… not really a new thing, but I guess when you work for a newspaper calling something “new” is the only way to justify publishing it. In Bahrain, women are employing the Quran to combat patriarchal rule. This sort of Islamic feminism, so called, could be accurately described as a call to uphold the spirit […]
Yahoo purchased Maktoob.com today. Yahoo expects Maktoob, which began as the first Arabic-language email provider, to permit it access to the Arab market. It hasn’t had terribly good luck expanding into that sector thus far, and acquiring a locally developed business may be a more effective way to do so. Very exciting for Maktoob … […]
A conflict is escalating between Israel and its long time enemy Sweden… What?!?!?! A previously irrelevant Swedish newspaper published an article last week accusing the Israeli military of harvesting Palestinian organs. The Israeli government condemned the publication as antisemtic and requested an apology from the Swedish government alongside a formal censure of the article. Many […]
The mediating role of the United States in the Israel-Palestine peace plan seems to -slowly- be picking up steam. President Obama met with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Following the latter meeting, Obama called Jordanian King Abdullah and now sent the U.S. regional envoy George Mitchell […]
President Ahmadinejad’s cabinet picks are both progressive and hard-line. His choices upset both the clerics and the West. On one hand, Ahmadinejad is breaking a taboo by appointing three women ministers to the cabinet. On the other hand, he is continuing the same anti-West attitude by appointing a minister accused of bombing a Jewish center […]
A man closely linked with the group Fatah al-Islam has been recaptured by Lebanese authorities after a day on the run. According to the Associated Press, “Eight members of an Islamic militant group sawed bars off their cell windows in a high-security Lebanese prison on Tuesday, scaled down the building using blankets tied together, then […]
Two examples from South Africa of people getting ahead of themselves: Some South Africans, including Local Organizing Committee chair Irvin Khoza, fear that South Africans are not catching World Cup fever. This strikes me as a pretty groundless concern. I was in South Africa during the Confederations Cup and saw plenty of spirit and came […]
At the Council on Foreign Relations Bronwyn Bruton, a CFR International Affairs Fellow in residence, argues that the United States needs to ensure stability in Ethiopia as part of its strategy for dealing with the crisis in Somalia, where rebels just rejected a plea for peace during Ramadan. The interconnectedness of regional politics in Africa […]
The good news: Nigerian rebel leaders from the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) followed through on their agreement to hand over weapons this weekend in exchange for an amnesty from the government. The bad news: Not all of the rebels agreed, and at least one faction of MEND not only rejected […]
On August 16th a staff person from the Colombian Consulate and between 20 and 30 Colombian migrants were detained by the police in Caracas. Despite diplomatic immunities, consular documents and a computer were also confiscated. The Consulate was carrying out a documentation exercise for residents of the barrio Catía. Although accused of not receiving authorization […]
Today, the head of the Indonesian police, Chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri, stated that there was no assassination plot against Obama, contradicting August 20th statements by Indonesian Center for Intelligence and National Security analyst Dynno Chressbon. Other analyst have been critical of Chressbon’s contention that Jihadis had planned to assassinate Obama at the National Airport, because […]
Quoting from a 2005 World Bank study, the Center for Research & Security Studies has identified the coming crisis of water in Pakistan. This report, which is titled Pakistan Will Cry for Water, describes how Pakistan is changing from ‘water scarce’ country to ‘waster stressed’ country. The report goes on to describe that lack of […]
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