A Pew Center report entitled "Media Pivot to November, Iraq Debate' outlined trends in media coverage during the week of May 26-June 1, the period just before Barack Obama clinched the Democratic presidential nomination on June 3. As his victory appeared increasingly inevitable, Obama featured in nearly 66 percent of campaign-related news stories, against 45 […]
The website for Hezbollah's Al Manar TV reported today that the Iranian Committee for the Reconstruction of Lebanon (ICRL) completed repaving the al-Ghajar Bridge in south Lebanon. The bridge, destroyed during the July War of 2006, spans the Hasbani River near the border town of al-Ghajar. Half of the town lies in Lebanese territory, while […]
The trial of five terrorists accused of plotting the 9/11 attacks is making headlines in Europe that are unlike those in the United States. Journalists from Italy, Germany and Britain – along with Canada and Pakistan – were among those present when the trial began at the U.S. Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba on Thursday, […]
The German newspaper Die Welt published an article with the headline, "Mit Bush, verlieren die Deustchen ihr Feindbild' ("With Bush, Germans lose their bogeyman'), which argues that Bush's prestige has deteriorated so much that Germans no longer think him important. According to Die Welt, this explains that lack of planned demonstrations during the German leg […]
The website for the Jordanian Islamic Action Front (IAF) reported that 10 members of Jordan's parliament signed a memorandum demanding that the country's ambassador to Iraq not be dispatched to Baghdad. This comes shortly before the Jordanian government announced on Monday its intention to send its envoy to Iraq ‘in the near future’, following the […]
The independent Kuwaiti Al-Seyassah daily featured a report by the German news agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA) covering an address given by Iraq's Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahrastani in parliament this Saturday. According to the report, al-Shahrastani revealed that negotiations are underway between Iraq and its neighbors, Iran and Kuwait, towards reaching an understanding on shared oil […]
In Europe, the performing arts are generally funded by public subsidies and most people believe that support of the arts is a government obligation. It is the opposite in the United States. American cultural institutions are primarily funded by individual donors, foundations, and private enterprise. The New York Times reported this week on differing perceptions […]
The continental European media swelled with excitement as Democratic presidential hopeful, Barack Obama, clinched the nomination. Here are some of the headlines: ‘Elections US – Le message Barack Obama’ – ‘U.S. Elections – the message of Barack Obama’, France-Soir (France) "Barack Obama premier Noir à pouvoir etre élu président' , "Barack Obama first black with […]
A report by the Hamas-affiliated Palestinian Information Center (PIC) voiced the group's firm disapproval of statements made by Sen. Barack Obama during his speech at AIPAC's annual policy conference on Wednesday. While some suggest that the Arab world was 'shocked’ by his comments, Hamas took particular offense to how the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee stated […]
The Jordanian AmmonNews.net – a relatively new and independent online news source – reported today that the Iraqi government has, by signing deals with Jordan, agreed to export crude oil to its neighbor at a reduced rate of $18 less than the international price. Citing statements given by Iraqi officials to the Iraqi press, AmmonNews […]
In a column in the Suddeutschen Zeitung, one of Germany's leading dailies, the German Marshall Fund's Constanze Stelzenmuller discusses Barack Obama's popularity among German politicians and the German population in general. She writes that Obama's popularity in Germany has reached levels that domestic politicians can only dream of and is comparable only to that of […]
Syria's state-run SANA news agency reported today on some of the comments made by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmedinejad at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) summit in Rome. The president allegedly proclaimed that Iran, in light of the current crisis, has clear solutions for the fair production and distribution of food supplies to the […]
A report in The New York Times today describes water shortages in Spain as a "national crisis.' Scientists say that Southern Europe and especially parts of southeast Spain are drying rapidly to near-desert conditions, a process that some experts call "Africanization' and which is accelerated by tourist resort development and water-thirsty crops. The dramatic article […]
According to the pro-opposition daily As-Safir, there appears to be some anticipation over potential changes in Lebanon's security services. The paper reported on Monday that the new president Michel Suleiman called for decisions to oversee ‘balance’ within the ranks of the country's Internal Security Forces (ISF) during a meet and greet with several leaders from […]
The website for the pro-Sadrist Al-Kufa news agency posted a scanned copy of a statement apparently issued by Muqtada Al-Sadr earlier this week. In the statement, Al-Sadr voices his pleasure with fatwas that have rejected the long-term security agreement currently being negotiated between US forces and the Iraqi government. The aggreement, which seeks to maintain […]