Asia International

Palestinians Wants UN Recognition as “Non-Member State”

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has asked UN to grant Palestinians the status of “non-member observer state”, stressing that a “Palestinian state must be realized” One year after his bid for full membership of the United Nations failed because of a lack of support in the Security Council, Mr. Abbas returned to the UN General Assembly. […]

Asia Columns Features International

EU Sanctions in Syria: Slow Tools for an Urgent Objective

The uprising in Syria has led the European Union (EU) to employ an instrument it rarely uses in the Mediterranean: sanctions. Since May 2011, the EU has deployed its sanctions toolbox in support of the anti-regime uprising in Syria. The objective of the EU is to increase pressure on the Assad regime to end repression, […]

Asia Headlines International

Summer heat in Hong Kong

The summer has been hot in Hong Kong this year, and not only because temperature reached 32 degrees amid intense humidity.   100 000 people, mainly Hong Kong students, have been taking to the streets, and demonstrating in front of the government headquarters to oppose a new education curriculum, called the “moral and national education”. […]

Europe Headlines International

French magazine cartoons: France fears violent backlash

France, fearing a backlash after a French satirical magazine published provocative cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, has decided to temporarily close on Friday its diplomatic missions, cultural centers and schools in 20 Islamic countries and asked the authorities of these countries to tighten security measures around these compounds. In some countries, French schools were shut […]

Americas International

Brazil: A new policy of “positive discrimination” in universities

Brazilian universities are required as of this academic year to devote an increased percentage of their admission capacity to poor students enrolled in public schools and to increase the number of university students of African descent. This new policy of “affirmative action” or “positive discrimination” as it is sometimes called is stipulated in a new […]

Europe International

Spain: People on the dole to near 6 million in 2013

The number of people on the dole in Spain will near 6 million in 2013, i.e. more than a quarter of the workforce in the country. The gloomy unemployment figures were disclosed this week by the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE) which underlined that the labor reform adopted by the government will not curb […]

Americas Features International

Washington fears violence over anti-Islam film may spread to U.S.

While protest movements and demonstrations, sometimes violent, are being staged across the Islamic world to denounce the video deemed insulting to Islam’s prophet Mohammed and to Muslims’ beliefs, Washington is fearing this violence may spread to the United States. According to US media, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security have released a joint […]

Africa Features International

UN considering proposal on neutral force deployment in Eastern DRC

The United Nations peace keeping operations department is looking into the proposal to deploy a neutral force in the eastern parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in an attempt to quell the violence and alleviate the sufferings of the local population. The proposal to deploy a neutral international force along the Rwanda- DRC […]