Likud Chairman Binyamin Netanyahu, tapped last week to attempt and form a coalition, met with Kadima Chairman Tzipi Livni and reportedly offered her party two top portfolios. He supposedly even offered Livni “full partnership” in the government including input on the government’s policy statements. However, Netanyahu said that he would not be “bullied” into a […]
Here is where I give cause for celebration (and then in perentheses rain on the parade): In Mozambique there are hopes that the country is going to be able to add 6,000 Megawatts of new capacity to the region’s power pool by 2014. (This seems optimistic. Infrastructure in Maputo, never mind much of the rest […]
Not only will setting things even vaguely right in Zimbabwe likely cost billions of dollars (US), as Morgan Tsvangirai asserted this week. It will also have the unintended consequence of destroying or at least wounding the only economy that has even vaguely worked in recent years — the black market.
As if you need an excuse, this weekend’s New York Times travel section features Cape Town as a destination, emphasizing all of the wonderful aspects of the city and its environs, but also the relatively inexpensive costs (from the vantage point of a reader of the Times‘ travel section, anyway). For South Africans the idea of […]
Look, I’m no fan of the Democratic Alliance. And I have long argued that a primarily white opposition party is going nowhere in South Africa in the 21st century. I expect that the ANC-COPE division will serve many purposes, not the least of which will be to consign the DA to its rightful place as […]
A rocket fired from Lebanon landed in northern Israel overnight, with the IDF returning fire and holding the Lebanese government responsible for the blasts. The attack comes approximately a week after the anniversary of the assassination of Hizballah military chief Imad Mugniyah, citing in Israeli security circles as a reason to elevate caution and expect […]
The State Department spokesman said, regarding the completion of plenary events for Durban II to which the U.S. delegation attempted to address concerns of anti-Semitism: “I believe the meetings have ended now in Geneva. Part of our delegation is – of course, is based in Geneva and part of the delegation is on its way […]
One of the oddoties of the of the European Union is that each 6-months one Member-State takes over the running of one of the three main Institutions of the Union. Fom January to June this year, the Czech Republic will take over the running of the Council which brings together representatives of Member-States. and whose […]
The US special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, Mr Richard Holbrooke, has told a meeting in Washington that the “militants involved in 9/11, the Mumbai attacks and unrest in Swat have common roots” and that “the US was troubled and confused about the development in the Swat valley”. Some other reports appearing in the press […]
PESHAWAR: A curfew was imposed in Dera Ismail Khan on Friday and the army called in to quell riots immediately after a suicide bomber killed at least 30 Shias and injured another 157 who were attending a funeral in southern Dera Ismail Khan district, police and locals told Daily Times. Witnesses said police ‘ran off’ […]
It may not be as far-fetched an idea as it sounds. FP’s Elizabeth Dickinson discusses tourism potential in Iraq.
Ayman Nour, the former leader of Egypt’s al Ghad party, was released from jail on Wednesday. He was initially sentenced to five years in 2005 for forging documents to obtain legal status for his party; many, including Nour, suspect that this charge was fabricated in order to punish him for running against Egypt’s current President, […]
Canada will follow through on its promise to invest in the High North by building a research station in Nunavat. Three locations in the territory are being considered to house the High Arctic Research Station, which Canada hopes will attract foreign scientists. In addition, $85 million has been set aside for improving existing research facilities […]
Likud Chairman Binyamin Netanyahu officially received a mandate from President Shimon Peres to form the next government. While Peres urged the creation of a broad national unity government, Netanyahu and Kadima Chairman Tzipi Livni intend to discuss a coalition on Sunday. However, Kadima officials persistently send mixed messages regarding the party’s intention to join a […]
The Kyrgyzstan Parliament finally passed a law requiring the United States military to leave the Manas airbase in 6 months, though when this clock starts ticking is unsure. The US has not given up however, and US Secretary of Defense Bob Gates stated yesterday that negotiations were still under way. Gates stated: “We have not […]