On Thursday , Almost 40 refugees, including at least seven children, have died while to reach Italy from Libya in the latest Mediterranean migrant tragedy, Save the Children reported . The Organization stated that some of the 80 survivors of the crossing who were brought ashore in Augusta, Sicily, reported the deaths occurred the day before when the boat they …
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No ‘Crisis in Islam’: Just Apathy of So-called ‘Historians’
By Ramzy Baroud On the “BBC This Week” program, historian Tom Holland labored to counter the argument that the so-called Islamic State should not be labeled as such: “The Islamic State”. Holland’s logic in the program seemed more philosophical, concerned with dialectic and logic of language, and hardly situated in any proper historical context. His comments were in response to …
Read More »UNHCR : Syria is the world’s biggest source of refugees
On Thursday, the UNHCR released its latest report ” The UNHCR’s annual Global Trends Report: World at War”. it said that worldwide displacement was at the highest level ever recorded. And the number of people who forced to displaced at 2014 rose to 59.5 million compared to 51.2 million a year earlier. It also showed that over half the world’s …
Read More »World Press Freedom Index: press freedom declined around the world in 2014
Reporters Without Borders released the annual World Press Freedom Index, which ranks 180 countries performance according to criteria including media independence, legislative framework and the level of censorship prevailing in the country, and the infrastructure environment in which the media operate. The index highlights the worldwide deterioration in freedom of information in 2014 because of wars, the growing non-state actors …
Read More »UN Libya Mission encouraged by “step in the right direction”
The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) on Wednesday said that it is heartened by the positive response to its invitation for political dialogue. “The move by the parties to identify their respective delegations to the talks is a step in the right direction. In agreeing to take part in this dialogue, all the parties have clearly signalled their …
Read More »IS tortured teenage hostages from Kobane
Advocacy group Human Rights Watch on Tuesday said that Islamic State (IS) extremists had tortured teenagers from Syrian town of Kobane for six months in captivity. According to the rights group, 153 school-going children were kidnapped by the IS in May while they were returning to Kobane after sitting for exams in Aleppo; it released 25 of the hostages late …
Read More »Libya: parallel government orders army to “liberate” Tripoli
The Libyan House of Representatives based in the city of Tobruk on Tuesday ordered the army to launch an operation to “liberate” capital city Tripoli from armed militiamen. It also called on local civilians to start a civil disobedience campaign against the fighters occupying their city. The interim parliament, whose legitimacy is being disputed, in its statement said that it …
Read More »Libya: militia chief and sixteen others killed near Benghazi
Seventeen people, including a militia chief and several soldiers, were killed in fighting near the Benghazi airport this week, military and medical sources said on Thursday. Libya has been in turmoil since the toppling of longtime dictator Muammar Gadhafi in 2011, and the interim authorities have since been facing the powerful militiamenwho had toppledGadhafi. Salim Nabbous, commander of the Shura …
Read More »Libyan PM says Egypt will help train Libyan army
Libyan Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thanion Wednesday said that Egypt will help train the Libyan army, and then called on his compatriots to fight the militia that has overrun parts of the country. Thani and most of the parliament elected in June are virtually in domestic exile in the city of Tobruk because of extensive security problems in capital city Tripoli, …
Read More »Hollande says Assad an ally of Syrian extremists
French President Francois Hollande on Thursday warned that Syrian President Bashar Assad is not the West’s ally in fighting terrorism but an ally of extremists wreaking havoc in Iraq and Syria. “Assad cannot be a partner in the fight against terrorism, he is the de facto ally of jihadists” he said to a gathering of global ambassadors in Paris. His …
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