Editorial: A French philosopher looks at the relation between religion and democracy, and suggests Europe’s Christians have a unique claim to reconciling the two.
Category: Geopolitics
An Italian geologist explains disaster tolls’ links to poverty and bad planning, and why Japan’s quake damage could have been much worse. But the tsunami is a reminder that even prevention has its limits. Japanese quake (Yuichiro Haga) They have survived the end of the world, the “Big One,” the most powerful of them all. […]
Friday’s earthquake and the tsunami that followed is a massive disaster in Japan. Here’s a quick look at how it’s being covered by the Japanese media. (Pinboke) DEATH TOLL A precise count of victims in the immediate wake of a disaster of this scale and breadth is always hard to verify, especially in the early […]
Secularists in the Swiss canton of Zurich are up in arms over the introduction of a compulsory course on religion and culture in public schools. (hughmiller) ZURICH – The fastest-growing religious status in the central Swiss canton of Zurich is not Islam, but atheism. According to the most recent census, one in five Zurich residents […]
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JAPAN: The Big One Hits
A magnitude 8.9 offshore earthquake strikes northern Japan, setting off a massive tsunami that kills hundreds and could lead to radioactive risk from a nuclear power plant. (NASA Goddard) Japan’s strongest recorded earthquake, and the massive tsunami it unleashed, has left hundreds of Japanese dead and hundreds more missing, while residents fled coastlines across the […]
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JAPAN: The Big One Hits
A magnitude 8.9 offshore earthquake strikes northern Japan, setting off a massive tsunami that kills hundreds and could lead to radioactive risk from a nuclear power plant. (NASA Goddard) Japan’s strongest recorded earthquake, and the massive tsunami it unleashed, has left hundreds of Japanese dead and hundreds more missing, while residents fled coastlines across the […]
After Gaddafi’s forces attacked Ras Lenuf by land, air and sea, Al Jazeera reports that the rebels are “preparing to return to the city.” A R A B I C A ارابيكا By Kristen Gillespie FRONT LINES *After Gaddafi’s forces attacked Ras Lenuf by land, air and sea, Al Jazeera reports that the rebels are […]
Japan suffers its worst earthquake in 140 years, followed by a 10-meter high tsunami along its Pacific coast.
Essay: Criticism from European and US officials should remind Turkey’s leaders that press freedom is key to how its democracy is judged in the West
The lead story in Al-Shams newspaper, the official daily of the Libyan Information Ministry: “The Brother Leader of the Libyan Revolution welcomed young members of the Zintan living in Tripoli. A R A B I C A ارابيكا By Kristen Gillespie REGIME DAILY SCOOP *The lead story in Al-Shams newspaper, the official daily of the […]
Virtually unknown to the rest of the world, this former judge was the first senior cabinet minister to abandon Gaddafi and join the revolution. Now Mustafa Abud Al-Jeleil may be the last best hope to take down the old regime. With some help.On the road to Baida (Al Jazeera) BAIDA – The road to Mustafa […]
Following the assassination of two political leaders campaigning to change Pakistan’s Islamic blasphemy law, those who dream of a more open society and an enlightened Islam are trying to fight back.
Jovan Divjak, who led Bosnia’s defense in the 1992-95 siege of Sarajevo, has been arrested in Austria on a Serbian warrant. Top French intellectuals demand his release, calling European policy on the Balkans a continuing “affront to reason.”
Hundreds of armed attackers stormed Tahrir Square in Cairo, trying to drive protesters out, causing mass chaos. A R A B I C A ارابيكا By Kristen Gillespie STORMING FREEDOM SQUARE *Hundreds of armed attackers stormed Tahrir Square in Cairo, trying to drive protesters out, causing mass chaos. Grainy footage of the attackers is here […]
A veteran news editor at Switzerland’s SF television network says apparently dramatic battleground images are being staged by insurgents for the benefit of photographers and cameramen…who are in on the game. By Marc Brupbacher Something like a civil war is raging in Libya as rebel insurgents and Muammar Gaddafi’s troops are engaged in intense battles […]
Editorial: A French daily sees links between Arab uprisings, American founding fathers and China’s hard choices.
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Rise Of The Arab Woman
Even before protests in Tunisia and Egypt, a quieter women’s revolution was underway that’s challenging traditional Arab society. But resistance from men is bound to be fierce. Cairo woman (al Jazeera) Leila al-Aguizy doesn’t look like a farmer. Female Egyptian farmers in the Nile Delta usually wear long, colorful robes and headscarves wrapped around their […]
A R A B I C A ارابيكا 72 HOURS *Al Jazeera reports that the Libyan Transitional Council has ruled out any sort of dialogue with Muammar Gaddafi, giving the Libyan leader 72 hours to leave the country to avoid being prosecuted in the future. The council told a Gaddafi representative that it “will not […]
The untold tragedy of mass emigration out of Europe’s poorest country of Moldova is that of the some 10,000 children left behind in orphanages by their migrant worker parents.
