Bouchard receives two major endorsements
MIKE BOUCHARDDETROIT - The Detroit Regional Chamber (DRC) and the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce recently endorsed Republican candidate for governor Mike Bouchard. DRC is the largest chamber in the U.S. with a membership estimated at 20,000. Bouchard said he is honored chamber business leaders are supporting his campaign. If...Dillon supported by Spanish Speaking Democrats
Andy DillonDETROIT - In other election news, Speaker of the House and Democratic candidate for governor of Michigan, Andy Dillon, was endorsed by The Michigan Spanish Speaking Democrats. Dillon said he's looking forward to working with the organization while laying out his plans for job creation, improved education and economic...
Rights groups say Gaza blockade must go
June 21st, 20100 Palestinian boys sit in front of a mural depicting a Palestinian prisoner in an Israeli jail, during a summer camp organized by the Hamas movement in Gaza City June 17, 2010. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem RAMALLAH (IPS) — Under intense international pressure Israel declared last week that it would ease its crippling blockade on Gaza by...Egypt extends Emergency Law another two years
CAIRO (IPS) — The government's decision to renew Egypt's longstanding Emergency Law has drawn furious reactions from opposition figures and rights advocates. While government spokesmen say the law will only be used against terrorism and drug trafficking, critics say it is aimed primarily at stifling political dissent.Egypt voted in...
Iraqi politician shot dead in Mosul
June 5th, 20100 An Iraqi politician from the Iraqiya bloc has been shot dead by armed men in the northern city of Mosul, officials say. Iraqi soldiers guard the Baghdad headquarters of ex-premier Iyad Allawi's political bloc. PHOTO: AFPPolice say unknown assailants shot Faris Jassim al-Jubouri early on Saturday in his home in Mosul about 350km north of...
Hariri meets Obama, presides over UN Security Council
May 30th, 20100 BEIRUT — The "clock is ticking" on Middle East peace, Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri told U.S. President Barack Obama this week in his first official visit to Washington since forming a government of national unity. Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri presides over United Nations Security Council meeting in New York on Wednesday, May...Lebanese caught by surprise
BEIRUT — It was far from business as usual in the second round of Lebanon's municipal elections. An image taken from a video of a minor scuffling incident at election polls in in south Lebanon."Urgent: The Free Patriotic Movement calls on its supporters to volunteer and vote for us to make a difference. Five hours remain! Change is a...
Deadly blasts hit Sadr City
May 16th, 20100 A woman walks past a piece of a destroyed car at the site of Wednesday's bomb attack in Baghdad May 13, 2010. REUTERS/Kareem RaheemBAGHDAD — A late night car bomb that tore through a cafe in Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood killing nine people appears to have detonated prematurely, also blowing up three suspected militants in the...
Yemen’s sorrowful options: Revolt, migrate or die
May 15th, 20100 When the Soviets concluded their pull-out from Afghanistan in February 1989, the United States government abruptly lost interest in the country. A man walks under a poster supporting Yemen's national unity in the southern port city of Aden May 13, 2010. Yemenis will celebrate on May 22, the 20th anniversary of the reunification of South...Young Lebanese demonstrate for secularism in Beirut
BEIRUT — "Sectarianism kills" and "We are for civil marriage, not civil war" read the colorful banners at a protest in the center of Beirut.Hundreds of young Lebanese gathered to march for secularism in a country that lives under a deeply divisive sectarian system.Being Lebanese in Lebanon comes second to being a Christian or a Muslim,...
Bad faith in the Holy City
April 25th, 20100 The Israeli government's announcement in March that it would further expand East Jerusalem settlements was just the latest in a decades-old series of calculated slights to the United States. Israeli Arabs and other supporters march during a protest to mark the right of return for refugees who fled their homes during the 1948 war that...Women make progress but honor killings persist
AMMAN (IPS) — Earlier this month here, a 33-year-old man was charged with hammering his wife to death and dumping her body on the highway leading to the Queen Alia International Airport. The husband confessed to murdering her ''to defend his honor," as she was meeting a male friend.Also this month local newspapers ran a story about a...Imam assassination sparks fears of violence
BAGHDAD (IPS) - The assassination of Sheikh Ghazi Jabouri, a prominent Sunni imam in the Al- Adhamiya district of Baghdad, has raised fears of renewed sectarian violence in the wake of the March 7 elections.Tensions have been reported in the area following the assassination Wednesday last week. At least two gunmen killed Sheikh Jabouri,...Election sets off new political tussle
BAGHDAD (IPS) — The March elections here have only deepened political divisions and brought more violence. Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki (C) greets people attending a conference on national reconciliation in Baghdad April 12, 2010. ...
