Friday, March 24, 2006

Afghan covert from Islam threatened

Just two months after the debacle over the caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed pitted the Muslim world against the West, a new controversy has erupted threatening to further widen the chasm between the two cultures. The latest row is over the news that a court in the Afghan capital, Kabul, is threatening to impose the death penalty on an Afghani man who converted to Christianity from Islam.

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Dubai deploys weapon of charm

Dubai's secret weapon came to Washington. She is Sheikha Lubna Al-Qasimi, Minister of Economy of the United Arab Emirates and the first woman in the history of the United Arab Emirates to assume a full cabinet position. She was given the position in November 2004 to manage the newly merged ministries of Economy and Planning.

Media pays heavy price in Iraq

Call it civil waror not, three years of conflict has already claimed more lives among the press corps than 20 years of jungle, and at times urban, warfare in Vietnam.

Monday, March 20, 2006

The Not May '68 riots

Despite the similarities between today's student unrest and the student revolt of May 1968, there is little chance that the recent spate of protests perturbing French political life turning into another May '68.


Friday, March 17, 2006

Stop the boycott

Shorlt after ascending to the throne, Saudi Arabia's new King Abdullah indicated that he intended to play a major role in finding a negotiated settlement to the long-standing Arab-Israeli dispute.

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

A diary of the Iraq war -- year three

Iraq. Year three. Things did not exactly turn out as planned.

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Elections in the Levant

In most countries politicians campaign by kissisng babies. In Israel elections are marked by Israeli Army bulldozers storming a Palestinian prison.

Monday, March 13, 2006

Death of a dictator

Slobodan Milosevic, the 64-year-old former leader of Yugoslavia who threw his country into the worst fighting in Europe since the end of WWII, died Saturday. His ideology was based on hate, racism and nationalistic ideas that included "ethnic cleansing," and mass murder.

Friday, March 10, 2006

The Tehran tango

The Tehran tango, you take one step back and two steps forward.

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Opening the gates of ijtihad

Some experts believe the solution to the turmoil gripping Muslim society today may be found in r-opening the gates of ijtihad.

How films impact us

Movies, whether fact or fiction, have a big impact on society.

Monday, March 06, 2006

Moderate Muslims appeal

A plea from moderate Muslims.


Saturday, March 04, 2006

Al-Qaida in Gaza?

Is al-Qaida active in the Palestinian territories? Israeli and Palestinian officials believe that to be true. case. H

Thursday, March 02, 2006

How to handle Iran

Reza Pahlavi, the son of the deposed shat of Iran cautions against any knee-jerk reaction that might further empower the ruling mullahs in Tehran.

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Assault on Abqaiq

Once considered a weapon to pressure the West, oil is now being used against them by al-Qaida.

Monday, February 27, 2006

More al-Qaida terror in Saudi

Al-Qaida is back on the warpath in Saudi Arabia after 13 months of quiet. the target this time was the mega-oil installation at Abqaiq.


Friday, February 24, 2006

Is it a civil war?

When is a civil war a civil war? When does the mayhem -- fighting, car bombing, kidnapping and other random acts of violence become a civil war?

Thursday, February 23, 2006

Port Insecurity

Is the sale of U.S. ports to a Dubai-based company a threat to national security?


Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Where did the Palestinian Left disappear to?

What became of the once mightyPalestinian left? Amid the commotion of Hamas' victory last month in the West Bank and Gaza, the practical disappearance of the Palestinian left went by almost unheralded.

Monday, February 20, 2006

Iraq: Three years on

Do we live in a safer world today after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, three years ago?