Iran’s religious poor losing hope
By , E-mail the writer
In TEHRAN — In the narrow alleys of south Tehran, life is a struggle that feels anything but just.
The traditionally religious neighborhoods have long been a base of support for the Islamic republic and the 1979 revolution that led to its formation. The densely populated communities supplied tens of thousands of young men to fight in the eight-year war between Iran and Iraq in the 1980s. Their working classes formed a base of support that helped catapult Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the presidency in 2005.
But the quality of life has been plummeting for families such as the Vahidis, a three-generation clan of 14 people crammed into three small floors of a roughly built house.
Turkey protests spread after violence in Istanbul over park demolition
Demonstrations against Erdogan government in several cities as riot officers use tear gas to control protesters in Istanbul
Turkey has been engulfed by a series of protests across several cities after riot police turned Istanbul's busiest city centre hub into a battleground, deploying tear gas and water cannon against thousands of peaceful demonstrators.
In one of the biggest challenges to the 10-year rule of the prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, demonstrators took to the streets of Ankara, Izmir, Bodrum and several other cities as well as Istanbul to vent their frustration at what is seen to be an increasingly authoritarian administration.
The air of government nervousness was reinforced by the relative lack of mainstream media coverage of the drama in central Istanbul, fuelling speculation that the Erdogan government was leaning on the main television stations to impose a blackout on the ugly scenes.
DEVELOPMENT AID
Japan to transform Africa aid into investment
Japan has promised Africa 10.7 billion euros (14 billion dollars) over the next five years as government and private-sector aid. Japan's Asian rival China has already invested heavily in Africa.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told leaders and delegates from 50 African nations while opening a conference in Yokohama on Saturday that Japan intended to "revolutionize" its investment in Africa by focusing on private-sector investment in infrastructure.
Abe, who took office late last year, said nearly half the sum would be offered for projects in Africa such as transportation, education, farming, energy projects and water sanitation.
World watches as Bradley Manning finally faces trial
June 1, 2013 - 4:28PM
Nick O'Malley
US correspondent for Fairfax Media
Washington: Hailed as a courageous whistleblower and reviled as a common traitor Bradley Manning, the young US soldier who provided Wikileaks with over 250,000 pages of secret US documents, finally faces a military court on Monday in the United States.
Manning has already pleaded guilty to 10 of 22 charges regarding information he passed on to Wikileaks, and faces up to 20 years in prison, but he has denied the more serious charges under the Espionage Act for which he could be imprisoned for life. The prosecution has said it would not pursue the death penalty.
The extreme charges remaining in this case create a severe threat to future whistleblowers.
Interest in the trial and its legal ramifications is huge.
Zim Concourt gives Mugabe July election deadline
Zimbabwe's Constitutional Court has ordered President Robert Mugabe to hold elections before the end of July.
Zimbabwe's Constitutional Court ordered Mugabe on Friday to hold elections before the end of July, adding to political controversy over the timing and funding of the vote in the southern African state.
"The elections should take place no later than July 31 2013," the court's Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku said.
He was ruling on an application to the court by a Zimbabwean citizen demanding that Mugabe set an election date before the current Parliament expires next month.
Can Argentina be weaned from its addiction to oil?
A group of NGOs is trying to answer that question.
Before the Alderete family moved to the La Perla housing project on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, something as basic as taking a bath was time-consuming and expensive. The four-person family wasn’t connected to the city’s gas network, so they bought gas in propane tanks, heated water on the stove, and then carried it to the bathroom.
“Gas in propane tanks can cost five to six times as much as the gas in the [city] network because gas in tanks is not subsidized,” says Ashley Valle, the international coordinator at the Buenos Aires-based NGO Forum for Energy, Sustainability, and Housing (FOVISEE).
“That automatically leaves lower-income groups paying more for energy,” Ms. Valle says.
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