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West Asia
Briton faces death in Saudi Arabia over wine
Karl Andree, has been in prison in Saudi Arabia since August 2014 after being caught with homemade wine. His one-year sentence has been completed, but he is still behind bars awaiting punishment. The 74 years old British man is awaiting his punishment of 350 lashes according to Saudi flogging law.…
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Society
Nobel prize 2015 in medicine fights parasites
The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has today decided to award the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with one half jointly to William C. Campbell and Satoshi Ōmura, for their discoveries concerning a novel therapy against infections caused by roundworm parasites; and the other half to Youyou Tu for her discoveries concerning a novel therapy…
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West Asia
‘Muhammad’ represents Iran at the Oscars
The epic film “Muhammad” by director Majid Majidi, which portrays the childhood of the Muslim prophet, will represent Iran in next year’s competition for an Oscar for best foreign film, media reported Saturday. With a budget of nearly $40 million (€34 million), partly funded by the state, “Muhammad”, is the…
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Society
Nepal bans novice climbers from Everest
Facing increasing criticism over safety and the environmental impacts of climbing on Mount Everest, Nepalese tourism officials have banned novice climbers from the world’s tallest peak and are considering additional limits, says CNN reports. “We must maintain the glory of Everest climbing,” Mohan Krishna Sapkota, joint secretary of Nepal’s Ministry…
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West Asia
Tunisian student gets a year in jail for homosexuality
A Tunisian court has sentenced a student to a year behind bars on charges of homosexuality, in a judgement condemned by local rights groups, AFP reports. The youth had been detained on September 6 in the Mediterranean resort area of Sousse for questioning in connection with a murder after his telephone…
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West Asia
Hundreds killed in hajj stampede in Mecca
A stampede during one of the last rituals of the Hajj season — the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca — has killed more than 700 people and injured close to 900 others in Saudi Arabia. The stampede occurred Thursday morning during the ritual known as “stoning the devil” in a…
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West Asia
Qatar sign a memorandum to help Nepali migrants
IOM and the State of Qatar have signed a Memorandum of Understanding which will see them working together over the next two years to provide voluntary return and reintegration assistance to Nepali migrant workers from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon and Malaysia. The new project, to be run…
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South Asia
Indian Muslim cleric issues ‘fatwa’ against A.R. Rahman for Muhammad film
A Muslim group, The Raza Academy in Mumbai, India said it has issued a “fatwa” against the Oscar-winning Indian music composer A.R. Rahman and Majid Majidi, the Iranian director of the film Muhammad: The Messenger of God. The institute also wrote to the Indian government, seeking a ban on…
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Business
French AccorHotels becomes first international chain to open in Iran
The French group AccorHotels, the world’s sixth-largest hotel group, announced on Monday it would become the first international hotel group to operate in Iran as the Islamic republic opens up to the west after the deal on its nuclear program. AccorHotels will open an Ibis hotel and a Novotel branch…
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South Asia
Teacher who educates Afghan refugee girls wins UN prize
Aqeela Asifi, 49, a teacher who has dedicated her life to educating Afghan refugee girls, challenging cultural sexism by setting up classes in a temporary tent, has been named the 2015 Nansen Refugee Award winner by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Asifi left Kabul with her…
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