“I could hear her make prisoners laugh. Sometimes, she even made the guards laugh.” This is what a former prisoner remembers of Zahra Bahrami, who, she says, was lively, kind to her fellow prisoners, and defiant towards the guards. (Boroumand Foundation interview with a former political prisoner, January 2012). One year ago in one of the last days of January 2011, the Islamic Republic of Iran announced the execution of Zahra Bahrami, an Iranian-Dutch citizen visiting Iran. Bahrami is one of many Iranian expatriates punished following an unfair judicial process. Over the years, several Iranians with dual citizenship who worked with the Iranian civil society, facilitated exchanges of ideas, or relayed news coming from Iran, have been arrested. Some have been released thanks to sustained international pressure. Others however, are still serving prison sentences, or are on death row, such as Saeed Malekpour, an Iranian-Canadian computer programmer. The government message is clear: communicating independently with Iranians or echoing their voices is not allowed. And it works. Read article
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The abduction of two Europeans and their Filipino guide in Tawi-Tawi Wednesday has prompted the United Kingdom to advise its nationals against traveling to parts of Mindanao. In its travel advice for the Philippines updated Feb. 1, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office cited a “threat from kidnapping in the Philippines, particularly in the south.” […]
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Algerian security forces have claimed to have foiled an al-Qaeda plan to carry out suicide attacks against U.S. and European ships in the Mediterranean coast of Algeria, as reported by the Algerian newspaper ” Echorouk ‘. The alleged plan, which would be implemented by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), would be aimed at […]
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CASES of a debilitating mosquito-borne virus rose dramatically in WA last year, and health experts are warning of the potential for further outbreaks this summer. According to the Medical Journal of Australia, nine of the 16 Murray Valley Encephalitis cases across Australia last year were recorded in WA – including one fatal one. Three people […]
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The Andaman and Nicobar police have warned tour operators of stern action if they resort to ‘Jarawa Tourism’ by offering tourists any glimpse of the near extinct tribe as part of their package. This follows advertisements appearing on the Internet about agents, tour operators and drivers offering such packages to woo tourists. “The police will […]
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Mauritanian Tourism Minister Bamba Ould Dramane has recently criticised the French government’s reports on security in northern Mauritania, describing them as “unfounded”. The 2010-2011 reports “are not accurate and are harmful to Mauritania’s economic interests”, he said in a statement aired on a state-run television on January 6th. “They are paralysing tourism in Adrar (the […]
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On Saturday afternoon at Thailand’s Transnational Crime Coordination Center, located in Chonburi’s Provincial Station, the Commissioner of Royal Thai Police Bureau Region 2, Pol. Lt. Gen. Dr. Pahn-ya Ma-men and his team, held a press conference to announce the successful arrest of 2 French tourists. These offenders were charged with skimming cash from other people’s […]
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Source: El Pais The event in Italian waters of cruise ‘Costa Concordia’ joins a long line of maritime tragedies that occurred in Europe in the last 20 years. -27 September 1994 (Finland). 852 dead and 137 survivors from the sinking of the Estonia ferry linking Tallinn with Stockholm. This is the worst maritime disaster of […]
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A powerful 6.1 magnitude earthquake has rocked the island of Bali, Indonesia, leaving about 50 people injured. The earthquake struck at 11:16 a.m. local time on Thursday October 13th 100 kilometres southwest of Denpasar, the capital of Bali. Read Article
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Once again an annual, weekend-long motorcycle event involving tens of thousands of people culminates in violence. In Reno/Sparks last week, they experienced a gunfight, shooting into a crowd, a shooting death, gamblers and hotel guests diving under tables in a casino, a retaliatory drive-by shooting and a statement by a city mayor: Read Article
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