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...World Briefs: Rival Palestinian factions agree on elections
CAIRO — Reconciliation talks between rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah in Cairo this week yielded an agreement to hold national elections early next year. The two sides, however, remain deadlocked over the proposed terms of a national unity government. "Talks are at a standstill on the issue of the government," a member of...
Durban II: No-show is slap in face of victims of apartheid
March 21st, 20090 A Palestinian boy watches a truck dump garbage in Gaza City March 17, 2009. Palestinian youngsters in the Gaza Strip have turned to scavenging through garbage in the Hamas-ruled enclave, where joblessness has soared. REUTERS/Ismail Zaydah More and more Western countries are either announcing their boycott or are threatening to...
World briefs: Iraq shoe thrower sentenced to three years in jail
March 14th, 20090 BAGHDAD — An Iraqi reporter who hurled his shoes at former President George W. Bush was convicted of attempting to assault a foreign leader on Thursday and jailed for three years, dismaying many Iraqis who regard him as a hero. Muntazer al-Zaidi: "What I did was a natural reaction for the crimes committed against the Iraqi...
Kerry urges moves toward peace
March 7th, 20090 WASHINGTON (JTA) — Call it a three-legged stalking horse: rapid progress toward a two-state solution, penalties for settlement expansion and engagement with Syria even as it remains in Iran's sphere. U.S. Sen. John Kerry: "There is a window of opportunity that we must seize by showing, with actions more than words, that it...Development report shows slow progress in Arab World
WASHINGTON — Mired in conflict, afflicted by joblessness, frustrated by unresponsive and oppressive governments, and flooded with images of woe, the world's 22 Arab nations have much to lament. Yet, they are also making rapid, if insufficient, progress in building societies that will thrive in the global economy and fulfill the...Novelists are not the only ones who tell lies
Editor's note: In this powerful speech, the great Japanese writer explains why he chose to accept a literary prize in Israel. Novelist Haruki Murakami of Japan Reuters I have come to Jerusalem today as a novelist, which is to say as a professional spinner of lies. Of course, novelists are not the only ones who tell...
World news briefs: Is pasta humanitarian aid?
February 28th, 20090 When Rep. Keith Ellison visited the Gaza Strip earlier this month, he reported back on some of his concerns about humanitarian aid for the Palestinians. He said even basic food items were being blocked at the border. U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn. Israeli officials said pasta isn't food aid. Ellison learned about some...
Is the U.S. repeating Soviet mistakes in Afghanistan?
February 21st, 20090 A U.S. soldier with Alpha Company, 32nd Infantry Regiment provides security during a visit by his unit at Khas Kunar refugee camp, Kunar Province, eastern Afghanistan February 18, 2009. REUTERS/Oleg Popov KABUL, Afghanistan — Twenty years to the day after the last Soviet soldier left Afghanistan, Dastagir Arizad ticked off......
Israel imposes conditions on ceasefire
JERUSALEM (IPS) — Israel's outgoing prime minister Ehud Olmert is risking a crisis of confidence with Egypt by insisting that a prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas precede any Egyptian-mediated ceasefire arrangement to end the Gaza war. Israel's President Shimon Peres meets members the Shas party in Jerusalem February...
Extremism dominates Israeli polls
February 14th, 20090 RAMALLAH (IPS) — "The peace process is based on three false basic assumptions," said Avigdor Lieberman, leader of Israel's extreme right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu party, which will dictate the formation and political course of the next Israeli government. Avigdor Lieberman, leader of Israel's Yisrael Beiteinu party, attends a......
Video: Barcelona fans go wild for Palestinian rights during basketball game
February 14th, 20090 In a frenzied show of support for human rights in besieged Gaza and the occupied West Bank, Barcelona basketball fans waved banners and shouted pro-Palestinian slogans during a Euroleague Top 16 game on Feb. 5, some of them storming the court before being dragged off by security. The game between FC Barcelona and Maccabi Electra...Thousands flee Afghanistan for Iran
It is early morning in the Maimana city bus station, and crowds of young men are waiting to board buses that will take them far away. Yuldash Mohammad, 27, stows his bags under the seat of a bus leaving for Balkh province, but his ultimate destination is Iran. "I am a farmer," he told IWPR. "I sold my bull and my farming equipment,...Muslim investors profit by adhering to faith
As credit markets have imploded, triggering a global economic crisis, Islamically correct investors have seen a change of fortune: The conservative principles this small group of devout Muslims clung to during the economic heyday has insulated them from the worst of the past year's suffering. Their renunciation of the interest-based...Erdogan urges world to recognize Hamas
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for recognition of Hamas which won a landslide victory in Palestinian elections. In an interview with The Washington Post published Saturday, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said isolating Hamas is the reason for the ongoing tensions in......
Video: Erdogan hailed after Davos walkout
January 30th, 20090 Turkish prime minister tells Israeli president "You are killing people" Turkey's prime minister returned home from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland to a warm welcome after he stormed out of a debate over Israel's war on the Gaza Strip. More than 5,000 people, many waving Palestinian and Turkish...Israel heads into a political storm
Israel goes to the polls on Feb. 10 in a collective state of mind that is highly disturbed and seemingly ill-prepared for the important choices which lie ahead. This is bad news for Israel itself, for its neighbors, and for the prospects for peace. The Israeli electorate will be struggling to find answers to at least three important......
World optimism
January 24th, 20090 WASHINGTON (IPS) — Perhaps never in human history have the hopes of so many people for positive change in international relations rested on one person as they do on Barack Obama, inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States Tuesday at noon Washington time. U.S. President Barack Obama gestures while delivering his...E.U. considers ties with Israel
BRUSSELS (IPS) — Senior European Union figures have signalled that they could push ahead with plans to strengthen formal ties with Israel, even though more than 1,000 have now been killed by the bombardment of Gaza. Two conflicting statements about E.U.-Israeli relations were delivered Jan. 14, as the number of Palestinians, about......
