Egypt has unsurprisingly rejected a recent Department of State report criticizing the country’s deteriorating human rights record. The report can be found on the DOS website here. An article on the report in the popular independent paper Al-Masri Al-Youm relates that: …in statements given to Al-Masri Al-Youm, [Egyptian] political experts warned against “dependence on the […]
Kazakhstan has disconnected from Central Asia’s power grid, arguing that some parts of the country were experiencing blackouts due to Tajikistan using too much power. Unfortunately, neighboring Kyrgyzstan is being affected and is limiting electricity use in the peak evening hours, including in the capital. Kazakhstan says it will be directing energy use to domestic […]
For the first time in 30 years, Hamas Deputy Chief of the Political Bureau Abu Marzuk briefly entered the Gaza Strip at the Rafah border crossing. His visit could correlate to the recent debate on returning abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shalit before truce talks with Israel. He recently attended reconciliatory discussion in Cairo between Hamas […]
It has just been revealed that on the eve of President Barack Obama’s official state visit to Ottawa on February 19, a Russian long-range bomber was intercepted and chased by two Canadian CF-18 jets right outside of the Canadian Arctic over the Beaufort Sea. While the Russian Tu-160 Blackjack did not actually enter Canadian airspace, […]
EurasiaNet published an informative piece on the complicated relationships between state media outlets and regional cooperation. The recent summit between Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan on water seemed like it yielded tangible results, but while in Tashkent, Turkmenistan’s president, Gurbangly Berdymukhamedov, stated that any water projects should be subject to international feasibility studies. Tajik media interpreted this […]
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The intensifying political battle between the pro-American president and the main opposition leader is shaping up as a potential crisis for the Obama administration as it tries to focus the government on fighting the Qaeda and Taliban insurgency here. The domestic struggle will almost certainly deflect attention from that fight as President […]
Pakistan’s ex Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif’s disqualification came as a shock to everyone. It is especially sad that he was disqualified during democratic transitional time in Pakistan. However, what followed was even more disgusting then the news of Sharif’s disqualification. As soon as the information of Nawaz Sharif and his younger brother Shahbaz Sharif’s disqualification […]
It’s not often that European leaders come to Brussels at the weekend, but on Sunday they will do just that, to discuss, among other things, divisions between Member States over economic issues in the EU. This summit was called about 3 weeks ago, when the Czech Presidency objected greatly to protectionist moves by member-States, most […]
UPDATE: See the State Department release here. It’s official. The United States will officially boycott the United Nation’s anti-racism conference held in Durban this April. After attending plenary sessions for the conference, U.S. negotiators deemed draft resolutions anti-Semitic and singled out the Israel-Palestine conflict. Israel pressured the United States to boycott and join a growing […]
Palestinian democracy activist Mustafa Barghouti discusses the effect of Netanyahu returning to the PMO. Essentially, he asserts that Netanyahu will not seek to further the peace process and an alliance with right wing parties can only be detrimental to regional stability.
Italy gave the UNDP 1.2 million euros ($1.5 million) for Nahr el Bared, Palestinian camp, and the surrounding areas. “[The Nahr al-Bared] region went through the most dramatic events, and its reconstruction needs to be based on an integrated approach which takes into account … the needs and expectations of both the Palestinian refugees and […]
“If the political and security situation is stable then we expect a real growth of 4 percent and 4 percent inflation. We also expect to have surpluses in the balance of payments,” said Riad Salameh, the Lebanese Central Bank Governor. Salameh did a great job not dragging Lebanon into the global crisis downs. Lebanon was […]
A new Carnegie report describes the need for U.S. leadership in an Israel-Syrian peace. Incentives for Syria include the return of the Golan Heights and an end to political isolation. The U.S. would benefit by involving itself in the process due to demands it can make on Syria to distance itself from Iran and refrain […]
President Obama’s first budget proposal reveals the possibility for increased non-military involvement in the Middle East and potential for additional aid to the Palestinian territories, with the State Department and other international programs receiving $51.7 billion, $4.5 billion more than 2009 estimates and nearly $10 billion more than 2008. The 142-page document briefly mentions the […]
ISLAMABAD: The chief of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) will visit Pakistan next week to discuss the probe into last year’s Mumbai terrorist attacks, the Foreign Office (FO) said on Thursday. “We understand that they have helped India in their ongoing investigations and we hope they will assist us by way of providing […]