deep and possibly irreconcilable split in Iran’s clerical establishment.
More on page 3445
July 5, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: 2 Comments
Barack Obama has been observing, researching and critiquing nuclear weapons policy for three decades. He seeks to put in motion the most ambitious global denuclearization effort ever conceived, grounding his approach in a hard pragmatist awareness of what drives the build-up of ever more destructive weapons arsenals. He has said throughout this year that his plans would never remove the US nuclear deterrent capability while any nuclear threat remains in the world. Now, he goes to Russia to seek a bilateral strategic arms reduction treaty.
More on page 3437
July 4, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: No Comment Yet
Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of the state of Israel, long a hard-line opponent of any idea of a Palestinian state, last month signaled his willingness to back a Palestinian state, with conditions attached. Among the conditions Netanyahu would require would be the total demilitarization of a new Palestinian state. His remarks were praised abroad as an evolution, perhaps spurred by US president Barack Obama’s insistence on willingness to compromise in the interests of peace.
More on page 3425
July 3, 2009 :: staff :: One Comment
Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, head of Iran’s Guardian Council, has told a gathering at Friday prayers that Iran will prosecute British embassy staff accused of fomenting violence against the government. The UK has roundly rejected the allegations, and EU ministers are considering measures to be taken to pressure the Iranian government to release the detained UK [...]
More on page 3415
July 1, 2009 :: staff :: One Comment
The government-linked Basij militia has called for the prosecution of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, alleging that he is responsible for inciting violence in the streets that resulted from clashes between demonstrators and security forces. Mousavi has repeatedly urged his supporters to behave within the law and to practice non-violence; the violence seen since the 12 June election appears to have been consistently the result of security forces attacking unarmed civilians, some demonstrators, some not.
More on page 3371
June 29, 2009 :: Riga Listin :: One Comment
Citing foreign “propaganda”, Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmedinejad has formally requested in a letter to Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahroudi, head of Iran’s judiciary, that an investigation be launched into the circumstances surrounding the shooting death of Neda Agha Soltan. Soltan was shot in the chest and died within minutes, while protesting election results that show Ahmedinejad won re-election.
More on page 3312
June 28, 2009 :: staff :: 2 Comments
I’d like to thank you again for your peaceful objections which have received widespread coverage across the world, and would like to ask you that by using all legal channels, and by remaining faithful to the sacred system of the Islamic Republic, to make sure that your objections are heard by the authorities in the country. I am fully aware that your justified demands have nothing to do with groups who do not believe in the sacred Islamic Republic of Iran’s system. It is up to you to distance yourself from them, and do not allow them to misuse the current situation.
More on page 3286
June 28, 2009 :: staff :: 4 Comments
Iranian authorities have reportedly shut down Kalemeh, the official website of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi. Kalemeh was considered to be Mousavi’s only remaining independent means of communicating directly with supporters or with the world beyond Iran’s borders. The development is an escalation of the government’s efforts to disrupt opposition channels of communication and organizing capacity.
More on page 3283
June 28, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: 3 Comments
Iranian authorities have reportedly detained at least 8 employees of the British embassy in Tehran, saying they had been “playing major parts” in stirring up anti-Ahmedinejad sentiments. The government of Pres. Mahmoud Ahmedinejad has taken an extreme hard line on the issue of dissent over the election, accusing unarmed demonstrators of “terrorism” and calling the US president Barack Obama’s criticism of the shooting of demonstrators “unconventional, abnormal and discourteous”.
More on page 3279
June 26, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: 5 Comments
The Guardian newspaper is reporting that sources inside Iran say there appears to be an ongoing attempt by the government to use torture and street violence to induce detained reformists to give false confessions of conspiracy in a “foreign plot” to overthrow the regime. The aim appears to be to produce videotaped “confessions” that would be broadcast on state TV accusing opposition candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi of complicity in a foreign plot to take over the Iranian government.
More on page 3254
June 26, 2009 :: Anjika Sridhar :: 5 Comments
Dr. Arash Hejazi is one of the bystanders who attended to Neda Agha Soltan when she was shot and killed at a demonstration in Tehran. Hejazi lives and works in England, and he was in Iran visiting. He told the BBC, after returning to Britain, of how the shocking events of that day transpired, and says bystanders seized an armed Basij militiaman who admitted he had shot Soltan.
More on page 3247
June 25, 2009 :: staff :: 3 Comments
There is increasing evidence of a brutal campaign of violence and suppression being waged against the opposition and against demonstrators calling for a full accounting of the votes cast on 12 June. Ahmedinejad’s chief rival Mir Hossein Mousavi, the leading reformist candidate, has said “I will not leave the scene in response to the deception, the essence of which has become clear to the people”.
