STORY
Ramin knew this was the work of one man
The opium was already starting to lift Ramin up onto a sensual, cottony cloud when he was suddenly yanked back violently to earth. Mandana’ smiling, rosy face had morphed into that of an eye-less, decaying Fati. Fati, the seventh victim. Fati, poor Fati. She was not anonymous anymore. She had been a wife, a mother. Her son, Babak, had stood there staring at Ramin with hate, telling him he was a liar, that his mother was not dead, that she was waiting for him at Kuh Sangi Park. But Fati was dead, and it was up to Ramin to find who had killed her, and the others. Some among his force were already nicknaming her murderer the Spider Killer. A fitting name
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EMIGRANT
Accent is part of my former identity from which I can and should never escape
I always consider coming to America and experiencing the life in a foreign country as one of the major turning points of my life during which I matured quickly and learned how to manage my living personally. When I first came here, I was facing a lot of difficulties with the issues like language, cultural distinctions, Americans’ prejudice against Middle Easterners, and separation from my life. At first I dealt with a miserable sense of alienation and social rejection mainly because of my accent. I considered myself lower of the class compared to the native born Americans, and sometimes I was even afraid to talk because I was afraid of mispronouncing the words which, I thought, would make other people laugh at me
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RIGHTS
Chaos at Amnesty event, NIAC responds
On February 22, Amnesty International hosted a panel presentation and discussion titled, "Human Rights in Iran: How to Move Forward," in Beverly Hills, California. The event was disrupted by Mohammad Parvin’s MEHR-Iran organization, various monarchist factions, and members of the outlawed Iranian Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK); and was cancelled after the opening remarks. The Amnesty event featured four Iran specialists (including National Iranian American Council President, Trita Parsi), and was organized to highlight Iran’s abysmal human rights record. Amnesty International organizers hoped to use this event to initiate talks with the Iranian-American community in Southern California about Iran’s human rights situation
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PEACE
Alikhani was especially keen to see rapprochement between the U.S. and Iran
by Cyprus Mail
HOSSEIN Alikhani, an Iranian-born citizen of Cyprus who was a committed advocate of dialogue between civilisations, passed away this week after a long illness. He was 63. Alikhani was a successful businessman whose Nicosia company dealt in oilfield equipment. But he was best known as a passionate believer in the necessity for improved understanding between the peoples of the world, and in particular between Muslim countries and the West. To further this goal, he established in 1995 the Centre for World Dialogue, an independent, non-profit research institution that publishes a quarterly journal, Global Dialogue, and has hosted in Cyprus a series of international conferences
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