Last week, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak masqueraded around Washington puffing up his chest as a major broker in the Middle East peace process. In interviews, he accentuated his role in attempting to forge an agreement to renew Israel-Palestinian peace talks, to secure the release of abducted IDF soldier GiladShalit, and broker reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas. Mubarak intends on fixing the […]
Former leaders from Ayub Khan, Benazir Bhutto, and General Musharraf tried to address the issue of growing energy consumption and diminishing supplies which is now legitimately deemed a “crisis” in Pakistan. President Zardari had his hand in addressing this crisis last week during the quarterly visit to Beijing where he discussed China’s assistance on energy […]
If a newspaper has seen four of its journalists assassinated in 8 years for their investigative reporting about Russia’s power elite, would it launch a new series exploring the murky relationships between the Kremlin, big business and oil? If it’s Novaya Gazeta, it’s a yes. The latest article, called “Friends of the Premier”, charts Putin’s […]
As an avid Italian football team fan, it is very hard for me to praise the Brazilian team. But I will acknowledge this: No other team has the same global fan appeal as Brazil. Brazilian football players are revered all around the world and Iran is no exception. Brazilian football star Ronaldo, best known for […]
Claims of fraud and victory have ringed throughout Afghanistan and in the international media since the first ballot was cast last week. Though the presidential election was deemed successful, yet far from perfect, by European and American officials, many feel that the election was too riddled with fraud to be considered legitimate. And though Karzai […]
On August 24th HBO presented a new documentary titled “Which Way Home”. This film follows a number of children, as young as 9-years old, on their perilous journey from Central America into the United States. While seeking to enter the US illegally, they dream of building better lives. Venezuelan migrants do not live in the […]
The new semester has begun and I have less than an hour before the first meeting of my graduate seminar in Modern African History. I have time to roll off a few stories that warrant some discussion: Former Zambian President Frederick Chiluba has been acquitted of using his country’s treasury like his own personal bank […]
I’m going to wade into the controversy surrounding South African 800 meter runner and newly crowned world champion Caster Semenya. By now the story has made the rounds globally, with its equal parts prurience and controversy and politicization causing both track & field and Africa to draw attention in circles that ordinarily pay little attention […]
… not really a new thing, but I guess when you work for a newspaper calling something “new” is the only way to justify publishing it. In Bahrain, women are employing the Quran to combat patriarchal rule. This sort of Islamic feminism, so called, could be accurately described as a call to uphold the spirit […]
Yahoo purchased Maktoob.com today. Yahoo expects Maktoob, which began as the first Arabic-language email provider, to permit it access to the Arab market. It hasn’t had terribly good luck expanding into that sector thus far, and acquiring a locally developed business may be a more effective way to do so. Very exciting for Maktoob … […]
A conflict is escalating between Israel and its long time enemy Sweden… What?!?!?! A previously irrelevant Swedish newspaper published an article last week accusing the Israeli military of harvesting Palestinian organs. The Israeli government condemned the publication as antisemtic and requested an apology from the Swedish government alongside a formal censure of the article. Many […]
President Ahmadinejad’s cabinet picks are both progressive and hard-line. His choices upset both the clerics and the West. On one hand, Ahmadinejad is breaking a taboo by appointing three women ministers to the cabinet. On the other hand, he is continuing the same anti-West attitude by appointing a minister accused of bombing a Jewish center […]
The mediating role of the United States in the Israel-Palestine peace plan seems to -slowly- be picking up steam. President Obama met with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Following the latter meeting, Obama called Jordanian King Abdullah and now sent the U.S. regional envoy George Mitchell […]
A man closely linked with the group Fatah al-Islam has been recaptured by Lebanese authorities after a day on the run. According to the Associated Press, “Eight members of an Islamic militant group sawed bars off their cell windows in a high-security Lebanese prison on Tuesday, scaled down the building using blankets tied together, then […]
Two examples from South Africa of people getting ahead of themselves: Some South Africans, including Local Organizing Committee chair Irvin Khoza, fear that South Africans are not catching World Cup fever. This strikes me as a pretty groundless concern. I was in South Africa during the Confederations Cup and saw plenty of spirit and came […]