More on page 3227
June 25, 2009 :: staff :: 7 Comments
Reports from Wednesday protests in Tehran include harrowing though unconfirmed accounts of axe-wielding thugs, brutal assaults against civilians and mass detentions. Baharestan Square was reportedly the scene of a messy attempt to stage a pro-opposition rally, but accounts of what took place are hard to verify. At least one victim’s family may have been taken into custody and bans on public mourning have been reported.
More on page 3220
June 24, 2009 :: staff :: 6 Comments
After a few days of relative calm, opposition demonstrators again sought to organize a rally to demand a full accounting of all ballots cast in the 12 June presidential election. Sporadic reports from the capital, Tehran, say demonstrators were confronted by a heavy security presence when trying to assemble for a pro-democracy rally. An eyewitness has reportedly said security forces were beating people like “animals”.
More on page 3207
June 24, 2009 :: staff :: 10 Comments
I’d like to say a few words about the situation in Iran. The United States and the international community have been appalled and outraged by the threats, the beatings, and imprisonments of the last few days. I strongly condemn these unjust actions, and I join with the American people in mourning each and every innocent life that is lost.
More on page 3193
June 24, 2009 :: staff :: 5 Comments
The Guardian Council, which conceded on Monday that at least 50 cities saw counts that exceeded the eligible number of voters, has reportedly rejected the idea of re-running the election, due to the disputed validity of the official count. Despite an admission that would seem to suggest massive, nationwide, organized fraud, the Guardian Council, through a spokesman, said there was “no major fraud or breach in the election”.
More on page 3181
June 23, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: 8 Comments
As Iran’s presidential election has morphed into a massive international spectacle, with opposition protesters demanding justice and a full accounting of how votes were tallied, the regime has used every technological advantage at its disposal to obstruct online communications and mobile phone traffic. The government now has a wealth of powerful technologies, from western firms, it can use to spy, block communications, and even alter messages before they are delivered.
More on page 3174
June 22, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: 11 Comments
Iran’s Guardian Council announced today for the first time that it has found irregularities after reviewing some of the ballots cast in the disputed presidential election. According to state media, the Guardian Council has found that in at least 50 cities across Iran, the number of votes counted exceeded the total number of eligible voters. The Council also has said it would recount all ballots for the effected districts, if the candidates request it.
More on page 3168
June 21, 2009 :: staff :: 7 Comments
Ali Larijani, speaker of the Iranian parliament, has criticized the Guardian Council, alleging that some of the 12 clerics have taken sided with an apparent effort to falsify election results in favor of incumbent pres. Mahmoud Ahmedinejad. Larijani said “a majority of people are of the opinion that the actual election results are different than what was officially announced”.
More on page 3162
June 21, 2009 :: staff :: 16 Comments
Today Iranian state television published comments by the government blaming “terrorists” for yesterday’s clashes. With video and numerous eyewitness accounts indicating that government-backed militia attacked unarmed civilians, raided homes and fired live rounds and tear gas at unarmed demonstrators, the use of the word “terrorists” suggests the regime is now classifying all opposition supporters in this way.
More on page 3150
June 20, 2009 :: staff :: 12 Comments
This article is an update to an earlier report on shots fired at pro-opposition demonstrators in Iran. Throughout the day on Saturday and late into the night, the internet was buzzing with rumor and conjecture, anecdotal reports and amateur video footage showing evidence of security forces attacking, beating and even shooting unarmed civilians. The following video shows police attacking students and opposition supporters at Shiraz University, on Saturday…
More on page 3145
June 20, 2009 :: staff :: 17 Comments
Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi has declared he is “ready for martyrdom” and has urged his supporters across the nation to strike if he is detained or harmed. Responding to the supreme leader’s vocal support for the use of violence to suppress the demonstrations, security forces have reportedly fired shots at or over a crowd of demonstrators in central Tehran. Mousavi has written a letter to the nation’s highest electoral authority, demanding a re-run of the election; the move is being seen as the most overt show of defiance to date against the supreme leader.
More on page 3130
June 20, 2009 :: J.E. Robertson :: 20 Comments
The Ayatollah Ali Khamene’i, head of state of the Islamic Republic of Iran, has called for an end to massive public demonstrations against the disputed results of last week’s presidential election. He reiterated his view that the results are legitimate and said the Islamic Republic would never cheat. He also declared his personal support for some of the views of Pres. Ahmedinejad. Today it appears security forces have responded by using force.
More on page 3108
CafeSentido Partner Sites: