Tunisia Islamist leader rules out normal ties with Israel
By AFP TUNIS: The head of Tunisia's governing Islamist party has said the country cannot normalize ties with Israel, the official TAP news agency reported Sunday. Rached Ghannouchi said that…
Sandler sets worst-movie record with Razzies sweep
By David Germain / AP Adam Sandler and friends have scored a new high — or low — among voters of the Razzies, an Academy Awards spoof that presents prizes for…
Taylor Swift wins ACM entertainer of the year
By Chris Talbott / AP Taylor Swift won her second consecutive entertainer of the year award at the Academy of Country Music Awards on Sunday night, just 24 hours after she…
Babies and the iconography of power
By Marie-Jeanne Berger The most recent attempts by the country’s Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) to police the minds of Egyptians has led to a gregarious poster campaign around…
Bonfire of the banalities
By Philip Whitfield CAIRO: Grace and pace they have not. Filibuster and bluster they’re full of. Can you believe the new crop of rags-to-riches whistle-stoppers are turning down a billion US…
The Syrian crisis and its implications for Turkish-Russian relations
By Ziya Meral Last week, during his weekly speech to the Justice and Development Party (AKP) group in the Turkish parliament, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan repeated his strong statements on…
When it comes to sharia, can knowledge trump fear?
By Dr Julie Macfarlane KINGSVILLE, Ontario: Recently, Florida’s House of Representatives passed a bill (which later died in the state Senate) to ban the use of “foreign law” in domestic courtrooms.…
Whose sovereignty?
By Javier Solana MADRID: Despite the huge sums expended to write down Greece’s foreign debt, there has been an outcry of censure against “interference” with the country’s national sovereignty. True, in…
In Sinai, militant Islam flourishes quietly
By Tamim Elyan / Reuters NORTH SINAI: The group of 50 young men who had blocked off access to a small international military base in the Sinai desert would say nothing…
Oil prices drift lower in muted trade
By AFP LONDON: World oil prices sank on Monday, continuing the previous week's downtrend, as traders digested the latest batch of data on the Chinese economy. New York's main contract,…