Egypt not impressed as Lieberman shows willingness to visit
CAIRO: New Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has softened his stance on Egypt after assuming his new post, but Egypt seemed unmoved by his comments.Lieberman assumed the post of foreign…
Wine in Egypt: for foreigners, by foreigners no longer?
CAIRO: Before it was swept up by the nationalist wave that brought Gamal Abdel Nasser to power, Egypt's wine industry was run largely by khawagas - or, less colloquially, foreigners.…
IFC to invest $150 mln regionally over five years
CAIRO: As organizations like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund take center stage in third world development efforts, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) has managed to maintain a lower…
His name's Farag, Captain Mamdouh Farag
Watching a high-profile Egyptian gentleman who dyes his hair, whose name begins with M and who praises Egypt's interior ministry is not everyone's cup of tea, but happens to be…
In Damascus, change is the norm
Halfway through watching acclaimed Scottish playwright David Grieg's latest production "Damascus on Sunday at the Sawy Culture Wheel, I came to a rather startling realization: This is a rare occasion…
Indonesian porn law turns off folk dancers
Gyrating her hips to traditional gamelan music on a makeshift village stage, Indonesian folk dancer Sri Wulandari ignores the leers and wolf whistles of the drunk men below as she…
North Korea's missile Tantrum
SEOUL: Once again, tension is rising across Asia over North Korea's missile program. Unlike its previous "surprise missile launches, North Korea's government this time notified international agencies in advance that…
Shifting the goalposts of strategy
History reminds us that Afghanistan long ago acquired the label of tomb of empires . US President Barack Obama at least admits that the US is not winning there and…
Israel has already won
These are dangerous times in the Arab World. The glimmers of hope which first emerged in the mid-1990s that the Arab-Israeli conflict could be resolved (the emphasis here is on…