World features

Malaysian Olympians can postpone Ramadan fast

File photo shows cyclist Azizulhasni Awang (C), Malaysia's flag bearer, parading with his delegation at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games opening ceremony. Malaysian Islamic and Olympic officials said athletes from the predominantly Muslim country are excused from fasting for Ramadan while competing at the London Games.
24 Jul 2012
  Malaysian Islamic and Olympic officials said athletes from the predominantly Muslim country are excused from fasting for Ramadan while competing at the London Games. The London Olympics which open Friday mark the first time the...
Yes

Springtime in Sudan: Mass protests against Bashir escalate

24 Jul 2012
KHARTOUM — The largest and longest demonstrations against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir’s 23-year rule erupted last month at Khartoum University, with protesters denouncing increased food and fuel prices as well as new,...
Yes

After Libya’s elections, transitional justice in the balance

A home in Qawalish, a town near Zintan, Libya, damaged during the war
16 Jul 2012
In a Tripoli hotel, Saleh Meshaashy shows pictures on his mobile phone of his father’s corpse; a massive bullet wound rendered his face unrecognizable. Meshaashy is from a small town in Libya’s northwestern Nafusa Mountains,...
Yes

One year on, US sees Sudans in 'mutual suicide' struggle

A burnt military vehicle is seen near Sudan's southern oil centre of Heglig after South Sudanese troops and government forces clashed along the border in March 2012. Fierce fighting raged Wednesday as warplanes bombed contested regions on the border between Sudan and South Sudan, the second day of violence in the latest round of bloody clashes. (AFP Photo/)
10 Jul 2012
WASHINGTON — Sudan and South Sudan are playing a dangerous economic version of Russian roulette that threatens the success of both countries, the top US official for the region said on the first anniversary of South Sudan's...
Yes

In Libya, ink-stained hands pen a new chapter

Libya women line up to cast their ballots at a polling station,Tripoli, 7 July 2012. Libyans began voting in their first free national election in 60 years on Saturday, a poll designed to shake off the legacy of Muammar Gaddafi but which risks being hijacked by autonomy demands in the east and unrest in the desert south. Voters will choose a 200-member assembly which will elect a prime minister and cabinet before laying the ground for full parliamentary elections next year under a new constitution.
07 Jul 2012
Into a sun-washed courtyard, yards away from a street full of blaring car horns and waving flags, Laila Gurgi and her husband Mohammad al Taboli step out of the Ali Oureyeth High School. The couple has just voted for the first time in...
Yes

Libya elections: Calm before the storm

06 Jul 2012
The day before polls open for Libya’s first National General Congress elections, reports have warned of potential violence in the country’s eastern region, following a recent attack on the Benghazi elections commission. Egypt...
Yes

Israel's forced deportation disguised as repatriation

Demonstration against African migrants, Tel Aviv, Israel
04 Jul 2012
Israel carried out its first airlift in mid-June to repatriate some 120 South Sudanese migrants, who were described by the government as “returning voluntarily.” Officially, this airlift was carried out as an assisted voluntary...
Yes

Iraqi women face court-ordered virginity tests

01 Jul 2012
BAGHDAD — Iraqi women face court-ordered virginity tests that often show they were virgins until marriage but shame them nonetheless, doctors at an institute that carries out the tests and a lawyer told AFP. Remaining a virgin until...
Yes

Q&A with Habib Ayeb: Ties between Tunisia and Egypt

Tunisians protest in the center of Tunis, January 19, 2011. Some 2,000 Tunisians rallied against their new government in Tunis as the leadership tried to defuse public anger over the continued power of the former ruling party and four ministers pulled out. The authorities meanwhile shortened a curfew that has been in place for days, saying the security situation had improved, but a state of emergency that bans any public assemblies remained in place.
24 Jun 2012
Tunisian geographer Habib Ayeb grew up in the time of Gamal Abdel Nasser’s Arab nationalism and socialist rhetoric. Born in 1954 in the Tunisian south, Ayeb’s mountainous village was often threatened by drought and water...
Yes

Ahead of elections, Libya faces transitional challenges

21 Jun 2012
TRIPOLI — When the Tripoli International Airport was seized by the Awfeya brigade on 3 June, the blitz interrupted a transition that continues to be punctuated by sporadic outbreaks of violence and political divisions that remain in...
Yes

Our Recommendations