Bahrain hospital on frontline in protest crackdown
AL KHARJIYA, Bahrain: It was just after midnight when armed men in military uniforms came to the hospital bed of Ali Mansour Abdel-Karim Nasser, who was injured by pellets fired…
World intervenes in Libya, with unusual speed
By Angela Charlton / AP PARIS: In diplomatic terms, international military action against Libya's leader went from the brainstorming stage to the shooting-at-tanks stage with stunning speed. Saturday's launch of military…
The heart and soul of change
By Ramin Jahanbegloo When the East European dissidents of the 1980s were struggling against communist authoritarian regimes, they returned to the concept of civil society. What Eastern European intellectuals and civic…
Seeking ‘stability’
By Chris Toensing Stability is the least understood and most derided of the trio of strategic interests pursued by the United States in the Middle East since it became the region’s…
Withdrawing from the war on drugs
By Fernando Henrique Cardoso GENEVA: Switzerland’s direct democracy allows citizens who have gathered enough petition signatures to challenge government policies and laws in nationwide referenda. After a spate of AIDS deaths…
Thailand in yellow and red
By Thitinan Pongsudhirak BANGKOK: After three consecutive years of deadly street protests, Thailand has arrived at the point where it will need to hold new elections, as the current term of…
Arab League head says wanted no-fly zone not bombs
CAIRO: The Arab League chief said on Sunday that Arabs did not want military strikes by Western powers that hit civilians when the League called for a no-fly zone over…
Qaddafi feeling world’s ‘unified will’ : UN chief
PARIS: Embattled Libyan leader Moammar Qaddafi is feeling the "unified will" of the international community through the military campaign launched against his forces in Libya, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said…
Egypt re-arrests Zawahiri’s brother after release
CAIRO: Egyptian police detained the brother of Al Qaeda no. 2 Ayman Al-Zawahri on Sunday, days after he had been released as part of an amnesty extended to political prisoners,…
ElBaradei attacked as he arrives at poll station
CAIRO: Presidential hopeful and former head of the IAEA Mohamed ElBaradei was attacked Saturday by what he called "organized thugs" when he arrived at a polling station in Moqqatam…