A universal library
By Peter Singer MELBOURNE: Scholars have long dreamed of a universal library containing everything that has ever been written. Then, in 2004, Google announced that it would begin digitally scanning all…
Wickets and wariness
By Shashi Tharoor NEW DELHI: India-Pakistan relations — a challenge at the best of times, and in the doldrums since the terrorist attacks on Mumbai of November 2008 – received an…
From victim to survivor: a foundation for peace
By Colin Parry LONDON: My 12-year-old son Tim was killed on 20 March 1993 by a bomb planted by the Irish Republican Army in Warrington, England. He was shopping for football…
Almodovar, Malick films selected for Cannes competition
Spanish director Pedro Almodovar's "The Skin That I Inhabit" and US director Terrence Malick's "Tree of Life" are among 19 films competing at the 64th Cannes Film Festival, organizers said…
The Doctor’s in for Another Season
The medical drama “Lahazat Harega” (Critical Moments) has already started rolling its cameras for its run into the third season. Produced by Dubai-based Outlook Entertainment , “Lahazat” is the first…
Mubarak detention a victory for many, army uneasy
SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt: Hosni Mubarak's detention by a prosecutor has stunned and amazed millions of Egyptians but some in the military now ruling the country are deeply uncomfortable about humiliating…
Former PM Ebeid, Citadel’s Heikal banned from travel
CAIRO: Former Egyptian Minister Atef Ebeid and Citadel Capital founder and chairman Ahmed Heikal are banned from leaving the country, the Prosecutor General said in a statement Wednesday. Both are…
NATO ministers meet on Libya as air strikes intensify
BERLIN: NATO foreign ministers gathered Thursday in Berlin amid calls for increased air strikes on Moamer Qaddafi's forces and growing divisions among world powers over whether to arm Libya's rebels.…
Deal struck to try to calm restive Syrian city
AMMAN: Syrian authorities sought to defuse tensions in Banias by agreeing to withdraw the feared secret police from the restive coastal city replacing them with army patrols and to free…
Yemen opposition spurns talks, sets Saleh deadline
SANAA: Yemen's opposition rejected an offer on Thursday to join Gulf-mediated talks in Saudi Arabia on a transfer of power and set a two-week deadline for President Ali Abdullah Saleh…