Veteran army officer urges Afghan troop drawdown
October 16th, 20090 WASHINGTON (IPS) — A veteran Army officer who has served in both the Afghanistan and Iraq wars warns in an analysis now circulating in Washington that the counterinsurgency strategy urged by Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal is likely to strengthen the Afghan insurgency, and calls for withdrawal of the bulk of U.S. combat forces from the...Cold Turkey could change political balance
JERUSALEM — It's long been among the most durable, strategic relationships in the Near East - perhaps because it was the most unlikely. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet DavutogluFor decades, the two regional superpowers, Turkey and Israel, have quietly stood shoulder-to-shoulder on the common strategic challenges facing them....Libya war report request denied
The UN Security Council has rejected Libya's request to hold a special session on the Goldstone Report but agreed to advance a periodical meeting to address the issues it raises. Judge Richard Goldstone Published at the end of September, the UN-sanctioned Goldstone Report identifies war crimes committed during Israel's war...Muslims make up 25 percent of world population
The global Muslim population stands at 1.57 billion, meaning that nearly 1 in 4 people in the world practice Islam, according to a report Wednesday billed as the most comprehensive of its kind. The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life report provides a precise number for a population whose size has long has been subject to...
4,000 U.S. troops to exit sooner from Iraq. More ready for Afghanistan?
October 8th, 20090 WASHINGTON —The top U.S. commander in Iraq is accelerating the number of troops he is sending back home even as he remains cautious that violence could threaten January's elections there. U.S. Colonel Martin D. Seifer (L) and Samir al-Haddad, Secretariat for Committee for Receiving Real Property, sign documents during a hand...Riyadh ‘offers airspace’ for Israel attack on Iran?
Israeli fighter jets will be allowed to use Saudi airspace to launch go-it-alone air strikes on Iranian nuclear installations, says a recent report. The issue has been discussed in a closed-door meeting in London, where British Intelligence Chief Sir John Scarlett, his Israeli counterpart, Meir Dagan, and a Saudi official were...EAST JERUSALEM — A diplomat visits, and listens
EAST JERUSALEM — The U.S. consulate on Agron Street is something alien in the carefully calibrated diplomatic world of Arab-Israeli politics. No state has its embassy to Israel in Jerusalem. Israel insists the eastern part of the city which it annexed in the wake of the 1967 Arab-Israel War is an integral part of its "re-united"...Has Netanyahu out-maneuvered Obama or vice versa?
WASHINGTON (IPS) — While Israeli officials claimed a major win in U.S. President Barack Obama's decision to shelve his long-held demand for a freeze on Israeli settlements on the West Bank and East Jerusalem, some analysts here believe it may yet prove a Pyrrhic victory for the hard-line government of Prime Minister Benjamin...
Qaddafi slams U.N. Security Council, Iran hits out at Western ‘terror’
September 30th, 20090 Libya's president has attacked the permanent members of the United Nations' Security Council during his first ever address to the U.N. General Assembly. Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi pretends to rip a Charter of the United Nations and Statute of the International Court of Justice as he addresses the 64th United Nations General...Israel taking sharp measures over Iran
JERUSALEM (IPS) — Questions about Iran's nuclear thrust are tumbling out, echoing around the world in several directions. - Is Iran now "either very near or in possession" of enough low-enriched uranium to produce one nuclear weapon, as a senior U.S. diplomat warned? - Will the six world powers involved in the Iranian nuclear...
U.N. team on war crimes condemns Israel, Hamas
September 19th, 20090 UNITED NATIONS (IPS) — A four-member United Nations fact-finding mission, which has just concluded an investigation into last year's brutal conflict in Gaza, makes a strong case for war crimes charges against Israel for its unrelenting 22-day military attacks on Palestinians, largely civilians, including women and children. A...New settlements plan heightens tensions
WASHINGTON (IPS) — The White House reprimanded the Israeli government Friday over reports that Israel plans to build hundreds of new housing units in West Bank settlements, the latest in a series of showdowns between Washington and Jerusalem over settlement construction. Eight-year-old Achinoam Ziegel stands in front of her...WCC issues call to freeze, dismantle settlements
In a public "Statement on Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory," passed in Geneva, Switzerland, at the end of its 26 August – 2 September meeting, the World Council of Churches' central committee called upon the government of Israel to "urgently implement an open-ended freeze in good-faith on all settlement...
