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,...
Ashkelon speaks: The story of the Middle East conflict
July 31st, 20090 The modern Israeli city of Ashkelon, 20 kilometers north of the Gaza border, presents a picturesque setting along the Mediterranean coast. Sparkling white beaches matched by whitefaced apartment buildings, green lawns and several wide boulevards depict a tranquil and content city. Ashkelon, 20 kilometers north of the Gaza...Report urges continued U.S. diplomatic push
WASHINGTON (IPS) — The U.S. should proceed cautiously in its engagement strategy with Iran, while moving quickly toward final-status negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, according to a new report by a team of veteran diplomats and Middle East policymakers. A woman walks in front of the now-defunct Shepherd Hotel,...
VIDEO: Heart-wrenching documentary follows organ recipients after shooting
July 18th, 20090 In 2005, a 12-year-old Palestinian boy was killed in Jenin by Israeli soldiers who said they thought his toy gun was real. But his heart still beats, because his family decided to allow his organs to be donated to six ailing children in Israel. Palestinian Ismael Khatib with Samah Gadban, a Druze girl in Israel who received a...Israel and EU clash over settlements
RAMALLAH (IPS) — The Israeli Foreign Ministry's concern over an "unusually harsh statement" by the European Commission over Israel's settlement policy indicates a growing unease between Israel and the EU. A view shows the West Bank Jewish settlement of Adam at the north of Jerusalem, June 29, 2009. Israel's Defense Ministry...Israeli spy ring threatens fragile peace
RAMALLAH (IPS) — The UN Security Council has warned that the existence of a large Israeli-run espionage network in Lebanon could threaten a fragile peace established between the two countries following the end of the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war. Lebanon's citizens and its security establishment have been rocked by the arrest of over 30...
Obama viewed positively, but still much criticism of U.S. foreign policy
July 10th, 20090 A new WorldPublicOpinion.org poll finds that around the world U.S. foreign policy continues to receive heavy criticism on a variety of fronts, even though in 13 of 19 nations most people say they have confidence in President Obama to do the right thing in international affairs. U.S. President Barack Obama gives a thumbs up...Amnesty: Israel used human shields in Gaza
JERUSALEM — Amnesty International on Thursday accused Israeli forces of war crimes, saying they used children as human shields and conducted wanton attacks on civilians during their offensive in the Gaza Strip. The London-based human rights group also accused Hamas of war crimes, but said it found no evidence that the Islamist...
Carter adds weight to shuttle diplomacy push
June 27th, 20090 WASHINGTON (IPS) — Pres. Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and peace envoy Sen. George Mitchell have been moving steadily ahead with the campaign Obama launched on his first day in the White House, to broker a comprehensive and sustainable Arab-Israeli peace. Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter They have......
What are Mousavi’s options now?
June 15th, 20090 The Associated Press reported on Monday that one of its photographers witnessed Iranian security forces firing at a crowd of protesters, killing one person and seriously wounding several others, after hundreds of thousands of chanting opponents of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad marched in central Tehran to support their pro-reform leader...
Lebanese vote for status quo
June 12th, 20090 WASHINGTON (IPS) — The victory of the Western-backed coalition in Lebanon's Sunday elections will likely allow the U.S. to avoid making tough decisions about how to deal with the country had the opposition, led by Hizbullah, won. Lebanon's Prime Minister Fouad Siniora casts his ballot at a polling station in Sidon, southern......
Iranians keen on improved ties with U.S.
WASHINGTON (IPS) — More than three out of every four Iranian citizens favor improved relations with the United States, according to a major survey conducted less than one month before this Friday's presidential elections in Iran by a U.S. non-governmental organization, Terror Free Tomorrow (TFT). Just over half (52 percent) of the...
Obama’s speech in Egypt aimed at healing rift with the Muslim world
June 10th, 20090 U.S. President Barack Obama delivers a speech in the Grand Hall of Cairo University June 4, 2009. Obama told the world's Muslims on Thursday that violent extremists had exploited tensions between Muslims and the West, and that Islam was not part of the problem but part of promoting peace. REUTERS/MENA "I am honored to be in the...
Obama to address world’s Muslims
May 30th, 20090 White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday that President Barack Obama will travel to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in early June to discuss Mideast peace with that country's King Abdullah, ahead of a much anticipated speech Obama is scheduled to give in Cairo on June 4. U.S. President Barack Obama meets with Palestinian...U.S.-Seoul alert raised over North Korea
The U.S. and South Korea raised the alert level for their security forces on Thursday, a day after North Korea declared it was scrapping the 1953 armistice that brought a halt to the Korean War. A South Korean soldier stands at a guard post near the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas in Paju, about 45 km (28 miles)......
Netanyahu up against a new U.S.
JERUSALEM (IPS) — June 5 is a date that resonates powerfully in the troubled modern history of the Middle East. On that fateful day, 42 years ago, the seminal 1967 Arab-Israel war erupted. Six days later, Israel was in control of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, Syria's Golan Heights and all of the Palestinian territories. Israeli...U.S., Israel forming working group on Iran
The United States and Israel are quietly forming a high-level working group to assess the progress of President Obama's outreach to Iran and to share intelligence about the Islamic Republic's nuclear weapons program, officials familiar with the two countries' deliberations said Tuesday. The agreement, reached during Monday's meeting......
UAE torture tape complicates nuclear deal
WASHINGTON (IPS) — A U.S. agreement to exchange nuclear information and materials with an Arab country in the Persian Gulf is facing opposition because of a video of torture conducted by a member of a ruling family from one of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In the deal, the U.S. would be willing to sell raw nuclear material to the...
Obama has real chance to change Arab opinion
May 23rd, 20090 WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has a major opportunity to improve the mostly negative views about the United States in the Arab world, but is likely to have only a short period of time to do so, according to a major new survey of public opinion in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates......
