Russia: we're happy to sell arms to Assad
Russia insisted yesterday that it would not halt arms shipments to Syria even as evidence mounts that the regime is committing crimes against humanity, with a rights group today releasing a sickening dossier of the torture inflicted on those who oppose President Bashar al-Assad.
The comments by Russia's Deputy Defence Minister, Anatoly Antonov, that existing contracts will be adhered to despite reports of up to 8,000 dead, come as activists prepare to mark a grim year since their call for reform descended into bloodshed. Mr Assad's tanks continued to roll into dissident areas, with the army reported to have recaptured the rebel stronghold of Idlib near the Turkish border, until now held by army defectors fighting for the Free Syrian Army. Activists said dozens of people had been killed in the assault, their bodies dumped in local mosques.
03/13/2012
Unwelcome Interference
Polish Nuclear Dreams Threaten Ties with Germany
By Jan Puhl
Determined to develop its nuclear industry to meet its booming energy needs, Poland is tired of lectures from its environmentally conscious neighbor Germany. After all, Poles argue, the Germans have benefitted from nuclear power for decades. The differing energy philosophies threaten to strain ties between the two countries.
The street that will lead into Poland's radiant future is dilapidated. Rusty steel mesh protrudes from the concrete, and deep puddles have formed where some of the concrete slabs have sagged into the ground. But such adverse conditions can hardly shake Krzysztof Krzemiski's enthusiasm.
Malawi 'fed up' with Madonna, slams school plans
Malawi's government has accused Madonna of not consulting over her plans to build 10 new schools in the poor southern African state and says the singer seemed more interested in promoting her global image than helping with education there.
But the head of an organisation that pop star Madonna brought in to help with her efforts in Malawi fired back, saying the government accusation was "simply not true" and that it had been "fully updated" on the singer's plans.
Madonna, who has adopted two children from Malawi, announced in January her Raising Malawi charity was teaming up with the non-profit group buildOn to construct the schools, which would educate at least 1000 children a year.
Sri Lankan ghosts haunt India
By M K Bhadrakumar
By M K Bhadrakumar
Deep-rooted contradictions are surging to the surface in India's Sri Lanka policy.
The deep bonds of ethnicity, culture, geography and history make India and Sri Lanka inseparable. Yet this is also a tragic story of the imperatives of geopolitics and the compulsions of domestic politics crisscrossing plain human dignity and compassion - especially for the land that gave birth to Mahatma Gandhi.
But for contemporary India, politics comes first. And politics is pitiless. Tamil nationalism has been traditionally a pond that the Indian politician occasionally visited for rejuvenation, and its attraction is growing as party politics in India has become highly competitive.
The deep bonds of ethnicity, culture, geography and history make India and Sri Lanka inseparable. Yet this is also a tragic story of the imperatives of geopolitics and the compulsions of domestic politics crisscrossing plain human dignity and compassion - especially for the land that gave birth to Mahatma Gandhi.
But for contemporary India, politics comes first. And politics is pitiless. Tamil nationalism has been traditionally a pond that the Indian politician occasionally visited for rejuvenation, and its attraction is growing as party politics in India has become highly competitive.
Palestinians prepare to lose the solar panels that provide a lifeline
Israel is planning to demolish 'illegal' solar panels that are the only source of electricity for Palestinians in West Bank villages
Two large solar panels jut out of the barren landscape near Imneizil in the Hebron hills. The hi-tech structures sit incongruously alongside the tents and rough stone buildings of the Palestinian village, but they are fundamental to life here: they provide electricity.
Imneizil is not connected to the national electricity grid. Nor are the vast majority of Palestinian communities in Area C, the 62% of the West Bank controlled by Israel. The solar energy has replaced expensive and clunky oil-powered generators.
According to the Israeli authorities, these solar panels – along with six others in nearby villages – are illegal and have been slated for demolition.
14 March 2012 Last updated at 00:11 GMT
Kimberley Motley: Making waves in Afghanistan's legal syste
A former American beauty queen who only left the US for the first time four years ago is perhaps an unlikely champion for change in the Afghan legal system.
But working as Afghanistan's only foreign defence lawyer, Kimberley Motley has helped both foreigners and Afghans trapped in the country's judicial system.
She took on one of last year's most high-profile cases, representing a woman named as Gulnaz, who had been jailed for adultery after she was raped by her cousin's husband.
That case led President Hamid Karzai to issue his first presidential pardon for a case defined as a "moral crime", a move seen by some as showing new commitment on the part of Afghan government to defend the rights of women.
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