The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Eritrea, Sheila B. Keetharuth, today called on the international community to keep Eritrea under close scrutiny until meaningful change is evident in the country. “Blatant disrespect for human rights in Eritrea is unacceptable,” Ms. Keetharuth stressed after a ten-day mission to Ethiopia and Djibouti to collect first-hand information dir ...

BANGKOK: A Philippines woman who fled Saudi Arabia and is currently receiving therapy after experiencing sexual abuse at the hands of her sponsor for 8 months recently sat down with Bikyanews.com to talk about the situation she faced and what other domestic workers from Southeast Asia can do in order to see abuse before it happens. T, who asked not to be named, said her experience is "similar" to other wome ...

Following on from the success of the first two programmes, run in 2011 and 2012, today Orange (http://www.orange.com) is launching the third Orange African Social Venture Prize. The project promotes social innovations in support of development that use Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Orange, which is present in 18 African countries and boasts over 70 million customers, is seeking to becom ...

DUBAI: Optimism is still bounding in Kuwait after the Institute of International Finance (IIF) revised down its economic growth outlook for the UAE to 3.6 percent for 2013, from a previous forecast of 4.8 percent. In 2013, the IIF also predicted that the whole GCC economic growth will stand at 3.8 percent from the 5.8 percent it predicted in 2012. It also expected that the GCC will retain financial balance ...

DUBAI: Dubai traffic police are seeing an increase in the number of Saudi women seeking to obtain drivers' licenses in the city and other cities within the United Arab Emirates. Dubai Chief of Police Lt. Gen. Dhahi Khalfan said police are receiving driving-license applications from Saudi women wanting to drive in Dubai and other cities, although he noted the number of requests are not particularly high. He ...

NEW DELHI: A day after Chitrangada Singh slammed reports that she and her golfer husband Jyoti Randhawa were looking to to divorce, media were ablaze with questions after she has pulled out of a local fashion show in Dubai. The Desi Boyz star was set to be the showstopper for Indian designer Archana Kocchar on May 27 at Dubai’s Atlantis, The Palm. “Due to family issues, Chitrangada has pulled out of the eve ...

CAIRO: In a visit to Cairo, Special Assistant to the President and White House Coordinator for the Middle East Philip Gordon reaffirmed the importance of bilateral relations and U.S. support for Egypt’s transition to democracy. The top US official highlighted Egypt’s role in “promoting regional peace and security”, in his meeting with Egyptian government representatives, businessmen and political party and ...

CAIRO: Egypt's top prosecutor ordered on Tuesday the release of a Coptic schoolteacher accused of contempt of Islam on a bail of EGP 20,000, pending investigations. Demyana Emad, a 23-year-old social studies teacher, was arrested last week for complaints filed against her by her students and their parents, accusing her of insulting Islam and spreading Christian teachings. The Upper Egypt Luxor prosecution h ...

LAGOS: Militants from the Boko Haram Islamist group have told Bikyanews.com that they are in the midst of planning a new round of attacks on "special targets" in the country that they say will be a "major return" to the political scene after months of silence. Speaking via telephone to Bikyanews.com, the militant group affirmed that they had not dissolved. "We are as strong as ever and will be ready to cont ...

LONDON: An American man was arrested in Russia over night and has been accused of being a covert operative for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Russian officials told Bikyanews.com that they will hold the man until they learn the full extent of his mission in the country. "We have arrested an American posing as a diplomat but really a CIA spy. This action is unacceptable for Russia and we will not all ...