Region

Yemen security forces surrounded [Oromo Ethiopians and Eritreans] refugees last week and held them hours. Soon after, more than 220 refugees were randomly taken by bus to Al Kharaz refugee camp in Aden, Yemen. The remaining 380 refugees were thrown in detention centers throughout Yemen. Sadly, some of those at the refugee camp in Al Kharaz were split from spouses and children.

Of all the myths obstructing the honest portrayal of events in Syria this past year, none has been more fiercely guarded by regime-change advocates than this one stark falsehood:
Myth – the Syrian regime has only been shooting unarmed, peaceful protestors until very recently when opposition groups finally decided to arm themselves in self-defense.

Petition to Save World Heritage on the Tigris River in Mesopotamia to the distinguished members of the World Heritage Committee…
We address you gravely concerned about the threat posed to potential World Heritage Sites in
Mesopotamia, a region of great cultural and natural importance which is endangered by the Ilisu
Dam Project on the Tigris River.

The food and nutrition crisis facing countries in West Africa’s drought-prone Sahel region has continued to deteriorate at an alarming rate despite commendable early response efforts by governments and international aid agencies, a senior United Nations official said.

Kabul– Afghan government should release the approximately 400 women and girls imprisoned for “moral crimes,” Human Rights Watch said in a new report released on 28 March. The United States and other donor countries should press Afghan government under President Hamid Karzai to end the wrongful imprisonment of women and girls who are crime victims rather than criminals.

…”And while she will have little power, the mere fact that she is there means there will be a lot more international attention on parliament itself and the decisions that it makes,” reports Al Jazeera’s Wayne Hay from Yangon on the election results portending success of the National League for Democracy after twenty years on the political backburner.

Yangon – As millions of Burmese go to the polls on 1 April, expectations are high for real change. Across this Southeast Asian nation and abroad there is an unprecedented sense of hope not seen in decades following a wave of political reforms now described by Myanmar’s own government as “irreversible”.

Twenty years ago, Rik Idema, a Dutch cyclist, first passed through Mongolia on a round-the-world biking trip, the country struck him as the most pristine place he’d ever seen, so later returned to explore it with a Mongolian friend. They started Tseren Tours together in 1994. Yet while business is thriving, the couple worries about Mongolia’s future as a tourist destination.

With 22,8 million inhabitants, at least one million people in Syria are in need of humanitarian assistance, according to the findings of a government-led assessment mission jointly carried out with the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

The violent political arguments that took place around the district of Kannur, in India’s Kerala State, often had their roots in silly disputes over pasting posters or wall graffiti by the various political parties, so writes Subin Mananthavady in the Deccan Chronicle. “People in Chalad have a different perspective about posers or writing slogans for scoring political points.”