U.N. Assembly head blasts Israel
UNITED NATIONS (IPS) — The president of the General Assembly, Father Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, dropped a political bombshell last week when he lashed out at Israel for repressive actions in the occupied territories, including the blockade of humanitarian aid to Gaza, which was partially eased on Thursday. United Nations...Treaty signed to ban cluster bombs
Handicap International says about 100,000 people have been killed or maimed by cluster bombs since 1965.A landmark treaty to ban some forms of cluster bomb has been signed by more than 100 nations in Oslo. Norway, which played a key role in hammering out the worldwide ban on using, producing, transferring and stockpiling...
Mumbai attacks strain Indian-Pakistani relations
December 5th, 20080 The Mumbai attacks have brought old suspicions to the fore. Indians suspect militants from Pakistan. Pakistanis reject what they call a typical blame game. NEW DELHI, INDIA AND KARACHI, PAKISTAN — Akash Maheshwari has no doubts about what will happen in the standoff between India and Pakistan. The Indian businessman said his country...
Steel camels: Harleys rumble across Saudi sands
November 29th, 20080 RIYADH — A half-moon directly overhead glows in the gathering daylight as Adel Mallawi straps on his helmet. His tall legs, sheathed in leather chaps that match his black leather jacket, drape over one of the loves of his life: Harley-Davidson's 105th anniversary Electra Glide Ultra Classic. Copper and black. Same colors as his...Yasser Arafat: Don’t forget Palestine
This past week marked the fourth anniversary of the death of Yasser Arafat. We reprint here a tribute to the Palestinian leader. The late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat after failed peace talks in 2000. For fifty years, Yasser Arafat — or Abu Ammar as he was more familiarly known — made the Palestinian cause his life's...Pressure building on Hamas ahead of unity meet
CAIRO (IPS) - Egypt recently re-opened its border with the Gaza Strip to limited traffic in advance of an upcoming Palestinian reconciliation conference to be held in Cairo next month. But some independent commentators say Egypt is merely using the border as a means of pressuring resistance faction Hamas into accepting its proposals for...
Food for the people
October 25th, 20080 CAIRO (IPS) - Caught between low wages and rising prices, many Egyptians have had to replace meat and vegetables with cheaper food. Kushari has remained a staple of Egyptian diets due to its low cost. At a time when food prices are quickly rising in Egypt, but wages have remained mostly stagnant, the cost of food has just as...Defections hit Afghan forces
KABUL (Al Jazeera) — After fighting the Taliban for the past seven years, many working for the Afghan security forces are now switching sides. Sulieman Ameri and his 16 men were until a month ago serving the Afghan government as police patrolling the border with Iran. Now they answer to the Taliban and their goal is to drive all...Afghan peace talks widen U.S.-U.K. rift on war policy
WASHINGTON (IPS) — The beginning of political talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban revealed by press accounts this week is likely to deepen the rift that has just erupted in public between the United States and its British ally over the U.S. commitment to an escalation of the war in Afghanistan. According to a French...Rare Islamic artifact sells for $5.5 million
A rare Islamic crystal jug that was mistaken earlier this year for a cheap French claret pitcher has sold at auction for almost $5.6 million. The jug was mistaken earlier this year for a French wine pitcher. Christie's said it has now been identified as "one of the rarest and most desirable works of art from the Islamic world."...Israel: Wedded to war?
