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West Asia
Turkish riot police occupy Taksim Square
Riot police cordoned off streets, set up roadblocks and fired tear gas and water cannon to prevent anti-government protesters from converging on Istanbul’s central Taksim Square on Sunday, unbowed even as Turkey’s prime minister addressed hundreds of thousands of supporters a few kilometers away. The contrasting scenes pointed to an…
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West Asia
Series of attacks in Iraq kill 51 people
A blistering string of apparently coordinated bombings and a shooting across Iraq killed at least 51 and wounded dozens Sunday, spreading fear throughout the country in a wave of violence that is raising the prospect of a return to widespread sectarian killing a decade after a U.S.-led invasion. Violence has…
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West Asia
Naurauz : Theatre for all Seasons
It had been a week of happiness for those who fall in love with theatre. The city is Kazan, the location is G. Kamal Tatar National Academic Theatre, and the event is the 11th edition of the International Theatre Festival of Turkic Peoples; Naurauz, with performances from 3 – 7…
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West Asia
Moderate candidate Rowhani elected as Iranian President
Iran’s newly elected reformist-backed president said Sunday that the country’s dire economic problems cannot be solved “overnight,” as he took his first steps in consulting with members of the clerically dominated establishment on his new policies. Hasan Rowhani’s surprise victory in Friday’s elections puts him in charge of an executive…
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West Asia
A Yemeni man condemns security forces that kill 4 protesters
Yemeni security officials say thousands have protested in the capital against “excesses” by security forces, calling for the overthrow of the president and national security apparatus. The demonstration came during the funeral of 13 Shiite protesters who were killed in clashes with police last Sunday. The protesters had been demanding…
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West Asia
Turkish PM Erdogan meets protersters to end Gezi Park sit-in
Turkey’s prime minister was meeting with anti-government protesters early Friday, hours after giving them his “final warning” to end their occupation of a central Istanbul park that has become a flashpoint for the largest political crisis of his 10-year rule. If the talks break down, an eventual police intervention to…
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West Asia
93,000 people confirmed dead in Syria’s civil war, UN says
April 17, 2013 file citizen journalism image provided by Aleppo Media Center AMC which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows a mass burial of people allegedly killed by Syrian Army snipers, in Aleppo, Syria. Syria’s upwardly spiraling violence has resulted in the confirmed killings…
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West Asia
Iranian reformist leaders unite behind moderate presidential candidate
Iran’s presidential race lost one more candidate Tuesday but gained a new script: reformist leaders uniting behind relative moderate Hasan Rowhani to boost his once-improbable shot at victory. Former presidents Mohammad Khatami and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani fell behind Rowhani after a rival moderate bowed out in attempts to consolidate reform-minded…
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West Asia
Iraq and Kuwait sign agreements to strengthen economic ties
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, background right, and his Kuwait counterpart Sheikh Jaber Al Mubarak Al Hamad Al Sabah, background left, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, foreground right, and Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheik Sabah Khalid Al Hamad Al Sabah, foreground left, sign agreements in Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, June 12, 2013.…
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South Asia
Pakistani boys work at brick factory on World Day Against Child Labor
Pakistani boys work at a brick factory on World Day Against Child Labor in eastern Pakistan’s Lahore on June 12, 2013. The International Labor Organization launched the World Day Against Child Labor in 2002, which falls on each June 12. <Xinhua/NEWSis/Sajjad>
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