A joint project by NATO and the Karzai government has so far convinced nearly 2,000 Taliban to lay down their arms. But in Afghanistan’s Laghman province, some of those “converts” say they’re already considering going back.
Category: Geopolitics
A R A B I C A ارابيكا PALESTINIAN FEUD One of the most powerful men in the Palestinian Authority, Mohammed Dahlan, is under investigation on murder and corruption charges. Palestinian security forces raided Dahlan’s home near Ramallah on Thursday, seizing 16 weapons and 12 vehicles, and detaining 12 “illegal” armed men, Al Jazeera reported. […]
In recent years, authorities in Guatemala have tried to crack down on illegal child adoptions by foreigners. Corruption, however, is preventing the impoverished Central American country from eradicating the blight of child trafficking.
Analysis: After the deadly Norway attacks carried out in the name of fanatical conservative ideology, it is time for Northern Europe to take stock of its increasingly extreme views on the political right: from rabid defense of Danish cartoons to the rise
The Russian President singles out need for “absolutely fair” parliamentary elections amid a regional vote-rigging scandal, and questions about whether he himself will run for reelection.
Op-Ed: By now, a resolution to Turkey’s most intractable internal conflict must include the PKK, which has both widespread popular support and blood on its hands.
Even before Norway’s Anders Behring Breivik singled out multiculturalism as an existential threat to the West, both political leaders and ordinary citizens were taking up the cause. To avoid more violence, it is worth understanding just what we a
A R A B I C A ارابيكا SNUBBED?“Trusted sources’ tell the Kuwaiti daily “The Gazette” that Jordan’s King Abdullah recently refused to meet with an envoy of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The report comes the day after the King met in Amman with the visiting editors-in-chief of Kuwait newspapers. Jordan enjoys a reputation […]
Authorities in Bahrain have lifted the state of emergency first put in place in April, when police began cracking down hard on the country’s Arab Spring-inspired protest movement. Tensions, however, remain palpable as talks that were supposed to ease the
Criticism is quickly building after last weekend’s crash killed 35 on a high-speed rail line that had been touted by the government.
A R A B I C A ارابيكا DUMA The Syria Revolution Facebook group continues to post clips from protests around the country. The dates are impossible to verify, but here, the person filming a small nighttime march in the Damascus suburb of Duma makes a point of shouting the date as July 25th over […]
Greenpeace disputes the Russian government’s forest fire statistics in the region around Moscow. The controversy is especially charged following last summer’s blazes that decimated agriculture and killed hundreds when huge plumes of smoke blew into the ca
Street children in Egypt are easy targets for both criminals and police. Neglected and abused, they are still waiting for the promises of the revolution to trickle their way.
In recent years, European intelligence services have seen radical Islam as the region’s top terrorist threat. After the emergence of Norway’s Anders Behring Breivik, the threat of right-wing extremists is set to take on a new urgency across the continent.
In a second phase of their “indignant” protests, Spanish demonstrators call for an end to the “dictatorship of the financial markets” and let it be known the movement is here to stay.
A R A B I C A ارابيكا THUG BACKLASH*Thugs stormed the Helwan metro station in an attempt to rob the cashier but were thwarted by citizens, Egyptian news site Musrawi.com reported. The word “thug” has a particular meaning in Arabic. In Egypt, the word is “bultigiya.” In Syrian, they are called “shabiha.” Thugs in […]
Other disturbing clues to Norway’s suspected right-wing killer are still being unearthed from the 1,500-page document he posted on the Internet shortly before the attacks. He had plans to mark the killings with both a “martyr’s mass&
Norwegians are struggling to come to terms with Friday’s horrific massacre. A memorial service Sunday in the Oslo Cathedral drew tens of thousands of mourners. On the streets of the capital, passersby question the possible long-term effects of the tragedy
As the 10th anniversary of the 2001 terror attacks in the United States approaches, prominent Swiss politicians, intellectuals and media figures have created an Internet site to demand a new investigation into the events of 9/11.
