On February 10, 2012, a 23-yr old Saudi journalist was arrested upon entering Kuala Lumpur airport in Malaysia. The young writer was fleeing Saudi Arabia, having gotten himself in serious trouble from a tweet made on his Twitter account. Hamza Kashgari wrote on his Twitter account “I have loved things about you and I have hated things about you and there is a lot I don’t understand about you.” This was posted on the prophet Mohammad’s birthday and followed up with Den ganzen Beitrag lesen »

A building that collapsed and killed 115 people in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake was apparently badly built and unsafe. The six-story Canterbury Television Building was judged to be poorly built in a report that took place back in 1986 by the Department of Building and Housing. In the report, load-bearing concrete columns were said to be under supported and not adequately reinforced by steel. The general building standards were also assessed to be well below today’s standards.

The building collapsed during the 2011 6.3 Den ganzen Beitrag lesen »

The Indonesian government is striking a blow against adultery, at least with its own employees, by changing the way in which they get paid. New legislation will see married male civil servants have their pay transferred to their wive’s bank accounts. This change comes after numerous complaints to the provincial Governor, Rusli Habibie, from angry wives who only receive enough money for daily food and do not have access to their husband’s finances.

With the possibility of Den ganzen Beitrag lesen »

The muslim community of Indonesia has taken an active role in environmental conservation. Their latest initiative may indeed be their most romantic. In the beautiful capital of Sumatra, Medan, all couples marrying are required to plant two trees together.

It is estimated that this will lead to more than two thousand more trees a month, and of course will naturally lead to the families of Sumatra treasuring their trees all the more highly. Upon registration each couple will receive two seedlings, which are theirs to plant where they choose.

Indonesia once had the largest forests in south-eastern Asia, but years Den ganzen Beitrag lesen »

The Hawkesbury Valley abattoir in Sydney, Australia was closed down in early February over allegations of animal cruelty. Secretly filmed footage shows a number of serious animal rights violations taking place within the abattoir, which cannot be tolerated under Australian law. Scenes of pigs being dragged around and beaten on the head with a metal bar, and inefficient stunning of animals before slaughter were enough for authorities to shut down the operation pending an investigation into practices.

Footage from Indonesian abattoirs showing animal cruelty resulted in Australia placing a ban on live exports a year ago in an attempt to Den ganzen Beitrag lesen »