Last night's Vice -Presidential debate made last Friday's Presidential debate's discussion of what is going on and what strategy to implement in Afghanistan look depressingly deep. Senator Joe Biden and Governor Sarah Palin barely scratched the surface of defining the seriousness of the conflict there, besides just mentioning Al Qaeda, and what strategy to implement, […]
PESHAWAR, Pakistan ‚ War has come to Pakistan, not just as terrorist bombings, but as full-scale battles, leaving Pakistanis angry and dismayed as the dead, wounded and displaced turn up right on their doorstep. An estimated 250,000 people have now fled the helicopters, jets, artillery and mortar fire of the Pakistani Army, and the assaults, […]
The U.N. ordered children of its international staff to leave the Pakistani capital and other areas it considered unsafe, raising its security level following the bombing of the Marriott Hotel, officials said Thursday. The move, which came a day after Britain decided to repatriate diplomats’ children, underlines the deteriorating situation in Pakistan, which is under […]
KHAR: Tribesmen backed by army helicopter gunships battled the Taliban in Bajaur Agency on Tuesday, killing several of the Taliban, a tribal elder said. The latest clash broke out in Mulla Saib Dara village, when a 6,000-strong tribal lashkar tried to set fire to the Taliban houses and hideouts. "Fighting is going on and to […]
NOW Lebanon: With increasing frequency since the February assassination of top Hezbollah commander Imad Mugniyah in Damascus, the Israeli Counter-Terrorism Bureau has been warning its citizens that the possibility of either above scenario being carried out by Hezbollah is high. The chatter has gotten particularly loud now that the Jewish high holidays have begun. Should […]
"No Queremos Olimpiadas, Queremos Revolucion!" claimed thousands of Mexican students in response to the repressive activities of a government that was about to host the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City. Many of those students would end up in prison or in the list of the more than 1,500 disappeared individuals during the "Dirty War" […]
Here are a few items you may find of interest…please find them of interest! 1. Central Asia's Railroad – Continuing yesterday's discussion of China's growing influence and investments in Central Asia, well according to this Turkish Weekly report even the Yuan can't buy everything. The report argues that prospects for building a railroad that would […]
As we pass into October, what has happened to the Guns of August? Those who recall Barbara Tuchman's famous book about the origins of WWI must remember the uncanny way that Europe gives rise to conflict in late summer. In Georgia — or what used to be parts of Georgia — the guns are silent […]
The International Herald Tribune has posted a rather strange account from the Associated Press about how the hostages were freed. Apparently after ten days of driving around the desert to escape detection from Libyan, Chadian, Sudanese, and Egyptian security forces the kidnappers told the tourists to pile into an SUV and drive. According to some […]
AP reports that women in Saudi Arabia can now find abayas with designs on them for purchase in local boutiques. Jeddah leads the charge for most stylish abayas available. The transition of these abayas from taboo to mainstream is a mystery (at least to this writer): No one really knows why or how it became […]
Eid al Fitr begins today. The LA Times has some recipes for Middle Eastern sweets, doctored slightly for the American grocery store. Below: Muhalbiya al-ruz.
The mood about the negotiations in Zimbabwe whiplashes between blinkered optimism and dire pessimism almost daily. The latest is that the negotiations are dead in the water with the sticking point continuing to be the composition of the cabinet. Robert Mugabe and ZANU-PF continue to deny that stalemate has set in, but Morgan Tsvangirai and the MDC […]
KARACHI, Oct 1 (IPS) – As the Muslim holy month of Ramadan draws to a close, the shopping frenzy around Pakistan increases in preparation for Eid, the joyous three-day festival of thanksgiving to celebrate the end of a period of abstinence, including dawn-to-dusk fasting. But preparations for the Eid festivities in this predominantly Muslim South […]
Given the levels of political unrest throughout Africa there is something almost quaint about the straightforward avarice of the pirates off the Somali coast who admit in an interview that their primary motivation is money. [Somali pirates in small boats hijacked the Faina, a Belize-flagged cargo ship owned and operated by Kaalbye Shipping Ukraine, on […]
Security forces in Nigeria have arrested nearly 450 suspected militants involved with the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) in the oil rich Niger Delta, though a number of prominent members of MEND avoided capture. The militants had agreed to a cease fire on September 21 but before that had engaged in […]