SHAFAQNA

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – The Information Center at the Ministry of Health in Ramallah said that cancer was the second-leading cause of death in Palestine during the last year, after heart disease. Cancer had been the third-leading cause of death for many years. The Information Center at the Ministry of Health issued a statement in February 2013 according to which 12.4% of the total deaths in Palestine were caused by cancer in 2011, compared to a rate of…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) –Thousands of Palestinian prisoners refused breakfast Wednesday, according to Israeli Prisons Service spokeswoman Sivan Weizman, in what is believed to be a renewed mass hunger strike. At least four riots broke out in Israeli jails after news of a Palestinian prisoner’s death leaked Tuesday, Weizman told AFP. Nearly 4,600 Palestinians – the approximate number of the prisoner population – then turned down a meal, she added. Israel’s Jerusalem Post said that guards at Ramon responded with…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – Palestinians are expected to hold a general strike and observe a day of mourning following the death of a Palestinian prisoner in an Israeli jail due to lack of medical attention. People across the Palestinian territories will join the strike on Wednesday, a day after the death of Maisarah Abu Hamdiah, a 64-year-old prisoner, who had been suffering from throat cancer. Acting Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas has blamed the Israeli regime for refusing…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – In an effort to defuse tension caused by Islamophobic blogs, a group of Muslim scholars have submitted a list of bloggers accused of insulting Islam and Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessing be upon him) to the Bangladeshi government. “We met a group of Islamic scholars (today),” Mainuddin Khandakar, head of a committee formed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to take action against anti-Islam bloggers, told Xinhua news agency. “One (scholar) gave us a list…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – At least 12 people including security forces have been killed in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, and the city of Tikrit as violence rages on in the Arab nation. On Monday, at least 9 people lost their lives after a bomber blew up his explosive-laden vehicle near a police station in the city of Tikrit, some 170 kilometers north of the capital. Over 18 others were injured in the massive bombing. Medical sources say six…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – Iran commemorates the 34th anniversary of the referendum in which Iranians voted for the establishment of the Islamic Republic following the collapse of the US-backed Pahlavi regime. In a two-day referendum held on March 30-31 after the 1979 victory of the Islamic Revolution, over 98.2 percent of the Iranians voted “yes” to the establishment of an Islamic Republic. Addressing a Sunday cabinet meeting in Tehran, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the day, Farvardin 12…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, has met with the emir of Qatar to discuss plans for the Taliban to open an office in the Gulf state. He discussed "issues of mutual interest" with Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the state news agency QNA said, without elaborating on the substanec of their talks. The meeting was also attended by the Qatari prime minister, Hamad bin Jassem Al Thani. He also held talks with Qatar's…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – Egypt’s most popular television satirist, who every week skewers the Islamist president and hard-line clerics on his Jon Stewart-style “Daily Show,” was released on bail Sunday but could face charges of insulting the country’s leader and Islam. Bassem Youssef is the most prominent critic of President Mohammed Morsi to be called in for questioning in recent weeks, in what the opposition says is a campaign to intimidate critics amid wave after wave of political…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) -- In a bazaar in central Damascus a young man approaches, clearly agitated, maybe even angry. "Here, look at this," he says. "This is for Syria." Around his neck in Arabic script is a bold, five-inch long tattoo, so fresh that his skin is still healing. It is simply a name: "Bashar al-Assad". The regime under whose rule Syria is steadily disintegrating still has plenty of supporters in Damascus. But few people have either the…

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) -- Egypt's top prosecutor has ordered the arrest of the Middle East's most popular TV satirist for allegedly insulting both Islam and the Egyptian president. The case has heightened concerns about the future of free speech in Egypt, as it comes only a day after nine opposition activists and four lawyers were arrested in Alexandria – and less than a week after five prominent activists were cited for encouraging protests against theMuslim Brotherhood, whose affiliates lead Egypt's…