4. Britain, 1984: Breaking the bank: Graffiti artists put a stop to investment in Apartheid. In Oxford and other British university cities, an unusual set of graffiti appeared above pairs of Barclays Bank cash dispensers in 1984. Above one ATM was spray-painted the word BLACKS. Above the other: WHITES ONLY. The graffiti changed nothing, of […]

3. Ireland, 1880: The strange and spirited legacy of the Boycott family. “Boycott” is a widely understood form of social, economic, and political action. Everybody now takes the word for granted. But where does the word come from? Once upon a time there was Captain Charles Cunningham Boycott. He was a much-disliked land agent for […]

2. Uruguay, 1973-1985: The not-so-innocent one-liner that shamed an entire regime. The military junta that ruled Uruguay from 1973 was intolerant in the extreme. Hundreds of thousands fled into exile. Political opponents were jailed. Torture was a regular occurrence. On occasion, even concerts of classical music were seen as subversive threats. But a remarkable small […]

Václav Havel called it “the power of the powerless.” How regular people, from Denmark to Liberia, have stood up to power—and won. by Steve Crawshaw, John Jackson posted Apr 01, 2011 The Arab spring of 2011 has already changed the region and the world. Ordinary people have lost their fear and shattered the perception that […]

Thursday, Mar. 31, 2011 By Joe Klein Fadi Quran is the face of the new Middle East. He is 23, a graduate of Stanford University, with a double major in physics and international relations. He is a Palestinian who has returned home to start an alternative-energy company and see what he can do to help […]

March 15, 2011 In September 1996, when Kamila Sidiqi was a teenager, the Taliban overtook Kabul. Sidiqi’s father and a brother had to flee for political reasons, leaving Sidiqi to care for her family. The Taliban soon forbade women to work outside the home or to attend school, and if a woman did not have […]

Mohammed Wajihuddin, TNN, Feb 25, 2011, 07.18am IST MUMBAI: Thanks to a fresh initiative to tutor the imams, Friday sermons in several mosques in the city will be more inclusive. Imams who lead namaz five times a day and also deliver Friday khutba (sermons) command respect. But fed stories about Muslim persecution, real and imaginary, […]

Christians protecting Muslims during their prayers in Tahrir yesterday. Their turn to repay the favor after Muslims turned up to protect Coptic churches on their Christmas Mass after the Alexandria bombing. In the darkness, we find the meaning of light… Striking photos of unity have emerged from the chaos in Egypt as Christian protesters stood […]

An inspiring story about a man who has saved 160 lives just by offering people cups of tea The famous ocean cliff in Sydney’s east, The Gap, is surrounded by multimillion dollar properties and is home to some of Australia’s wealthiest people. However the scenic locale has become an infamous landmark because of its reputation […]

HE’S a battler from Sydney’s west, a factory worker whose dream is to win a share in Lotto and take his wife on her first overseas holiday. But Ghazi Adra could also be the state’s most honest man — finding $50,000 cash on a train seat, then handing it straight to police. The money — […]

17/01/2011 Nagwa Raouf has written a message, following the massacre in front of the Coptic church on New Year’s Eve in Egypt, and sent it by email to her Christian friends in Egypt and Lebanon. In its original Arabic form, it was published by the Lebanese newspaper Al-Nahar (probably the most important Lebanese daily) on […]

Egypt Muslims to act as “human shields” at Coptic Christmas Eve mass Nourhan El-Abbassy, Thursday 6 Jan 2011 Coptic Churches around the country expect an influx of Egyptian Muslims to share with the country’s Christians their Christmas Eve mass “Although 2011 started tragically, I feel it will be a year of eagerly anticipated change, where […]