International issues

Cairo, 20 June, 2012 – Hundreds of thousands of activists returned to Cairo’s Tahrir Square on Monday night to protest supplementary constitutional amendments issued by the ruling military council in recent days.

Reporters Without Borders condemns journalist Jamal Uddin’s murder in Sharsha, a subdistrict of the southwestern district of Jessore, on 15 June. A reporter for the Jessore-based Bengali-language newspaper Gramer Kagoj, he was stabbed and hacked to death by a group of men in a market.

Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Nayef Al-Saud, died aged 78. Nayef was the Interior Minister known for his “efficient” crackdown on dissent and thus was praised by US administrators for dealing with “terrorism” (the same administrators who tortured and “rendered” subjects to be tortured). I will briefly write information that is maybe new to some you about this ruling family.

In the last few months, some conciliatory efforts have been initiated by the governments of India and Pakistan. These steps have received enthusiastic support from many domestic as well as foreign sources… This writing from Dr. Rohila’s – the Executive Director of the Association for Communal Harmony in Asia – regular newsletter.

In a June 9, 2012 article John Rosenthal drew attention to the words of U.N. special envoy Kofi Annan, about a “tipping point” in the Syria conflict: the savage massacre of over 90 people, predominantly women and children, for which the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad was immediately blamed by virtually the entirety of the Western media.

Well-known freelance journalist and blogger Ismail “Hilath” Rasheed was stabbed in the neck near his Malé home today and was rushed in a critical condition to the city’s ADK hospital where he underwent an operation and was then placed in an intensive care unit.

Radio journalist Alfredo Villatoro, kidnapped on his way to work last week, was found dead yesterday on the outskirts of Tegucigalpa six days after his abduction.

The declarations of ‘no fishing’ in the seas around the disputed rocks off the coast of the Philippines by first China, then the Philippines, has wider ramifications and the David and Goliath scenario needs careful judgement, especially by ‘David’! The big picture includes the USA’s strategic encirclement of China. Beware Philippines.

It is extremely rare to have a direct peephole into events on the ground in Syria. The hard-fought battle over narratives often leaves truth in the dust. But among the cache of recently leaked emails (exclusive to Al Akhbar) from Syrian National Council (SNC) President Burhan Ghalioun’s inbox, comes this gem… (read on)

1) Cautious, incremental movement toward political reconciliation and reform spearheaded by the Syrian government and closely monitored by Kofi Annan’s UN mission, Moscow, Tehran and Beijing.

2) Dangerous escalation of violence and militarization that will increasingly include foreign jihadists and is likely spill over into the broader Middle East.