Pakistani Taliban attack Shi’a children
September 11th, 20090 Taliban militants killed four schoolchildren in a remote town in Pakistan's northwestern tribal belt on Tuesday. Local officials say the attack has sectarian dimensions as militants – who hail from the majority Sunni sect – targeted students of the minority Shi'a sect. Previously, the Taliban have singled out minority sects as part...A distinctly Tunisian women’s day: New York celebration explores Arab World feminism
NEW YORK — Serving up a women's rights movement retrospective with a dollop of harissa, a New York celebration of feminism last month had a distinctly Tunisian kick. Director of the NYC Tunisian Cultural and Information Center Naima Remadi speaks during a celebration of Tunisian Women's Day in New York on Aug. 20. The NYC......
There are more slaves today than at any time in human history
The world suffers global recession, enormous inequity, hunger, deforestation, pollution, climate change, nuclear weapons, terrorism, etc. To those who say we're not really making progress, many might point to the idea that at least we've eliminated slavery. But sadly that is not the truth. One hundred forty-three years after...Obama steers the peace train on
JERUSALEM — It isn't formal yet, but it's bound to be soon — within the coming six weeks, Palestinians and Israelis will again be sitting down around the peace table. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) shakes hands with U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell during their meeting in London August 26, 2009, in this......
Swine flu hits Ramadan gatherings
CAIRO (IPS) — Muslims marked the start of the fasting month of Ramadan Saturday, but the global H1N1 flu pandemic has put a damper on religious festivities throughout the Middle East. "Everyone is worried about swine flu," says Anwar Mohamed, a Yemeni antique dealer. "We have been told to avoid crowds, but everywhere there are...Israel turns dubiously to Africa
JERUSALEM (IPS) — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been busy pursuing one aspect of the Obama administration's agenda — carrying to Africa the U.S. message of accountability. With a rather different agenda, Israel's foreign minister Avigdor Liberman also has Africa in his sights. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary...The Berber dance is over
RABAT (IPS) - The satellite receiver has sped up the process of wiping out the cultural heritage of Morocco's Berbers. Old traditions are now dying out under the influence of television imams. A young Berber goat herder poses for a photograph with a kid in the village of Tisgui Ntknt in Imlil district, Morocco. Tisgui Ntknt is a...Nuclear capability in Iran after 2013, says U.S. intelligence
WASHINGTON (IPS) - Iran is unlikely to be able to produce the highly enriched uranium (HEU) necessary for a nuclear weapon until at least 2013, according to a U.S. government intelligence estimate made public Thursday. The estimate, which sets a notably later date for Iran's acquisition of a nuclear capability than other claims that......
Turkey, Russia move closer
ISTANBUL (IPS) - Once the worst of enemies, involved in 12 wars in three centuries, Turkey and Russia have suddenly become the best of friends, forging strong bonds that could be a counterpoint to the European Union if it freezes Turkey out of full membership. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (right) with Russian...Saudi Arabia may not follow Obama’s plan
erusalem WASHINGTON (IPS) - Pro-Israeli lobbyists here won the support of 77 senators (out of 100) for a letter sent to President Barack Obama that urged him to "press Arab leaders" to consider making dramatic, upfront peace overtures to Israel. But one key Arab state, Saudi Arabia, has already clearly communicated its......
Ahmadinejad sworn in amid protests
TEHRAN (IPS) — When incumbent Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived at parliament by helicopter to take the presidential oath in front of the members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, the setting resembled a country under military rule. Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (L) reads the oath of office as Judiciary...News in pictures: Milking camels for chocolate
A camel is hand-milked in the early evening at a farm located near Al Nassma's Camelicious camel farm in Dubai. REUTERS/Steve Crisp Miniature chocolate camels are displayed at Al Nassma's Camelicious camel farm store in Dubai, July 29, 2009. Dubai's Al Nassma, the world's first brand of chocolate made with camels' milk,......
