A blog by Raza Galani.

likeafieldmouse:

Ward Roberts - Courts (2012)

(via this-charming-girl)

awkwardsituationist:

gmb akash documents the 350 kilometre journey from dhaka to sylhet, bangladesh made by those who, unable to afford the price of a ticket or find room to ride inside, risk death by traveling atop and between train cars

globalpost:

NEED TO KNOW

Afghans in charge. As of today, Afghanistan is officially responsible for its own security. Afghan police and soldiers formally took over from NATO troops at a ceremony this morning, marking the first time in more than 20 years that goverment forces have been in charge of maintaining security throughout the whole of Afghanistan.

Analysts say the main significance of today’s handover—the final step in a process begun two years ago—is symbolic rather than practical. If so, another powerful symbol came with it: just as the Afghan army’s watch was beginning, Kabul was picking up the pieces of another suicide bombing that left three more people dead.

WANT TO KNOW

Occupy Brazil. Another day, another protest. But Brazil’s are bigger than most, and growing. Like many things, it started small: people in Sao Paulo didn’t like being asked to pay an extra 9 cents for a bus ride. Like many things, it got big: by last night, rallies had spread to as many as 11 cities, including Brasilia and Rio. Some 200,000 people took part, decrying everything from poor public services to corruption, police violence to the cost of the 2014 soccer World Cup.

They’re calling them Brazil’s biggest protests in 20 years. The government says everyone has a right to protest peacefully—so long as it doesn’t disrupt next year’s sporting bonanza, or indeed the smaller Confederations Cup going on right now. 

Unoccupy Turkey. Turkish police have arrested more than 100 people they accuse of violence during ongoing anti-government protests. Reports say dozens of houses were targeted in police raids this morning, as well as the offices of two media organizations.

More than two weeks into the rallies, authorities have stepped up their efforts to clear protesters out of their hub in central Istanbul. The crowds in Taksim Square are smaller now, but some still remain. Among them, one man who stood for eight hours without moving or speaking in a silent protest against the government’s crackdown. They call him “Standing Man.”

You’re never too old to be guilty. Prosecutors in Hungary have charged a 98-year-old man, Laszlo Csatary, with assisting Nazi war crimes. He is accused of torturing, murdering and helping to deport more than 15,000 Jews as a Nazi police officer during World War Two. 

Missing since 1997, Csatary was the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s most-wanted Nazi suspect until he was tracked down in Budapest last year. He denies committing the horrors he’s accused of. Prosecutors face a race against time to prove otherwise; his trial is expected to start within three months.

STRANGE BUT TRUE

How do you solve a problem like misogyny? Simple: get rid of women. That’s the solution one Egyptian TV network has hit upon, anyway. Its new soap opera, ‘Coffee Shop,’ will feature an all-male cast in the interests of “cleaner art.”

Al Hafez, the channel behind the drama, is one of Egypt’s new Salafi broadcasters, devoted to promoting an austere version of Islam that seeks to imitate the lifestyle of the Prophet Muhammad and early Muslims. Its says its new, 15-episode comedy show with not a single female role is exactly the kind of thing pious Egyptians want to watch. Now, we’re no producers—but we don’t see ‘Desperate Househusbands’ topping the ratings any time soon.

globalpost:

NEED TO KNOW

The Gr8 debate. A Russian, an American and a Brit walk into a summit. Hilarity doesn’t ensue, but some awkward conversations might. The heads of eight of the world’s most powerful countries have descended on Northern Ireland for this year’s G8 conference, where the word on everyone’s lips will be “Syria.”

Barack Obama is squaring up for a face-off with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, who, to put it mildly, does not share the US president’s belief that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons and therefore rebels should receive Western military aid. UK Prime Minister David Cameron is playing the peacemaker and pushing for internationally brokered talks — though his fellow leaders might have difficulty trusting their host amid allegations that the last time the UK laid on a summit, its spooks spied on all the guests. What we wouldn’t give to be a fly on the wall when that comes up! You can bet someone else will be.

WANT TO KNOW

Turkey goes on strike. As many as 800,000 workers will down tools today, after two of Turkey’s trade union federations called a nationwide strike in protest at a police crackdown on demonstrators occupying Istanbul’s Gezi Park. Doctors, engineers and dentists have said they’ll join the strike too.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan can consider himself defied, having announced last night that protests against his government were “nothing more than the minority’s attempt to dominate the majority,” and could not and would not be allowed. More than two weeks of tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets has so far failed to stop them.

