Saudi Arabia's secret Arab Spring
The killing of a Shia protester has sparked a sectarian uprising by the Gulf state's oppressed minority
This much is beyond dispute: Khalid al-Labad is dead. The 26-year-old and two teenage relatives were fatally shot by police on 26 September as they sat on the narrow pavement by their house in this broken-down little town in the far east of Saudi Arabia.
To police, Mr Labad was a violent "menace" wanted for shooting two police officers, killing another man and attacking a police station. To human rights advocates, he was a peaceful protester silenced by the government for demanding equal rights for the country's oppressed Shia Muslim minority.
To police, Mr Labad was a violent "menace" wanted for shooting two police officers, killing another man and attacking a police station. To human rights advocates, he was a peaceful protester silenced by the government for demanding equal rights for the country's oppressed Shia Muslim minority.
ECONOMY
Greece reportedly given more time to fix ailing state budget
Greece's international creditors have granted it two more years to reign in its public deficit, a German newspaper has reported. Citing a draft deal it said Greece will still receive its next trance of bailout aid.
Greece's government has struck a draft deal with its international creditors to cut its deficit by three percent of gross domestic product by 2016, rather than the previously agreed deadline of 2014, Wednesday's edition of Süddeutsche Zeitung reported.
Citing a so-called Memorandum of Understanding, the newspaper said Athens has also been given more time to implement labor reforms and changes to the energy sector. Its deadline to privatize certain state enterprises has also been extended, the draft deal states.
The Value of a Pakistani WorkerDiscounter Offers $1,930 Per Victim in Factory Fire
By Hasnain Kazim and Nils Klawitter
German discount textile retailer Kik plans to pay damages totalling $500,000 to the families of more then 250 workers who died in a fire at a Pakistan factory used to produce its clothing. The families say that is too little and are threatening to sue.
Six weeks ago, at least 259 workers died in a fire in the Pakistani port city of Karachi at a factory that produced jeans for German discount textile and clothing retailer Kik. The disaster created unfavorable headlines for the Western company because it highlighted the poor working conditions of many who create the inexpensive products sold by discounter firms. This week, the company said it is planning to pay out a combined $500,000 (€383,700) to the families of the dead, a figure that works out to about $1,930 per victim.
Guinea ethnic divide defies 'West Africa’s Mandela'
Wildlife in Crisis helps 5,000 animals return to the wild each year
A small Connecticut nonprofit group treats wildlife from songbirds and red-tailed hawks to foxes, skunks, even fisher cats and bobcats.
Inside one of several aviaries a parliament of owls perches on a branch, watching and waiting until they are fit for release.
The Barred owls are recuperating here at Wildlife in Crisis (WIC), a nonprofit organization that helps heal more than 5,000 wounded, ill, and orphaned wild animals a year. While it specializes in songbirds and birds of prey, WIC also nurtures animals such as fox and skunks, fisher cats and bobcats. Eventually, nearly every animal under WIC’s care will be released.
“They are very wild when we release them. If they aren’t we are not doing our job,” says Dara Reid, WIC’s founder and director. To ensure success each animal has no more than two human caretakers at a time.
Ms. Reid, who has a background in veterinary science and wildlife biology, started WIC in 1988. She had seen how suburban sprawl affected native animal populations.
No comments:
Post a Comment