Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia — Malaysia has told the
United States to study its own human rights
record after it criticized the Southeast Asian
nation for detaining without trial five ethnic
Indian activists, reports said Saturday. “Can
they first of all give a fair trial to the
detainees in Guantanamo Bay? We’ll only respond
if they do so,” Deputy Prime Minister Najib
Razak was quoted as saying by the New Straits
Times.
Washington _ widely criticized for detaining 290
terror suspects without trial at its Cuban
military prison _ urged Malaysia to give a fair
trial to the five Indians arrested Thursday
under the Internal Security Act, which also
allows for indefinite detention.
Baku—Delegation led by minister of culture and
tourism Abulfas Garayev attended November 21-23
in Tripoli, Libya, V Conference of culture
ministers of member states of OIC themed
‘Culture Policies in Islamic World: Forming
Future in Base of Past’.
Respective proposal of Culture and Tourism
Ministry of Azerbaijan was unanimously supported
in the Conference and decision was adopted on
holding VI Conference of culture ministers of
member states of OIC in Baku in 2009, Baku City
was declared the Capital of Islamic culture in
2009.
Bangalore— India is piling up mountains of
electronic rubbish as consumers snap up the
latest gizmos and firms upgrade computer
systems, raising fears the nation is headed for
a toxic-waste crisis. Manufacturers are
introducing new models of mobile phones,
televisions and computers to entice cashed-up
consumers to upgrade, with no policies or
infrastructure in place to recycle often toxic
electronic scrap.
By 2011, the world’s second-most populous nation
will generate 470,000 tonnes of “e-waste”, up
from 330,000 tonnes this year, the
Manufacturers’ Association for Information
Technology said in a study received here .
Gaza City— The Palestinians are capable of
launching a new uprising against Israeli
occupation like the intifadas of 1987 and 2000,
exiled Islamist leader Khaled Meshaal said in
comments published on Saturday.
“Our people are capable of launching a third or
fourth intifada until victory is ours,” the
Damascus-based Hamas chief said in comments
posted on his movement’s website on the 20th
anniversary of its creation shortly after the
launch of the first intifada.
“Whoever thinks that Hamas has reached a dead
end is wrong,” said Meshaal, whose movement
seized control of the Gaza Strip from forces
loyal to moderate Palestinian president Mahmud
Abbas in June but has since faced international
isolation.
AMONG the tragic consequences of the explosion
of American militarism has been the sharp rise
in the suicide rate of active duty and veteran
US soldiers. Traumatized by what they have
witnessed and forced to do in Iraq and
Afghanistan, and provided with inadequate health
care resources, an increasing number of veterans
have opted to take their own lives.
On Wednesday, the House Committee on Veterans’
Affairs heard testimony from family members of
soldiers who have committed suicide and experts
in mental health on what several witnesses
described as an “epidemic.” The hearings were in
part a response to a CBS News report last month
that for the first time calculated the total
number of suicides by US veterans. These figures
are not tallied by the military itself, which
only counts the number of suicides of active
duty soldiers.
