The International Herald Tribune has posted a rather strange account from the Associated Press about how the hostages were freed. Apparently after ten days of driving around the desert to escape detection from Libyan, Chadian, Sudanese, and Egyptian security forces the kidnappers told the tourists to pile into an SUV and drive. According to some […]
The mood about the negotiations in Zimbabwe whiplashes between blinkered optimism and dire pessimism almost daily. The latest is that the negotiations are dead in the water with the sticking point continuing to be the composition of the cabinet. Robert Mugabe and ZANU-PF continue to deny that stalemate has set in, but Morgan Tsvangirai and the MDC […]
AP reports that women in Saudi Arabia can now find abayas with designs on them for purchase in local boutiques. Jeddah leads the charge for most stylish abayas available. The transition of these abayas from taboo to mainstream is a mystery (at least to this writer): No one really knows why or how it became […]
Given the levels of political unrest throughout Africa there is something almost quaint about the straightforward avarice of the pirates off the Somali coast who admit in an interview that their primary motivation is money. [Somali pirates in small boats hijacked the Faina, a Belize-flagged cargo ship owned and operated by Kaalbye Shipping Ukraine, on […]
Security forces in Nigeria have arrested nearly 450 suspected militants involved with the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) in the oil rich Niger Delta, though a number of prominent members of MEND avoided capture. The militants had agreed to a cease fire on September 21 but before that had engaged in […]
KARACHI, Oct 1 (IPS) – As the Muslim holy month of Ramadan draws to a close, the shopping frenzy around Pakistan increases in preparation for Eid, the joyous three-day festival of thanksgiving to celebrate the end of a period of abstinence, including dawn-to-dusk fasting. But preparations for the Eid festivities in this predominantly Muslim South […]
After Monday's worst day of trading in eight years, Mexico's market rallied today (9/30) 933 points to 24888, or up nearly 4%, on fresh hopes of a restarted US government bailout to ease the strain in global credit markets. Owing to extreme uncertainty in the markets, watch for an overly optimistic or pessimistic market reaction […]
Whatever happens with the ongoing negotiation impasse in Zimbabwe, there are social realities that no agreement will be able to reconcile. Even if the process of forging a unity government proves successful, that will mark a beginning of a long slog, not a triumphal endpoint. Hunger is rampant throughout the country with the food crisis […]
As a testament of their commitment to the liberal arts tradition in their new satellite campus, NYU has named Alfred H. Bloom, former president of Swarthmore, the head of its new Abu Dhabi campus. This is interesting because I am pretty sure the Swarthmore version of a liberal arts tradition looks totally different than the […]
Ehud Olmert, current lame-duck Prime Minister of Israel, conceded yesterday in an interview with Yedioth Ahronoth that Israel will have to give up land in order to achieve peace with Palestine, specifically land in the Golan Heights, Jerusalem, and the West Bank. Summary quote: “In the end of the day, we will have to withdraw […]
Brief comments about three separate but interconnected stories: I am not the only one who wonders if Jacob Zuma might not have overplayed his hand and created a situation the unintended consequences of which might be to prevent him from taking over as South Africa's president in 2009. Patrick Laurence speculates similarly in a piece […]
Yesterday, I offhandedly stated my disappointment about the lack of a discussion of China's growing influence during Friday's presidential debate. It was amazing to me that the United States could have a "Foreign Policy' presidential debate and only mention the word China once. The leaders, government, businesses, and citizens of Central Asia know how important […]
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