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What is Ashura? How this Shiite Muslim holiday inspires millions0
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- September 15, 2019
Noorzehra Zaidi, University of Maryland, Baltimore County 15 September 2019 Tens of millions of Shiite Muslims from around the world will visit Iraq on Sept. 10 this year to see the shrines of Hussain, grandson of Prophet Mohammed, and his brother Abbas on the day of “Ashura.” This annual pilgrimage marks the 10th day of
READ MOREIndian Moon probe’s failure won’t stop an Asian space race that threatens regional security0
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- September 10, 2019
Wendy Whitman Cobb, US Air Force School of Advanced Air and Space Studies On Sept. 7, India’s Chandrayaan-2 lunar mission deployed its Vikram lander for an attempted landing at the Moon’s south pole. Communications with the lander were lost just minutes prior to the scheduled landing. Recent imaging suggests that Vikram may have survived the
READ MOREKashmir: how Modi’s aggressive ‘Hindutva’ project has brought India and Pakistan to the brink – again1
- Blog
- September 9, 2019
Abdullah Yusuf, University of Dundee September 9, 2019 August is immensely important in the history of the Asian subcontinent, marking the month that India and Pakistan gained independence from the British in 1947. Now, in 2019, it has once again proved momentous, when, ten days before India’s Independence day celebrations, prime minister Narendra Modi’s government
READ MORERohingyas: Citizens of nowhere0
- Blog
- August 21, 2019
The Conversation UK August 22nd, 2019 Photo: Reuters One million Rohingya still without rights, status or justice This month marks the second anniversary of Rohingya refugees fleeing into Bangladesh following a brutal crackdown by Myanmar’s security forces. A predominantly Muslim ethnic minority from the Rakhine state of Buddhist Myanmar, the Rohingya have been called the
READ MOREExplaining ‘Rakshabandhan’ – a Hindu festival that celebrates the brother-sister bond0
- Blog
- August 15, 2019
Mathew Schmalz, College of the Holy Cross This year, Wednesday, Aug. 14 marks one of the most important celebrations for Hindus throughout the world: Rakshabandhan, a ceremony honoring the bond between sisters and brothers. The date of Rakshabandan varies from year to year since Hindus follow a lunar calendar for religious celebrations. During Rakshabandhan, sisters
READ MOREHow a British royal’s monumental errors made India’s partition more painful0
- Blog
- August 14, 2019
Adil Najam, Boston University 14 August 2019 The midnight between August 14 and 15, 1947, was one of history’s truly momentous moments: It marked the birth of Pakistan, an independent India and the beginning of the end of an era of colonialism. It was hardly a joyous moment: A botched process of partition saw the
READ MOREDhaka, Bangladesh;What sort of ‘development’ has no place for a billion slum dwellers?0
- Blog
- August 2, 2019
Tanzil Shafique, University of Melbourne 2 August 2019 Imagine a community of 200,000. Convivial, walkable, six times the density of Manhattan but with a smaller ecological footprint. It provides low-cost services and affordable housing mixed with productive uses such as recycling, farming and trading. It’s a city within a city. But the streets aren’t wide
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The Muslim Hajj: A spiritual pilgrimage with political overtones1
- Blog
- August 1, 2019
Ken Chitwood, University of Florida 1 August 2019 Nearly 2 million Muslims will gather in the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia on Aug. 9 for an annual pilgrimage known as the hajj. The five-day journey is a once-in-a-lifetime obligation for all Muslims who are physically and financially able to undertake it. It is
READ MOREWhy Afghanistan peace is key to rebuilding relations between the US and Pakistan0
- Blog
- July 29, 2019
Scott Lucas, University of Birmingham and Umer Karim, University of Birmingham 29 July 2019 At times, the press conference in the White House was surreal. While Imran Khan, Pakistan’s prime minister, looked on, Donald Trump said he could “kill 10m people” in Afghanistan to “win a war within a week”, but had decided not to.
READ MOREWorld Bank ruling against Pakistan shows global economic governance is broken0
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- July 26, 2019
Kyla Tienhaara, Queen’s University, Ontario 27 July 2019 It’s been a rough month for Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan. It started off with the International Monetary Fund approving a US$6 billion dollar loan to the country. The strict conditions on the loan meant that instead of expanding the welfare state, Khan’s government had to impose
READ MOREWithout school, a ‘lost generation’ of Rohingya refugee children face uncertain future0
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- July 25, 2019
Rubayat Jesmin, Binghamton University, State University of New York The boy’s eyes lit up when he talked about his dream of becoming a doctor. Seven-year-old “Mohammad” – not his real name – is a Rohingya Muslim from Myanmar. I met him at a learning center at a refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, in early
READ MOREIran: what the law of the sea says about detaining foreign ships in transit0
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- July 23, 2019
Andrew Serdy, University of Southampton 22 July 2019 With the British ship the Stena Impero now detained in an Iranian port, under investigation for its alleged transgression against navigation regulations in the Strait of Hormuz, there are several legally curious aspects to this affair. So far, the Iranian authorities have given only scant detail of
READ MORETehreek-e-Labbaik: how blasphemy case in Pakistan brought down hardline religious party0
- Blog
- July 19, 2019
Abdullah Yusuf, University of Dundee 19 July 2019 Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian and farm labourer, was beaten by a mob and arrested for blasphemy in June 2009 after being accused of insulting the Prophet Muhammad during an argument. She maintained her innocence throughout the trial the following year, but was sentenced to death. Almost
READ MOREWhy the United States rejects international criminal justice: looking back at Nuremberg0
- Blog
- July 3, 2019
Guillaume Mouralis, Humboldt University of Berlin “Today is my second happiest day in government.” With these words, Donald Trump’s national security advisor, John R. Bolton, hailed the decision by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to abandon its inquiry into possible breaches of international human rights laws in Afghanistan, the New York Times reported on April
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