Bahrain orders murder retrial, observer turned back
DUBAI: A Bahraini appeal court has ordered the retrial of two men sentenced to death for running over and killing two policemen during pro-democracy protests last year, state media reported.…
South Sudan facing multiple crises, says UN refugee chief
JUBA: South Sudan faces challenges of "huge dimensions" as the world's newest nation struggles to support hundreds of thousands of people returning home or fleeing violence, the UN refugee chief…
Israel OKs harsh penalties for illegal migrants
JERUSALEM: Israel's parliament on Tuesday approved harsh new penalties on illegal migrants and Israelis who help them, passing one of several controversial measures designed to stanch the flood of Africans…
Tunisian dies of self-immolation, year after Ben Ali ouster
TUNIS: A Tunisian man who set himself on fire to protest unemployment has died, a hospital official said Tuesday, a year almost to the day after a fruit-seller's self-immolation sparked…
A PALESTINIAN VIEW: 2012: A grim staging ground
By Ghassan Khatib The two main Middle East-related events of 2011 appear to be continuing into the new year. One is the complete stagnation of the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, and the…
AN ISRAELI VIEW: At best, 2012 will be a year of reassessment
By Yossi Alpher The year 2012 will almost certainly not witness any progress toward agreement between Israelis and Palestinians. We'll be lucky if there is no serious backsliding in the form…
Charisma we can believe in
By Joseph Nye CAMBRIDGE: A leadership transition is scheduled in two major autocracies in 2012. Neither is likely to be a surprise. Xi Jinping is set to replace Hu Jintao as…
The Emperor’s new climate-change agreement
By Bjørn Lomborg COPENHAGEN: Dressing up failure as victory has been integral to climate-change negotiations since they started 20 years ago. The latest round of talks in Durban, South Africa, in…
Picasso stolen from Athens’ National Gallery
A Pablo Picasso painting gifted to Greece by the Spanish-born master was stolen from Athens' National Gallery early Monday with two other important artworks, prompting scorn from the Greek police…
1793 penny fetches $1.38 mln at US auction
A once-cent copper coin from the earliest days of the US Mint in 1793 has sold for a record $1.38 million at a Florida auction. James Halperin of Texas-based Heritage…