Manama, Bahrain: A security court sentenced eight Shiite activists to life in prison on Wednesday and issued long jail terms for 13 others in the latest blow by authorities waging a crackdown against protesters seeking greater rights in the Gulf kingdom. Shiite crowds blocked roads with sand piles and called for protest marches " suggesting that the court decision could spark another round of unrest after months of lockdown-level security...
05:40 PM, Jun 22, 2011
Cairo: The night breeze blew foul wafts from a nearby canal black with garbage and pollution. The streets jammed with trucks and motorized rickshaws were so shattered that they hardly seemed paved at all. It was to Cairo's slum of Munib on a recent evening that the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's biggest Islamic group, brought its election campaign message saying, the country must turn to Islam to rebuild. "Muslims around the...
09:24 AM, Jun 19, 2011
Sanaa: The United States on Monday called on Yemen to move towards democracy while President Ali Abdullah Saleh recovers from shrapnel wounds in Saudi Arabia. While Yemen's acting leader insisted Saleh would return in days, diplomats and analysts feel Saleh's stay in Saudi Arabia may be prolonged as regional heavyweight Riyadh tries to press Saleh to hand over power to prevent its neighbour imploding. "We are calling for a peaceful...
01:53 AM, Jun 07, 2011
RJD Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav spoke against Baba Ramdev's protest saying that he had advised Baba not to start the fast and also that in a democracy, supremacy of Parliament is supreme. ...
01:06 PM, Jun 05, 2011
Naples: NATO said on Tuesday it was unaware of embattled Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi being dead or alive and denied its air strikes on Tripoli were aimed to kill him. "All NATO targets are military targets, which means that the targets we've been hitting are command and control bunkers," NATO spokesman Claudio Gabellini told reporters, adding "and it happened also last night in Tripoli". "NATO is not targeting individuals," he...
08:06 AM, May 11, 2011
![Hemender Sharma]( "Hemender Sharma")
There is no better way to exercise complete control over an individual or an organisation than this one: systematically facilitate corruption by changing rules and ...
08:46 PM, Apr 25, 2011
On Taking Point, Rajdeep Sardesai asks, 'Are NGOs behaving in an anti-democratic manner?' ...
10:47 PM, Apr 13, 2011
![Sagarika Ghose]( "Sagarika Ghose")
The Anna Hazare movement crept up unnoticed, pounced suddenly and seized a country by the throat unexpectedly. Within hours of Hazare announcing his fast, the ...
06:56 AM, Apr 13, 2011
![Ipsita Shome]( "Ipsita Shome")
When I thought Anna Hazare was on the edge of absurdity, there came the Government of India, swinging its bag of colloquy, diving into an ...
09:27 AM, Apr 09, 2011
New Delhi: Anna Hazare will be breaking his fast on Saturday after the Government agreed to forming a joint committee to redraft the Lokpal Bill. Anna Hazare said that this was the happiest day of his life. "Government has accepted all our demands and I will end my fast tomorrow at 10 am. This is a victory for the entire nation," Hazare said on Friday. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said...
07:16 AM, Apr 09, 2011
New Delhi: The latest biography on Mahatma Gandhi, 'Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and his struggle with India' is not even available here yet, but Gujarat and Maharashtra are banning it. The central government is deciding not to, after some consideration. The Pulitzer Prize winning author and former New York Times executive editor Joseph Lelyveld has trashed media reports that have stirred up a controversy, also saying that a ban reflects...
10:13 AM, Apr 01, 2011
Tiruchirappalli: The CPI's main election plank for the April 13 assembly polls in Tamil Nadu would be to 'retrieve' democracy in the state and ensure safety of the lives and properties of people in the state, a top state party leader said on Thursday. "There should be an impartial government in this state if democracy is to survive in Tamil Nadu. Only such a government which rules according to the...
11:17 AM, Mar 24, 2011
Tripoli: The heart of Muammar Gaddafi's compound in Tripoli lay in a shambles on Monday as the United States and allies continued their mission to dilute the Libyan leader's strength. But Gaddafi's whereabouts - and his plans after promising a "long-drawn war" - remained unknown. A coalition military official insisted neither Gaddafi nor his residence were intended targets of the bombing late Sunday. But the official - who was not...
05:16 PM, Mar 21, 2011
![Suhasini Haidar]( "Suhasini Haidar")
It's a slap that echoed around the world -- and without exaggeration, struck fear in the hearts of dozens of regimes across it. Every cliché ...
04:51 PM, Mar 08, 2011
London/Toronto: Attempts by embattled Libyan strongman Muammar Gadaffi to withdraw his billions from British and Canadian banks were thwarted by the authorities,according to reports on Monday. An attempt was made to export nearly one billion pounds worth of mint Libyan banknotes back to Tripoli, British newspaper 'The Independent' reported. "Last night the government moved to officially freeze the assets held by the Libyan regime in the UK following sanctions imposed...
09:16 PM, Feb 28, 2011
Mohamed Nabbousi, a technical wizard, managed to stream protests-related videos despite the ban on internet. ...
09:40 AM, Feb 28, 2011
Tripoli: Rebels awaited counter-attack by Muammar Gaddafi's forces on Monday, after the Libyan leader defied calls for him to quit in the hardest-fought of the Arab world's wave of uprisings so far. Rebels holding Zawiyah, only 50 km (30 miles) west of Tripoli, said about 2,000 troops loyal to Gaddafi had surrounded the city. "We will do our best to fight them off. They will attack soon," said a former...
07:49 AM, Feb 28, 2011
London: Britain has revoked the diplomatic immunity of Libya's Muammar Gaddafi and his family and called on the autocratic leader to step down, the foreign minister said on Sunday. William Hague also said that former Prime Minister Tony Blair has spoken to Gadhafi in the past few days, but did not disclose what was discussed. Hague defended Blair's friendly relations with Muammar Gaddafi's regime in the past and also British...
07:27 AM, Feb 28, 2011
Cairo: A constitutional reform panel on Saturday recommended opening Egypt's presidential elections to competition and imposing a two-term limit on future presidents - a dramatic shift from a system that allowed the ousted Hosni Mubarak to rule for three decades. The changes are among 10 proposed constitutional amendments that are to be put to a popular referendum later this year. The proposals appeared to address many of the demands of...
08:35 AM, Feb 27, 2011
Manama: Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa has issued directions for a cabinet reshuffle, as pressure continues to mount on the government from anti-government protesters. Hamad issued the orders for a reshuffle in four ministries - labour, health, cabinet affairs and housing, Xinhua reported citing Bahrain news agency. Labour minister Majeed Al Alawi, a Shiite, was appointed as the new housing minister, while labour ministry assistant under-secretary Jameel Humaidan...
08:14 AM, Feb 27, 2011
