Afghanistan’s parliament has rejected a law banning violence against women in “a severe blow to progress made in women’s rights in the conservative Muslim country since the Islamist Taliban was toppled over a decade ago,” Reuters reports:
President Hamid …
Iranian hard-liners are pressing for two prominent candidates to be barred from contesting next month’s presidential election “in a further sign of intense political jockeying over the final ballot list,” AP reports:
The appeal by nearly 100 parliament …
“An adviser to Iran‘s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei joined the presidential race on Friday, with powerful conservatives keen to make the June vote a peaceful contrast to the upheaval that followed the disputed 2009 poll,” Reuters reports…
“Muslims around the world express broad support for democracy and for people of other faiths being able to practice their religion freely,” according to a major new survey. “At the same time, many Muslims say religious leaders should influence political …
The United States should give a higher priority to advancing global religious freedom as a matter of national security, says a major new survey. The persecution of people of faith is inherently dangerous because it has the effect of …
“Gas-rich Qatar threw Egypt another unconditional financial lifeline on Wednesday as the Arab world’s most populous nation struggles to secure an IMF loan to ease its deepening economic crisis,” Reuters reports:
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim …
As it approaches its first ever peaceful transfer of power, Pakistan is “beset by a torrent of maladies,” a leading analyst suggests:
Its government is bankrupt. Its economy is mired in stagflation as the population booms. Terrorists strike all corners …
“Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has dissolved parliament ahead of a general election. Mr Najib, whose National Front (BN) coalition has been in power for over 50 years ….. will face opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim [left] in what is …
In the wake of the Arab Spring, the international community watched as Islamist political parties began to take shape. The history and diversity of Islamist groups and the role Islam could play in the democratic transformation of the Arab World …
“Pakistan is on the verge of making political history,” notes The Economist: its first transfer of power from one elected government to another.
Its halting experiments with democracy in the past were always interrupted by the real power of …