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......
Iran releases jailed U.S. journalist
May 16th, 20090 A U.S.-born journalist jailed in Iran on charges of spying for the United States thanked those who helped win her release on Tuesday, after a court reduced and suspended an eight-year sentence handed down last month. U.S. born journalist Roxana Saberi (R), released from prison on Monday, stands next to her father Reza Saberi as...
Storm clouds ahead for Obama and Netanyahu
May 2nd, 20090 WASHINGTON — A big confrontation is brewing between the United States and Israel's new government over the Palestine issue. Since his first days in office, President Barack Obama has expressed clear support for speedy action toward the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Since then, he and his key advisers —......
Motorola drops bomb fuse unit following boycott campaign
April 25th, 20090 Motorola drops bomb fuse unit following boycott campaign Motorola has sold a controversial unit that produced bomb fuses and other equipment for the Israeli military, according to the Israeli financial newspaper Globes. The sale rids Motorola of some activities that had made it the target of a growing boycott in the U.S. and...Can Israel go it alone on Iran?
Would Israel really attack Iran without at least tacit approval from Washington? Could Israel do so without such approval? At the very least, Israel would need approval simply to get permission to fly over Iraq, whose airspace is controlled by the U.S. military, not the Iraqi government in Baghdad. As columnist Aluf Benn put it in the...World news briefs: Obama makes surprise visit to Baghdad
BAGHDAD — President Barack Obama flew into Iraq on a surprise visit to see U.S. troops Tuesday, meeting about 1,500 carefully selected U.S. service members at a base located at one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces. U.S. President Barack Obama greets troops at Camp Victory in Baghdad, April 7, 2009. REUTERS/Jim Young Although...
Obama visits Turkey, reaches out to Muslims
April 11th, 20090 ISTANBUL (IPS) — On his first visit to a Muslim country this week, U.S. President Barack Obama proposed "a new chapter" in U.S. engagement with the Islamic world. He drew much praise, while some remain skeptical. U.S. President Barack Obama participates in a town hall meeting with university students at the Tophane Cultural......
Arab-Latin American ties hailed
April 4th, 20090 DOHA – Latin American leaders have underscored the importance of economic and political ties with the Arab world in a summit meeting with their Arab counterparts in Qatar. Tuesday's meeting, the second Arab-Latin American summit, in Doha, the Qatari capital, followed the conclusion of the Arab League conference in the city....World news briefs: UK diplomat indicted for insulting Israel
Middle East expert and head of the South Asia Group Rowan Laxton was arrested after several witnesses alleged he had used offensive language against Israel and Jewish people after watching a report about the Gaza war on TV in a gym on January 27, the Daily Mail reported. LONDON — Britain has detained a Foreign Office diplomat......
Top officials urge dialogue with Hamas
March 28th, 20090 WASHINGTON — Nine former senior U.S. officials and one current adviser are urging the Obama administration to talk with leaders of Hamas to determine whether the militant group can be persuaded to disarm and join a peaceful Palestinian government, a major departure from current U.S. policy. U.S. President Barack Obama takes...World Briefs: Lebanon’s economy defies global downturn
BEIRUT — Lebanon's economic growth in the first two months of this year slipped to 4 percent, but the tiny Mediterranean nation should escape largely unscathed from the effects of the global economic meltdown if the security and political situation remains stable, the Central Bank governor said Monday. Riad Salameh But......
