Op-Ed: Founded 83 years ago, the Islamic organization manages to be both politically astute and yet rise above politics. But for post-revolution Egypt to turn into a vibrant democracy, other forces must emerge with the same connection to people’s
Category: Geopolitics
Op-Ed: The veteran Prime Minister’s passivity suits the Israeli public, interested in neither war nor peace. Still, to turn the short-term success into a lasting legacy Netanyahu must radically change his strategy — and coalition partners.
Unemployment, economic hardship, and the shame of being considered Europe’s black sheep – the Greek have never been so dispirited. And the number of cases of clinical depression and suicides is soaring.
A R A B I C A ارابيكا TURKISH BORDERAs the situation along the Syrian-Turkish border becomes increasingly tense, BBC Arabic was leading its website with an amateur video clip of a building close to the border with Syrian soldiers and armored vehicles next to it. Two snipers are in position on the rooftop. The […]
A report by China’s central bank found that thousands of Chinese government officials have smuggled billions out of the country and fled, mainly to the U.S., highlighting “the corruption within a corrupt system”.
A R A B I C A ارابيكا UPRISING (CONT.)*As the government of President Bashar Assad offers a public face of reconciliation toward protesters while using an iron fist on the ground, fresh video clips suggest that demonstrations and marches are continuing around the country. Despite the growing risk, one thing Arab regimes will never […]
Manola Rajaonarison thought she was going to Lebanon to work as a housekeeper. That’s what the agency said. What she didn’t know was that she would repeatedly be humiliated, beaten and raped.
Brothers Abu and Ghulam Taieb embody the internal rifts that are tearing Afghanistan apart. One a Taliban fighter, the other a policeman, they remain on friendly terms – but swear they will kill each other if needs be.
Op-Ed: Faced with China’s chain of food safety scares, the Health Ministry’s answer is to clamp down on journalists. But it is the media’s job to monitor the Health Ministry, not the other way round.
Le Monde reports on new documents that may prove costly for French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde. The documents suggest Lagarde may have known that members of an arbitration panel involved in state dispute with a French tycoon were biased.
Op-Ed: A provocative viewpoint from China on the U.S. endgame in territorial disputes between the Chinese “elephant” and smaller “ant” nations like Vietnam. Washington’s pragmatic self-interest can be dislodged only by “belief in its own destiny,” or Jewi
A new report by Russian atomic power agency Rosatam paints a grim picture of the country’s aging nuclear power plants, which are ill-prepared for earthquakes and other natural phenomena.
A R A B I C A ارابيكا SPEECH & SENTIMENT*Syrian President Bashar al-Assad gave a closely-watched speech to supporters at Damascus University, carried live on state television, blaming the past three months of violence on an external conspiracy and “saboteurs.” Assad promised to form a committee to oversee reforms, and pledged that reforms will […]
Op-Ed: Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel were able to hammer out a deal late last week over a new bailout for Greece. The agreement, however, is shaky – and will remain so until the German Chancellor is willing to take a clear stand on the issue.
More than two years after the Pakistani jihadist attacks in Mumbai, India wants to push ahead with peace talks with Islamabad to resolve longstanding disputes over Kashmir. But new questions continue to arise over links between terror outfits and the Paki
Political change may at last be forced upon China’s Communist Party, as the society, rich and poor, starts to show that economic growth alone will no longer keep them quiet.
Op-Ed: Afraid that the fall of Bashar Al-Assad could result in a civil war, the Western powers continue to play a wait-and-see game, even as the Syrian regime continues its bloody repression of anti-government protestors.
A sheep that crossed the sea from Tunisia adds a light twist to the daily human drama of immigrants landing on the Italian island of Lampedusa. But the warmth doesn’t last.
As repression grows more and more violent, Syrian leaders have reportedly been discreetly preparing to transfer portions of their fortunes abroad. But is it a sign President Assad is preparing to flee?
Categories
Putin’s Ambitions
Vladimir Putin came to Geneva to tout his country’s economic prospects, but Russians are wondering whether it was really an early stop on the campaign trail to take back the Russian Presidency in 2012.