For Israel, the aftermath of the 2006 Lebanon war was all about questions. What mistakes were made, and who made them? What could be done to restore the Israeli military's "deterrence" after a widely perceived defeat? In general, what lessons could be learned from the confrontation with Hizbullah in order that next time, there would be...Hummus war looms between Lebanon and Israel
BEIRUT — The latest conflict cooking between Lebanon and Israel is all about food: Lebanese businessmen are accusing Israel of stealing traditionally Middle Eastern dishes like hummus. Fadi Abboud, president of the Lebanese Industrialists Association, said Tuesday his group was planning to raise a lawsuit to stop Israel from...Bush had no plan to catch Bin Laden after 9/11
U.S. President George W. Bush and the Commander for NATO International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan U.S. Army General David McKiernan meet in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, October 1, 2008. REUTERS/Larry DowningWashington (IPS) — New evidence from former U.S. officials reveals that the George W....Russia eyes new Mideast role
Outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is heading to Russia for a two-day visit. He was invited by President Dmitry Medvedev. They will discuss Russia's support for a peace process and Russian-Israeli relations, which were strained by Israel's close relations to Georgia. This visit signifies Russia's growing...Sunni-Shi’a row develops over scholar’s interview
Editor calls battle "a ball of sectarian and political fire" Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi is no stranger to public scrutiny. The Sunni Muslim preacher is the star of his own highly popular show on al-Jazeera TV, which is watched by millions for his advice on sharia law. But he may have miscalculated when he warned recently that......
Iran resolution shelved in rare defeat for “Israel lobby”
A military truck carries a Zoobin smart bomb in front of a picture of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a military parade commemorating the anniversary of the start of the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war, in Tehran September 21, 2008. REUTERS/Morteza NikoubazlWASHINGTON (IPS) — In a significant and highly unusual defeat...Bipartisan group urges deeper diplomacy with Muslim world
WASHINGTON (IPS) — In an implicit indictment of President George W. Bush's "global war on terror" and the hawkish pronouncements by Republican candidate John McCain, a bipartisan group of nearly three dozen U.S. leaders called here Wednesday for Bush's successor to place much greater emphasis on high-level diplomacy — including......
Bush’s war widens to Pakistan
The decision to make public a presidential order of last July authorizing American strikes inside Pakistan without seeking the approval of the Pakistani government ends a long debate within, and on the periphery of, the Bush administration. Senator Barack Obama, aware of this ongoing debate during his own long battle with Hillary...It’s the oil, stupid
American policy toward the Middle East has always been determined by the politics of oil and the politics of oil are determined by the oil companies. It would be difficult to find many who would argue that the invasion of Iraq was premised, not on seizing Iraq's oil, but rather to eliminate the threat of nuclear weapons held by...Israel of the Caucasus
WASHINGTON (UPI) � NATO guarantees that an attack against one member country is an attack against all are no longer what they used to be. Had Georgia been inside NATO, a number of European countries would no longer be willing to consider it an attack against their own soil. For Russia, the geopolitical stars were in perfect...The Saudi Arabia of solar energy
In the wake of the first Gulf War, the U.S. Army assessed Saudi Arabia's solar energy resource potential in a classified effort to determine how oil fires had affected the region. The results were clear and surprising. In addition to being a vast petroleum repository, the desert nation was also the heart of the most potentially......
Georgia and the push for Cold War
John McCain said it first: "In the 21st century nations don't invade other nations." George W. Bush said it, too: Russia's way is not the "way to conduct foreign policy in the 21st Century". And Condoleezza Rice on August 19 said it: "Russia is a state that is unfortunately using the one tool that it has always used whenever it...Arab countries take six medals
After winning three medals in their first week at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics last week, Arab countries upped the ante and won three more medals this past week, including their first two gold medals. Both gold medals represented landmark achievements for their countries, as Oussama Mellouli won the first swimming medal for......
Big three block Iran attack
The United States is in a huge foreign policy muddle in the Middle East. It wants to dominate and control Iran but requires the support of the world community to accomplish its aims. Diplomacy and sanctions require only a low level of support. On the other hand, to launch a military attack or green-light one by Israel, the United...The race for renewable energy sources
DUBAI (IPS) � As the world scrambles to develop renewable energy sources (RES), the oil-rich Gulf countries that benefit from high prices on fossil fuels are making sure that they are not left behind. According to "REN 21: Renewables Global Status Report 2007," though the share of fossil fuels in the global final energy......