THE BIBLE BLOG

Written by: Ria Novosti May 15, 2011 Fresh clashes between Muslims and Christians in the Egyptian capital on Saturday left 60 people injured, EGYnews web portal reported on Sunday, citing data of health officials. Local media has reported that a Muslim, who had a quarrel with a group of Christian protesters outside the state television building, called his friends [...]

The deportation from Kenya of the human rights investigator Clara Gutteridge raises concerns about Kenya’s openness to scrutiny, the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project (EHAHRDP) and Human Rights Watch said. Gutteridge, a British citizen, was investigating counterterrorism-related rights violations in Kenya and Uganda as part of a fellowship for the Open Society Justice [...]

Poster captions include: Jewish Heart for Africa brings Israeli technologies for solar energy, water filtering and drip irrigation to poor African villages. The Galilee Circus is made up of Israeli Arab and Jewish children from the north of Israel. Israeli medical specialists routinely save lives of children from Europe, Africa and the Arab world. The Bahais have been [...]

Assertions of a weakening in Jewish affection for Israel are grossly overstated. In fact, they’re patently false. The American Jewish Committee’s (AJC) “ 2010 Annual Survey of Jewish Opinion ” found that 74% of American Jews felt “fairly close” or “very close” to Israel. A whopping 94% thought that any formal peace treaty with the Palestinians must include [...]

Written by: Radio Zamaneh May 15, 2011 Four people found guilty of drug offenses were hanged today in the Iranian province of Kerman, ISNA reports, after the judiciary refused to commute their sentences. They were charged with possession of between four to eight kilos of heroin or crack. This is Iran’s second round of drug-related executions this week. On Tuesday, [...]

In April I attended the TEDx (Technology Entertainment and Design) Ramallah conference, which took place simultaneously in Bethlehem, Amman and Beirut. I came to TEDx expecting to meet liberal counterparts: forward-looking individuals with ideas “worth spreading.” But after hearing the Palestinian speakers – many educated in leading institutions abroad, all eloquent, smart and ostensibly progressive – [...]

“May be the Arab-Israeli conflict doesn’t need any more US special envoy, may be president Obama shouldn’t bother appointing a replacement, for, as far as the Palestinians are concerned, they had enough of this backstage Zionist-manipulated politics disguised as peace envoys” Dr. Ashraf Ezzat Cairo’s iconic Tahrir square packed with thousands rallying in solidarity with Palestine. It is hard [...]

by: Franklin Lamb (Damascus Syria) – As many of us observe the great Arab and Islamic awakening of 2011 in stunned amazement, as it rapidly spreads across the region, this observer agrees with those who declare, “ well it’s about time—Godspeed to the rebels and goodbye to the despots.” Indeed, most of the despots had been installed and [...]

I was quite amused to learn that among the treasure trove of intelligence which US forces took from Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad was a “fairly extensive” collection of pornography.Reuters broke the story.

By Maidhc Ó Cathail | The Passionate Attachment With Barada TV, the anti-Assad satellite channel referred to by Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich, all roads lead to Israel. According to an April 18 Washington Post report , the State Department’s Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) has funneled up to $6 million to Syrian opposition groups such as Barada TV since 2006. MEPI is [...]

When liberal investor George Soros gave $1.8 million to National Public Radio , it became part of the firestorm of controversy that jeopardized NPR’s federal funding. But that gift only hints at the widespread influence the controversial billionaire has on the mainstream media. Soros, who spent $27 million trying to defeat President Bush in 2004, has [...]

When liberal investor George Soros gave $1.8 million to National Public Radio , it became part of the firestorm of controversy that jeopardized NPR’s federal funding. But that gift only hints at the widespread influence the controversial billionaire has on the mainstream media. Soros, who spent $27 million trying to defeat President Bush in 2004, has [...]

Associated Press Last Updated: May 14, 2011 TEHRAN // Iran threatened Saturday to allow the transit of illegal drugs through its territory to Europe if the West continues to criticize the Islamic nation for its practice of executing drug traffickers. Mohammad Javad Larijani, the head of Iran’s High Council for Human Rights, said Iran was sacrificing blood in fighting [...]

Associated Press Last Updated: May 14, 2011 TEHRAN // Iran threatened Saturday to allow the transit of illegal drugs through its territory to Europe if the West continues to criticize the Islamic nation for its practice of executing drug traffickers. Mohammad Javad Larijani, the head of Iran’s High Council for Human Rights, said Iran was sacrificing blood in fighting [...]

Huge crowds across Yemen demanded on Friday that President Ali Abdullah Saleh leave after months of unrest which has put the Arab world’s poorest country on the brink of an economic meltdown. But in a defiant speech to thousands of flag-waving supporters in the Yemeni capital, Saleh declared: “We will confront a challenge with a challenge.” Three people [...]

Associated Press Last Updated: May 14, 2011 BEIRUT // Hundreds of Syrians, including four wounded people, crossed into Lebanon on Saturday fleeing violence in their country as an uprising against President Bashar Assad’s regime entered its eighth week, Lebanese security officials said. The officials said cracks of gunfire coming from the western Syrian town of Talkalakh could be heard [...]

Trouble and strife: Bello Maasaba is attended to by followers at the home he shares with 89 wives and numerous children in Bida, Nigeria. For many, one wife is enough. But Islamic faith healer Bello Maasaba has only said: ‘I’m done’ after an incredible 107 marriages, producing 185 children. And the 87-year-old Nigerian, who now has an extended family [...]

Saleh al Shaibany Last Updated: May 15, 2011 MUSCAT // Omani security forces arrested dozens of protesters yesterday as government troops clashed with demonstrators demanding jobs and better pay in the southern city of Salalah, witnesses said. “The clash between security forces and protesters lasted until the early hours of Saturday morning. Security forces used their batons and took [...]

In Syria, 10% of the population governs. The majoritarian rest, the Sunnis and their Muslim Brotherhood vanguard, have been cowering since 1982. Pity the Alawites when the Sunnis will strike for revenge. On the other hand, how much can you pity the Alawites who have been plundering and imprisoning and also murdering for four decades? What had [...]

There simply is no reform option in Syria, and there never was. Genuine reform means dislodging the bricks holding up the authority of Bashar Assad and his powerful cousin, Rami Makhlouf. Bashar Assad’s open-ended presidency, the crony capitalism practiced by his cousin and other members of Syria’s elite, the abuse practiced by the all-powerful security services, [...]