Today, Syrian forces assaulted the city of Homs, killing 50 people. With more than 200 people killed over the weekend one activist called this "the most violent bombardment in recent days." Catherine al-Talli, a member in the Syrian National Council, said the 50 killed were "mostly civilians" and that "the regime is acting as if it were immune to international intervention and has a free hand to use violence against ...

On Tuesday, the Berkley Center for Religious Peace & World Affairs at Georgetown University hosted a discussion on the book Silenced: How Apostasy & Blasphemy Codes are Choking Freedom Worldwide. The speakers were the authors Paul Marshall, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute Center for Religious Freedom, and Nina Shea, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and director of the Center for Religious Freedom. The discussion was moderated ...

Bahraini detainees and human rights activists convicted of involvement in anti-government demonstrations have begun a hunger strike today. The 14 prominent activists and opposition leaders began the strike "in solidarity with pro-democracy protests and in protest against the brutal crackdown," said the leader of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR), Mohammed al-Maskati.  The hunger strike was initiated in protest of Bahrain’s interior minister, Lt. Gen. Sheik Rashid bin Abdullah Al ...

On Wednesday, the U.S. Institute of Peace hosted an event highlighting the success of “Salam Shabab,” an Iraqi TV show that just premiered its first season. A screening of the final episode of the show was then followed by a brief lecture by Marsha Williams, President at Harvest Research Group and then a panel discussion with Brett Pierce, Co-Executive Producer and former Sesame Workshop Producer, Hussam Hadi, Producer of Salam Shabab, and ...

Representatives Chris Murphy (D-CT) introduced a resolution with David Dreier (R-CA), Russ Carnahan (D-MO) and David Price (D-NC) applauding Tunisia's peaceful "Jasmine Revolution." The resolution praised Tunisia's peaceful "Jasmine Revolution" as "the first of several movements throughout the Middle East and North Africa and inspired democracy and human rights activist throughout the region and around the world." The elections on October 23, 2011 were considered "the first competitive, multi-party democratic election of the ...

Thomas Lippman, reporting for the New York Times, said, "Saudi women shatter the lingerie ceiling." The Ministry of Labor enforced a Saudi royal decree, issued last summer, mandating sales personnel in women's apparel and cosmetic shops to be female. Saudi Labour Minister, Adel Faqih, declared, "this is an order from the King ... All preparations are under way to fully implement this decision." The Ministry of Labor reported that more than 28,000 women ...

In less than a month after U.S. troops exited the country Iraq's government appears in turmoil. Barham Salih, Prime Minister of the autonomous northern Kurdish region, said the internal conflicts are "tearing the country apart," with the new motto being, "I'll have him for lunch before they have me for dinner." Over the past several months, the security services, under Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, have incarcerated more than 1,000 members ...

On Friday, the Women's Foreign Policy Group hosted a panel on the relationship of the United States and Egypt by examining what the ruling leadership of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) means for the future of Egyptian society, and U.S. policy. The speaker was Michele Dunne, director of the Atlantic Council's Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East. The panel was moderated by Patricia Ellis, president of ...

In December, 2011, IREX, in partnership with the Centre for Law and Democracy, published the report Freedoms in Iraq: an Increasingly Repressive Legal Net, detailing five pieces of legislation affecting the freedoms of assembly and expression in Iraq. The Journalists Rights Law is the only one passed into law as of August 2011, while the other four – the Commission of Media and Communication Law, Informatics Crimes Law, Political Parties Law and ...

On Wednesday, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace hosted a panel on Egypt's military custodianship and their upcoming role in the civilian governmental transition to power. The speaker was Yezid Sayigh, a senior associate at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut. The panel was moderated by Marina Ottaway, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.   For full event notes, continue reading below. Or, click here for the ...