Posted on 19 May 2010
Tags: Anna, Anthony, BBC, being held hostage, brother, CDN, christian, german foreign ministry, Germany, Guardian, humanitarian gesture, Johannes Hentschel, Lydia, Netherlands, News, Saada, secessionist movement, Simon, Yemen, yemeni security forces
Two Christian girls, aged 3 and 5 years old, were rescued recently after being held hostage in Yemen for 11 months, according to Compass Direct News .
The girls, Lydia hentschel, 3, and Anna, 5, were rescued through a collaboration of Saudi Arabian and Yemeni security forces in what was described as a “humanitarian gesture” the BBC reported.
They were kidnapped with their parents and two-year-old brother while on a picnic in the northern region of Saada in June last year, according to the BBC.
Also kidnapped were four other Christian foreigners. Three of the adult hostages, a Korean and two German women, were murdered shortly afterwards, the BBC reported. Read more... (336 words, 1 image, estimated 1:21 mins reading time)
Posted on 02 May 2010
Tags: amnesty international, Austria, ban, Belgium, Brussels, burka, France, human rights group, italy, Netherlands, Nicolas Sarkozy, niqab, oppression of women, Parliament, president nicolas sarkozy, sun, Switzerland, Vancouver
Belgium’s recent decision to ban the burka has stirred the interest of some similarly inclined European countries, even as it has wreaked the ire of the human rights group Amnesty international, The Vancouver Sun reported.
On Thursday night Belgium’s parliament voted to prohibit the burka, which covers a woman’s entire face and body, and leaves just slits for the eyes. The face veil niqab is also banned. The measure, which was approved by a 136 to zero votes with two abstentions, is intended to help fight terrorism. Read more... (388 words, 1 image, estimated 1:33 mins reading time)
Posted on 11 January 2010
Tags: death with dignity, Montana, Netherlands, physician-assisted suicide
The Montana Supreme Court has decided that nothing in the state’s laws would prevent a resident from seeking physician-assisted suicide.
In 2008, a lower court judge ruled that Montana’s constitutional right to privacy law guarantees the right for terminally ill patients to ask their doctors for death drugs.
A “Montana Death with Dignity Act” has been proposed.
Although the Montana Supreme Court declared that there is no such guarantee in the Constitution (case of Baxter v Montana, Dec. 2009); the Court also stated that public debate should continue, and the final move toward physician assisted suicide would be made through the democratic voting process. Read more... (561 words, 1 image, estimated 2:15 mins reading time)