The Egyptian army, with more than 768,000 “likes,” took to its Facebook page to issue decree no. 27 to order citizens to stop posting classified documents online. A R A B I C A ارابيكا By Kristen Gillespie FACEBOOK CROWD CONTROL *The Egyptian army, with more than 768,000 “likes,” took to its Facebook page to […]
With pro-Mubarak thugs back on the scene and economic uncertainty rampant, the honeymoon of Cairo’s pro-democracy movement may already be ending. Mubarak’s departure have not meant an end to protests in Cairo (Monasosh) Giordano Stabile CAIRO – The baltagiyya are back. The word is spreading among the people in front of the Ministry of the […]
Jacques Vergès took on the cases of Klaus Barbie, Carlos the Jackal and Slobodan Milosovic. Now, he makes the case for himself.
Conflict across the Arab world means the Tunisian port city of Zarzis is bustling as never before as a point of departure for illegal immigrant crossings to Italy. Tunisian port (Delirante Bestiole) ZARZIS – As his eyes gaze out over the sea, the captain known only as ‘Ress’ informs us that any crossing will have […]
Mexico City judge pulls from theaters a controversial documentary about legal system after a witness featured in the film files a complaint. EYES INSIDE – LATIN AMERICA It is a fitting irony that Nicolás Vale, director of the highly acclaimed documentary “Presumed Guilty,” an account about the flaws of Mexico’s legal system, has wound up […]
A R A B I C A ارابيكا SAUDI RUMBLINGS. CAUGHT ON TAPE *Hundreds of Saudi men gathered outside the Rajehi mosque in Riyadh for a protest. One commenter wrote under the clip, “we don’t want the regime to fall, we only want reform.” Another wrote, “now it’s time for the regime’s thugs to come […]
In a public petition to King Mohammed VI, dissident Moroccan writer Abdelhak Serhane urges the monarch to embrace the revolution — or become its target.
The wearing of full-face veils in public will be against the law in France as of April 11. But will police and property owners be able to enforce it?
To the outside world, Arid U., the German-Kosovan man accused of this week’s deadly shooting at the Frankfurt airport, was well integrated. But clues that something was amiss could be found online. (uggoboy) Florian Flade FRANKFURT – Arid U. wanted a bloodbath. He wanted to kill people he considered infidels, those whom he believed wage […]
A R A B I C A ارابيكا SIGNS AND SLOGANS *This Al Jazeera report looks at the importance of signs and slogans in ongoing Arab revolutions. One placard from Benghazi, Libya shows a chess queen knocking the king, with the head of Gaddafi, off the chessboard. It’s part of what looks like a warehouse […]
Supporters organizing online for Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, the departed minister adored for rising above the fray, forced out by plagiary scandal. Guttenberg on Feb. 17, before his resignation, in Afghanistan (Bundeswehr fotos) BERLIN – Ousted German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg – who resigned this week after revelations that he plagiarized large parts of his […]
In an interview, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi insists his father’s regime is “the target of a propaganda fomented by the foreign media.”
As major media outlets tried piecing together scattered battlefield reports from Libya, and the possibility of a US-led intervention, others were buzzing with satirical and sartorial perspectives…. A R A B I C A ارابيكا By Kristen Gillespie LIBYA LITE As major media outlets tried piecing together scattered battlefield reports from Libya, and the possibility […]
The reverberations from Tunis, Cairo and Tripoli can be felt in Beijing, where Party leaders are clamping down and counting on economic growth to prevent any similar Chinese uprising.
Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s hold on power may be crumbling faster than his better-known counterpart over in Libya, and the pressure is starting to show. A R A B I C A ارابيكا By Kristen Gillespie YEMEN VIA TWITTER Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s hold on power may be crumbling faster than his better-known […]
Two prominent European female politicians make the case for imposing a quota system to ensure more women make it into top management positions. (world economic forum) By Viviane Reding and Françoise Grossetête It is time to shatter the “glass ceiling,” once and for all. Enabling women to realize their full professional potential is not only […]
Al Jazeera ran a story citing unnamed Israeli security sources who say that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Defense Minister Ehud Barak not only back Muammar Gaddafi, but have also recruited African mercenaries in order to prevent “an Islamic regime” from taking over Libya. A R A B I C A […]
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Tunisia: And Now, The Refugee Crisis
Refugees are pouring out of Libya. Many of those who have made it across the border to Tunisia are too scared to talk, with reports that some may be African mercenaries. By Monica Fahmy RAS JEDIR – The steady stream of people fleeing Libya is creating a whole new crisis for Tunisia. In the eastern […]
As locals search for corpses at the Ground Zero of the Feb. 17 Revolution, military and civilians map out a final assault on Muammar Gadaffi. Opposition poster (mshamma) BENGHAZI – Osama is rotating in his hand a new Belgian-made 9-mm Parabellum cartridge. He took it after the assault on Al Fadil, a major Libyan police […]
The Libyan leader is gearing up for what might be his last stand, counting on sons and loyalists to lead the way.
For the third time in five days, Muammar Gaddafi spoke to Libyans, friend and foe. A R A B I C A ارابيكا By Kristen Gillespie LATEST FROM LIBYA *For the third time in five days, Muammar Gaddafi spoke to Libyans, friend and foe. This time, the Libyan leader made his shout-filled appeal in central […]