Russia continues to oppress Crimea's Tatars- With the exception of Turkey, the Muslim world has been virtually silent on the Tatars' situation. Luke Coffey, Al Jazeera English  19 March 2016 Image: Crimean Tatars mark the 70th anniversary of the deportation of Tatars from Crimea, near a Mosque in Simferopol 2014 Getty  More than two years have passed since Russia invaded and illegally annexed Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula. Since then, the Tatar

She Won a Seat in Iran’s Parliament, but Hard-Liners Had Other Plans Thomas Erdbrink, The New York Times  11 May 2016 Image: Minoo Khaleghi, a reformist politician, had won a seat in the Iranian Parliament in February.CreditIran Pooyesh   TEHRAN — Minoo Khaleghi easily won a seat in the Iranian Parliament in February, part of a wave of independents and reformists who now have the numbers to wrest authority from the hard-liners. On Wednesday,

Boko Haram Fast Facts CNN Library 17 April 2016 (last updated 5:00PM EST)   Image credit: CNN   (CNN)- Here's a look at Boko Haram, a militant Islamic group working out of Nigeria, whose purpose is to institute Sharia, or Islamic law. Facts: In the local Hausa dialect, Boko Haram means "Western education is forbidden." The group also refers to itself as Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati Wal-Jihad, meaning "People Committed to the Propagation

Government Restrictions Choke Religious Freedom in Vietnam Wilberforce Initiative Alert 09 March 2015   Image: Monks praying in the Cao DaiHoly See n Tay Ninh,Vietnam by Steve Taylor, London, UK.   In many parts of the world, nations have laws to protect religious freedom.  But often, these protections are not enforced, or government officials find loopholes to assert their power.  This is the case in Vietnam.  A United States Commission

 The Year in Hate and Extremism The number of hate and antigovernment ‘Patriot’ groups grew last year, and terrorist attacks and radical plots proliferated. Mark Potok, Intelligence Report 17 February 2016     Charleston. Chattanooga. Colorado Springs. In these towns and dozens of other communities around the nation, 2015 was a year marked by extraordinary violence from domestic extremists — a year of living dangerously. Antigovernment

South Africa's racial mania RW Johnson writes on what is driving the current hypersensitivity to issues of race RW Johnson, Politicsweb                                                                                                                                           1 March 2016     Image: South

Violence Erupts in Greece as Migrants Try to Cross Into Macedonia Liz Alderman and Dimitris Bounias, The New York Times 29 February 2016   Image: Riots erupted on the Greek border with Macedonia on Monday after the Macedonian authorities sealed the frontier to prevent refugees from entering. Credit Louisa Gouliamaki/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images           ATHENS — It was a scene of a type that could become

February 18th letter from Leading UK Lawyers and Human Rights Campaigners – including the former Lord Chancellor – to the Prime Minister calling for the British Government to declare the atrocities committed against Christians and Yazidis as a genocide. David Alton 19 February 2016 ___________    Rt Hon David Cameron MP The Prime Minister 10 Downing Street London SW1A 2AA 18 February 2016     Dear Prime Minister, Genocide perpetrated

Sudan Sees Gum-Arabic Exports Up on U.S. Rule, China Demand Bassem Abo Alabass Mohammed, Bloomberg Business 14 June 2015 (Updated on 15 June 2015)     Image:  A Sudanese worker fills bags with pieces of Arabic gum at a factory north of the capital Khartoum. Photographer: Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty Images   Sudan plans to double exports of gum arabic, a key component of soft drinks and pharmaceuticals, after the U.S. ruled to allow its

Former US ambassador: There won't be peace in Syria without prosecution of Assad Barbara Slavin, AI Monitor 12 August 2015   Image: Stephen Rapp, the US ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues, addresses a news conference in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, Nov. 16, 2009. (photo by REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya)     The expression “no justice, no peace” is usually associated these days with US demonstrations against police killings of African-Americans.