|
|
10/31/2009
Shunning sectarianism
Iraqis are getting tired of sectarianism. For a country that has seen torn asunder by relentless bloodshed, part of it caused by the divisions between Sunnis and Shias, the news should come as a whiff of fresh air. The leaders of both the sects are now realising that both stability and peace in the ...
Click For More
10/30/2009
The Iran quagmire
Hopes of a diplomatic breakthrough over Iran’s nuclear programme were dwindling after Tehran demanded changes to a uranium exchange deal. The long-awaited Iranian oral counter-offer appeared to dash hopes that Iran would be willing to quickly embrace engagement with the West on its nuclear ...
Click For More
10/29/2009
Shaking off recession
The road to recovery is getting shorter for the global economy. The clearest and sure indication of this has come from Washington, where government data released yesterday showed that the US economy roared to life in late summer, as gross domestic product rose at a 3.5 percent annual rate in the ...
Click For More
10/29/2009
A new beginning
As German Chancellor Angela Merkel begins her second term, the most important challenge for her is to make Europe’s biggest economy emerge stronger from the financial crisis. But for Merkel, who was formally re-elected to a new term yesterday, there was another feather on her cap as she topped ...
Click For More
10/28/2009
The road to disaster
‘Deadliest’ is a scary word when referred to military operations. The US suffered its deadliest month in eight years of fighting in Afghanistan with the deaths of eight soldiers yesterday in bomb attacks in the south of the country. A total of 55 US soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan this ...
Click For More
10/27/2009
Justice for war victims
Wartime Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic boycotted the start of his trial at The Hague’s war crimes tribunal yesterday. But if he had expected to derail the judicial process and escape justice with his action, he is mistaken. The judges said they would proceed without him if he stayed away. ...
Click For More
10/25/2009
Relentless bloodshed
Yesterday’s twin bombings in Iraq which killed at least 132 people and wounded more than 500 should come as a rude shock to people who had thought that normalcy has returned to Iraq after a chain of bloody bombings since the US invasion of the country to oust Saddam Hussein. The two blasts ...
Click For More
10/24/2009
Deepening divisions
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called elections on Friday, scheduling a presidential and parliamentary ballot for January 24. What the Palestinians need today is not elections, but unity between the two rivals, Hamas and Fatah, and any democratic process that fails to fulfill this objective ...
Click For More
10/23/2009
Reining in the rising son
It can be called a victory for French democracy, because in democracy, nepotism has no role and is abhorred. The opponents of President Nicolas Sarkozy were crying victory yesterday after his 23-year-old son Jean, at the centre of a bitter nepotism row that has convulsed French politics, gave up ...
Click For More
10/23/2009
Fuelling recovery
The current spike in oil prices is good news both for the oil-producing nations and the global economy. The price rise emphatically shows that the global economy is continuing its rebound, and for the oil producing countries, it gives an opportunity to resume the much-needed investment in oil ...
Click For More
10/21/2009
Iraq impasse
Iraq’s fractious parliament once again failed to agree on a law on how the election in January is run. That’s not unusual in Iraq, where deadlines are seldom met. But election officials face a logistical challenge ahead of the January 16 vote, the first national election since 2005. They need the ...
Click For More
10/20/2009
A second chance
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has at last bowed to international pressure for second round of voting after confirmation of fraud. First of all, there was no need for any international pressure as Karzai should have voluntarily agreed for a run-off after it was conclusively proved that the election ...
Click For More
10/19/2009
A positive approach
The new US policy on Sudan, announced by President Barack Obama yesterday, presents a positive approach. The policy maintains economic sanctions but offers deeper engagement with Khartoum in a bid to end violence in Darfur and the semi-autonomous south. It is a welcome departure from the ...
Click For More
10/18/2009
Testing Obama
US President Barack Obama’s Middle East mission is faltering. It’s too early to jump to a conclusion like this, but if you look at the signs on the ‘peace road’, one can realize that such a conclusion is not an exaggeration. The UN human rights council’s vote to condemn January’s Israeli assault on ...
Click For More
10/17/2009
The declining dollar
The falling dollar is stoking fears about America’s eroding economic power. For the American consumer, a falling dollar means US exports sell better overseas, which can lead to more jobs. But it also means imports cost more, which means higher prices at US stores. The US dollar has been the world’s ...
Click For More
10/16/2009
Bloody days
A suicide bomber killed 12 people near a police office in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar on Friday. The killing is another blow to a shocked nation which has been reeling under a string of brazen attacks in the past 11 days, as the militants have attacked the United Nations, the army ...
Click For More
10/16/2009
Conciliatory moves
It is difficult to predict the behaviour of reclusive North Korea. But one thing is sure. Despite several hiccups, such as the five missiles it fired into the sea on Monday, North Korea seems unusually focused these days on smoothing feathers that it ruffled earlier in the year. The government of ...
Click For More
10/14/2009
Let talks take their course
The American plan, co-scripted by Britain and France, to impose stiff sanctions on Iran to force the country to abandon its nuclear ambitions is likely to face some hurdles with a slight change in Russian stance on the issue. Earlier reports had indicated that Russia could support sanctions against ...
Click For More
10/13/2009
Under siege
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is fighting a battle of his own, and this is a battle he must win if he is to enjoy the trust of Palestinians which is crucial for his survival. Yesterday, the president was reassuring Palestinians that there was no truth to rumours he encouraged Israel’s bombing ...
Click For More
10/12/2009
Glittering gold
It is a well known fact that the price of gold is closely linked to the value of dollar. Any minor sign of weakness in dollar results in a rise in strength for gold. For the same reason, the dramatic rise in gold prices in the past week should tell us something about the current state of dollar, ...
Click For More
10/11/2009
Hope in Myanmar
In the past few days, Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s democracy icon still under house arrest, has transformed herself from a political prisoner to a key negotiator. The developments in the tiny state in the past few days have caught world attention – for the dizzying pace at which things are happening ...
Click For More
10/10/2009
Peshawar bombing
The huge and lethal blast that rocked a crowded market in the northwestern Pakistan city of Peshawar on Friday seems to be a warning against the government’s plans to launch a military offensive against militants in the frontier region of South Waziristan.
The blast, which was caused by a ...
Click For More
10/9/2009
A stunning choice
The award of this year’s Nobel peace prize to US President Barack Obama has been met with widespread incredulity and consternation in many parts of the world. Whatever the reasons which the Norwegian Nobel committee had relied on to choose Obama for the prize, it will have a tough task explaining ...
Click For More
10/8/2009
A turning point in relations
The much anticipated visit by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia to Syria, which started on Wednesday, can be regarded as a turning point in Arab relations. The two-day visit was the first by King Abdullah since acceding to the throne in 2005, and is ...
Click For More
10/7/2009
A welcome verdict
Yesterday, the law caught up with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi who suffered perhaps the greatest setback in his long career when the country’s top court stripped him of immunity from prosecution. The top court ruled that a law granting Berlusconi immunity from prosecution violates the ...
Click For More
|
|