North Korea will have to try harder than that. The US is playing it cool in response to an overture from the secretive regime, calling for something a little more concrete than“nice words” before it agrees to sit at a negotiating table.

North Korea’s offer of talks with the US came days after it failed to pull off a high-level meeting with South Korea due to a spat over which delegates should attend. If Pyongyang can’t agree on a guest list with its nearest neighbor, it’s unlikely to satisfy Washington’s conditions: US officials say North Korea must take steps toward scrapping its nuclear program before any “credible” negotiations can take place.

Monsoon too soon. The rains have come early to India this year, promising a bumper crop for farmers and devastation for others. The summer monsoon hit this weekend, at least two weeks before it usually arrives. 

The downpour has already caused floods and landslides in northern states, where more than 20 people are reported dead, scores more missing and thousands stranded by the sudden torrents. Meteorologists warn the rains will continue for another three days at least.

STRANGE BUT TRUE

Help! Vladimir Putin stole my Super Bowl ring. So claimed the owner of the New England Patriots, Robert Kraft, who recently told an audience that the Russian president pocketed his NFL trophy after a 2005 meet-and-greet in St. Petersburg. The empty-handed Kraft was forced to cover by telling people he’d given the $25,000 diamond ring to Putin, he said, after the George W. Bush administration refused to intervene.

A Kremlin spokesman has since denied the story and offered to send Kraft some replacement jewelry, “if” — and here’s the sinister part – “the gentleman is really experiencing such excruciating pain from his loss.” Better watch your back, Bob.

globalpost:

NEED TO KNOW

Iran will get a new president, oh yes, it will. Today, for the first time since 2009 and its ultimately doomed “Green Revolution,” Iranians are voting to decide who will lead their government for the next four years. One thing’s for sure: it won’t be Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Just how new the new president will be, though, is doubtful. With only six candidates remaining after two pulled out, and those left almost exclusively alligned with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s voters might just find themselves replacing Ahmadinejad with Ahmadinejad 2.0. And don’t expect a Green Revolution 2.0 to follow: according to observers, the powerful Khamenei has spent months intensifying repression to prevent a repeat of 2009.

Comrades in arms. The US has announced that it will send direct military aid to Syrian rebels, after obtaining what it believes is proof that President Bashar al-Assad’s forces have used chemical weapons against them.

Other countries that have been waiting for just that cue, including the UK, have welcomed the decision. UN officials, the 93,000 deaths the war has already caused fresh in their minds, remain cautious; and in Russia, the only major country still fighting anywhere near Assad’s corner, at least one lawmaker has reminded the US that it once justified another intervention by claiming, wrongly, that Saddam Hussein had chemical weapons in Iraq.

WANT TO KNOW

Gezi Park is safe—for now. Turkey’s government has agreed to suspend plans to redevelop Istanbul’s beloved park, at least until a court rules whether or not the scheme is legal. And even if they decide it is, Ankara assures, the public will still be given a chance to vote it down.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the decision after late-night talks with a delegation of protesters. The group described the proposal as “positive”—but aren’t due to give their final verdict until later today.

Don’t go West, young man. Edward Snowden is persona non grata in the UK, according to a travel warning issued by the British government. London has reportedly ordered airports around the world not to let the American whistleblower onto any Britain-bound planes.

Snowden’s options certainly look limited, though he’s not making many efforts to keep off the authorities’ radar. Holed up in Hong Kong, he’s been throwing around accusations that the US government regularly hacks Chinese computers—accusations that risk getting him in trouble with his temporary hosts. Here’s why the now infamous leaker might be wise to keep his mouth shut. 

And the world’s top tourist city is… Bangkok? With no coastline, gridlocked streets, stray dogs aplenty and regular monsoon deluges, the Thai capital doesn’t seem like a likely candidate for the world’s most visited city. And yet Bangkok is projected to attract 15.9 million tourists in 2013, putting it ahead of even vacation mainstays London and Paris. 

GlobalPost tracks down what makes Bangkok everyone’s new favorite destination. 

STRANGE BUT TRUE

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, and it’s not Superman either: it’s Capitan Mengano, or “Captain Everyman,” Argentina’s very own homegrown superhero. Masked and be-caped, he patrols the streets of Buenos Aires fightin’ crime and makin’ the ladies swoon.

Watch him in action here. Like any true superhero, his true identity is a secret; so any mild-mannered reporters out there, keep that shirt buttoned, those glasses on, and the Y-frontsinside your pants.