Critics question ElBaradei’s promises of change
April 20th, 20100 CAIRO (IPS) — Mohamed ElBaradei, former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), rocked Egypt's political arena last year by announcing his desire to contest the presidency. But while the idea has fired the imagination of political activists, many analysts remain skeptical. A protester shouts anti-government slogans......
Leaked video of shooting spurs calls for new probe
WASHINGTON (IPS) — Journalist advocacy groups called for the reopening of an investigation into the 2007 killing of a Reuters photographer and his driver after the WikiLeaks website released classified video footage on Monday of a 2007 helicopter attack in Baghdad which killed 12 people. Undated file photo of Reuters driver Saeed...Rights group alleges war crimes
WASHINGTON (IPS) — The Yemeni government and Houthi rebels should investigate allegations that war crimes took place during recent hostilities between the two groups in the northern region of the country, according to a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report released Wednesday."It is time to end the impunity surrounding the cycle of civilian......
Flawed U.S. strategy has undermined Iraq’s stability and security
Millions of Iraqis braved bombs and bullets to vote on March 7, 2010, in Iraq's second free elections in a half-century. The vote counting process proved to be more chaotic than expected, with accusations of fraud by leading parties, divisions among highly politicized electoral officials and chaos in disclosing the results. In the...Uphill coalition-building for Iraq election winners unfolds
WASHINGTON (IPS) - Iraq's major political forces are beginning what is likely to be a lengthy and uncertain process of talks to form a government. A key question is whether Iraq's politically diverse groups will join forces based on ideological, ethnic, sectarian or merely pragmatic considerations. Iraq's President Jalal...Roumieh Prison breeds criminality not reform
BEIRUT (IPS) - Lebanon's notorious Roumieh prison, the scene of a stand-off between inmates and security personnel this month, is no stranger to rioting, escapes, corruption and abuse. An army helicopter flies over Roumieh Prison, Lebanon's biggest jail, in the hilly eastern suburb overlooking the capital Beirut, Lebanon,...Arab summit is political theatre
Arab leaders met last week in Libya in a ritual summit held almost annually since the end of the Second World War. Although the League of Arab States (also commonly referred to as the Arab League) was established in 1945, it was not until 1964 that member states met for the first time at the Cairo headquarters to discuss the Israeli......
Debate rages on over proposed alcohol ban in Bahrain
MANAMA (IPS) - Legislators say it would encourage more Islamic behavior and cure social ills, but critics say a complete ban by Bahrain on selling alcohol would mean big losses in tax revenues and lead to a black market in liquor. A campaign launched on the social networking site Facebook by Bahraini youth, though the creation...Rights groups condemn harassment of ex-prisoners in Tunisia
WASHINGTON (IPS) - The Tunisian government should stop the harassment of political prisoners after their release from jail, say rights groups in two new reports. Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali According to both Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International, the government of Tunisia often subjects......
Iraq election increases women in parliament regardless of vote count
BAGHDAD (McClatchy) — Maysoun al Damlouji has just one word for the male politicians who are sure to be upset when they find out their newly won parliamentary seats will be handed to female candidates under a quota to increase the role of women in the Iraqi government. An Iraqi woman votes at a polling station in Basra,...
Top ten reasons Jerusalem does not belong only to Jewish-Israelis
March 27th, 20100 Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told the American Israel Public Affairs Council on Monday that "Jerusalem is not a settlement." He continued that the historical connection between the Jewish people and the land of Israel cannot be denied. He added that neither could the historical connection between the Jewish people and......