France-based international Media organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on Thursday hit out at Algerian authorities for delaying the issue of visas for foreign journalists who want to cover the Presidential elections in the country. Many journalists were “issued visas late in the day accompanied by drastic restrictions”, the Paris based organization said in its statement, issued on the eve of …

Palestinian and Israeli negotiators will meet separately with US peace envoy Martin Indyk on Friday, only a day after the five hour three-way talks between the parties, during which they failed to reach an agreement.  According to sources, Indyk is to hold talks with chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat in the city of Jericho in West Bank.  Thursday’s talks between …

On Wednesday, The US-based Committee to Protect Journalists said that Syria is one of the most dangerous countries for journalists in the world, as it published its annual impunity index, tracking unsolved killings of reporters. The New York-based watchdog reported “a rising number of journalists in Syria. “With unprecedented numbers of abductions and high rates of fatalities in combat and …

On Thursday, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that Canada would be sending six CF-18 fighter jets to crisis-hit Eastern Europe “in response to a NATO request”. The move will see Canada expanding and its current role in Eastern Europe. “Obviously this is in response to the situation that’s developing there”, Harper said, expressing particular concern over the “expansionism and …

On Wednesday, the US warned Russia to stop its “provocation” in Ukraine, reiterating it could slap new sanctions on them. The US State department demanded demobilization and de-escalation from the Russian forces. US Secretary of State John Kerry is on his way to Europe for international talks regarding the Ukrainian crisis. Kerry and the EU will hold a four-way talk …

On Wednesday, an Egyptian court handed out jail sentences for over 120 supporters of ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi related to clashes last year with authorities which left dozens dead, officials said. The trial was a part of an unrelenting crackdown on Morsi supporters going on since the army ousted him last July. According to judicial officials, the defendants were …

International mediator Lakhdar Brahimi told reporters that a deal between Syrian authorities and trapped civilians and fighters in the city of Homs had broken down on Thursday. For the past few days, government forces appear to be on the verge of regaining control of the besieged opposition region. Homs had played host to several demonstrations against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime …

Several rights groups led by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) said on Wednesday that sexual violence against women in Egypt has been abundant since the 2011 uprising and that women protesters had been the target of sexual attacks with impunity, they said. In their report, the groups said that “successive Egyptian governments have failed to address violence against …

The idea of human flight has always been fascinating. We’ve always looked at the birds, gazed upon the sky, been taken by the stars; never has a physical activity personified human ambition so perfectly. With modern context, it’s a little difficult to imagine the dreams and aspirations of aviation pioneers – their struggles, their failed experiments, their sacrifices, all for …

On Wednesday, over 50 Bollywood actors, writers and filmmakers signed an appeal which urged Indians not to vote for nationalist hardliner Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the ongoing general elections in the country, and choose a “secular” party instead. Critics fear that if the BJP comes to power, it would set off religious tensions in the country. Some …