Tag Archives: government

On Tuesday, the sharply-divided Iraqi parliament elected its speaker and moved that much closer to forming a new government, which has already been delayed for a while. Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq’s top Shi’ite cleric, and several world powers, had pressured Iraqi MPs to set their differences aside and work together as they face a militant offensive which has overrun …

On Friday, the Ukrainian military reported that it had lost 23 soldiers in clashes in eastern Ukraine that threaten to shatter slim hopes of  truce in the deadliest conflict in Europe in decades. The official spokesman for the assault on eastern Ukraine added that 93 soldiers had sustained “wounds and contusions of varying severity”. According to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, …

How Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki plans to defeat the horribly abusive Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS) and other Sunni groups that have seized control of large swathes of Iraq remains unclear. And under his government’s new media regulations, the Iraqi public isn’t likely to find out. The new guidelines, issued on June 18 by the state media …

On Thursday, the Human Rights Watch said that women in Syria have been victims of unreasonable unrest, discrimination, harassment and torture at the hands of both rebel and government forces during the three-year conflict. The global rights group, in its report, urged international leaders to “hold those responsible for such abuses to account”. Liesl Gerntholtz, women’s rights director at Human …

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Wednesday offered general amnesty in a rare conciliatory move to undermine support for militants; large swathes of Iraqi territory has been overrun by a militant offensive which threatens to tear the country apart. Maliki’s offer comes after a ridiculous opening to the parliament, despite leaders all over the world urging fractious politicians in Iraq …

The US government on Tuesday pressed for the formation of a new Iraqi government as soon as possible and warned that “time is not on Iraq’s side”. “It was important that Iraq’s new parliament convened today, as they pledged to do. That was a good thing. But we do hope that Iraq’s leaders will move forward with the extreme urgency …

International Rights group Amnesty International has gathered evidence which suggests that extrajudicial executions of detainees have been conducted by Shi’ite militias and government forces in the cities of Mosul, Ba’quba and Tal ‘Afar. Relatives of those executed and surviving detainees had given graphic, detailed accounts of the executions, which suggest that Iraqi forces had carried out several vindictive attacks against …

On Friday, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq’s top Shiite cleric, urged his nation’s political leaders to overcome their differences and form a government that could see off the advances of militants who have swept through large swathes of the country. Sistani,, who is a revered cleric within the Shi’ite majority community and whose stature dwarfs that of all politicians in …

NCCM Op-Ed about government’s failure to assist Canadians detained abroad By Amy Awad There’s something about a Canadian passport that offers its owner a degree of confidence. After all, in the hierarchy of citizenships, Canada ranks near the top. A Canadian passport can get you into 170 countries without a visa. But it can’t get you out of jail; even …

On Sunday, the Sri Lankan media, in a rare show of unity, condemned the nation’s police forces for failing to control anti-Muslim Buddhist extremists. Religious tensions continue to grow in the island-nation in the wake of riots in the south. Four people were killed, 80 were wounded and over hundreds of shops and homes were destroyed in the anti-Muslim riots …