Spurred by soaring unemployment at home and Berlin’s active recruitment of skilled workers, young educated Spaniards are heading for Germany like southern Europeans last century.
The new President vows reconciliation, yet some villages in western Ivory Coast are still ghost towns as residents try to recover from terrible acts of violence.
Analysis: China’s approach to rare earth mining is putting it at odds with the WTO. China’s Economic Observer outlines where China’s gone wrong, and what it needs to do to set the industry straight.
A period of relative calm on the security front has given way to rising frustrations among about long-ignored economic problems. The result has been a series of online – and on the streets – protests.
As Putin stays mum on his intentions to run for a new term as president, supporters are growing increasingly vocal. And bizarre.
Weekend newspapers around the world reacted to the terror attacks Friday. See a gallery of the images at Kiosko.net
Faced with a severe drought, farmers in the region decided to begin planting manioc and sorghum, two crops that need less water than traditional corn.
Belgium’s political parties have failed for nearly a year and a half to form a working government. Now its royal family is fueding as well. King Albert II gave his youngest son, Prince Laurent, a public slap on wrist this week by barring him from National
A R A B I C A ارابيكا ROAD RULES*Saudi daily Okaz reports that an unidentified 35-year-old woman is facing trial for driving herself to the hospital following a seizure. The unmarried woman was indicted for illegally driving, and will go on trial in September. She was arrested while on her way to the hospital […]
Already recognized as a humanitarian crisis, the ongoing drought in Somalia has now been officially classified as a “famine.” The United Nations made the annoucement Wednesday.
According to many experts, the capital of Thailand is in danger of being submerged by waters. The Thai government does not seem to realize the urgency of the situation.
Colombia‘s drug barons are going underwater, with million dollar submarines that can ship up to eight tons of cocaine per load.
Three go on trial for allegedly planning to bomb an IBM facility in Switzerland. Prosecutors say the accused have ties with an Italian anarchist group known as the FAI, which claims responsibility for several recent bomb attacks in southern Europe.
A R A B I C A ارابيكا SYRIA AND QATAR Qatar has closed its embassy in Damascus after a protest there against the Qatari government-owned Al Jazeera news station, and its coverage of Syria. The diplomatic mission is being closed “mostly” for security reasons, news site Al Youm Al Sabaa reported. Young protesters threw […]
For France, nuclear deterrence is very much an underwater affair. At all times, one of the country’s four ballistic missile submarines quietly patrols the ocean depths. Armed to the teeth, each vessel is equipped to carry more than a dozen nuclear missile
Analysis: Western euphoria about the popular uprisings in the Arab world is dissipating – and being replaced by fatalism. The Western powers clearly have no master plan to take the reins of the situation, and in the end, Iran may end up benefiting the mos
Essay: The aftermath of revolution can carry society toward democracy or facism. Understanding where Egypt will wind up means listening to the words used to describe the conflicts that erupt.
The Venezuelan government is on a “mission” to set millions of poor Venezuelans up with public housing. The plan is kindling hope among some Caracas slum dwellers. Critics, however, say Chávez’ housing scheme is more than a little far-fetched.
A R A B I C A ارابيكا ESTONIAN HOSTAGESLebanon’s An-Nahar daily features several articles examining the release of seven Estonian tourists who were kidnapped at gunpoint in the Bekaa Valley on March 23rd. While the circumstances surrounding the release are not clear, the Estonian Foreign Minister Uramas Paet is quoted as saying it happened […]
What does Sarajevo look like today? Nearly two decades after a devastating siege, the city’s reconstruction tells the story of both renewal and a troubled history not quite healed.
Op-Ed: Facing territorial disputes with its neighbors and deep uncertainties on the home front, China’s newfound strength also requires stability that only the U.S. can help provide. A Chinese bet on the G2 alliance.