A controversial Basque nationalist coalition scored big in last month’s local elections. Is the political success of separatists, which follows ETA’s decision last year to call a “permanent ceasefire,” a recipe for lasting reconciliation, or the seeds of
Essay: Hamzah al-Khatib, the 13-year-old boy who was tortured and killed by Bashar Al-Assad’s regime, has become a potent symbol of the revolution. Moroccan writer Tahar Ben Jelloun meditation on how the victim’s soul holds the power to bring dow
A R A B I C A ارابيكا SUBVERSIVE TV In a video clip taken from Syrian state television that is circulating with the title, “Syrian girl terrorizes 1,000 men,” a woman named Zubaida calls in to a live broadcast. The banner below the presenter indicates that the next segment of the show will feature […]
Half-brother of Yemen’s wounded president, General Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmar has sided with the protesters, calling for regime change. But he insists that he will find the power to do it peacefully.
Analysis: Voters in Sunday’s national election in Turkey rewarded the governing AKP party, in power for the past eight years, for a job well done. But the success of the leading Kurdish party shows the country’s “seminal question&quo
A R A B I C A ارابيكا MOROCCAN FUTURE*Egypy’s Al Ahram newspaper reported on the largest protests Morocco has witnessed to date, with thousands of people demonstrating in at least 10 cities around the country, including Fez, Marrakech and Casablanca. The demands of protesters are similar to those in Egypt, Yemen, Jordan and other […]
Categories
Building China With A Wrecking Ball
People’s rights and the rule of law are being sacrificed on the altar of economic development. By now, the scenes are turning into a collective psychosis: forced from their homes to make way for new development, Chinese increasingly are turning to violenc
The German nuclear phase out is going to cost European states billions in energy costs. Experts say it may also set off an environmental boomerang.
A R A B I C A ارابيكا FRIDAY IN SYRIA*Syrian activists told news organizations that at least 20 people were shot dead around the country during another bloody Friday of protests. Here is video reportedly of a Damascus protest on Friday in which many of the participants cover their faces and heads so as […]
Milan city officials have given the green light to the largest ever Israeli celebration outside of Israel, to take place next week in the Italian city’s central Duomo piazza. Pro-Palestinian groups have vowed to protest the event.
German naval forces are using multi-million-dollar reconnaissance planes to track pirates, part of an international effort to protect shipping in the Gulf of Aden. Will Germany’s government continue to support the operation?
A R A B I C A ارابيكا SYRIA, STATE OF SIEGE*Al Jazeera broadcast footage from an empty Jisr al-Shughour. The camera rolls through deserted streets of the northern Syrian town, and then shows aerial footage of hundreds of people literally heading for the hills to escape a military encirclement. The network does not have […]
A French journalist defies a ban on foreign reporters in Syria, and reaches Deraa, where the popular uprising began in March. With the city since shut off from the outside world, this exclusive account shows Deraa’s residents living under siege,
As the secret annual meeting of the elite Bilderberg group arrives in Switzerland, theories of world domination abound.
With an eye on the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics, both to take place in Brazil, Rio de Janeiro plans to improve its image with an extreme makeover of its notorious hillside slums.
Europe was thrown into turmoil after Germany falsely accused Spanish cucumbers of carrying the deadly E. coli bacteria. A true test of EU solidarity.
A R A B I C A ارابيكا ARAB SPRING, STALLED*Prime Minister Beji a-Sabsi announced the postponement of parliamentary elections. Originally scheduled to take place on July 24th, the elections were pushed back to October 23rd. The country’s electory commission requested the postponement, saying more time was needed to organize transparent elections. ARAB SPRING, SUPRESSED*A […]
Former Turkish leader Kenan Evren, 93, defiantly tells a special prosecutor he had no choice but to oust the civilian government in 1980. He dismisses accusations about post-coup repression as pure “political rhetoric.”
Former army officer Ollanta Humala squeezed past Keiko Fujimori in last Sunday’s presidential runoff in Peru. His biggest challenge may be yet to come: aiding the country’s rural poor while at the same time placating jittery investors.
Categories
And If Yemen Is Lost?
Editorial: Even before reaching the brink of civil war, Yemen was plagued by a long list of woes, from dire poverty to Islamist terrorists. If Yemen’s neighbors don’t step in to help, the country could slip into a Somalia-like state of chaos that can dest