Taliban confirm ‘initial’ deal to open office overseas
KABUL: The Taliban announced on Tuesday that they had come to an "initial agreement" to open their first political overseas office, possibly in Qatar, in the first public gesture towards…
Germany sends envoy to Egypt over NGO raids
BERLIN: Germany says it is sending an envoy to Egypt to press authorities over the raid on the Cairo office of a German think tank. The Foreign Ministry said Tuesday…
Iran threatens US Navy as sanctions hit economy
TEHRAN: Iran threatened on Tuesday to take action if the US Navy moves an aircraft carrier into the Gulf, Tehran's most aggressive statement yet after weeks of sabre-rattling as new…
Jordan hosts Israelis, Palestinians in rare meeting
AMMAN: Israeli and Palestinian negotiators gather in the Jordanian capital on Tuesday for their first face-to-face meeting in 16 months, but both sides insisted full-blown talks remained some way off.…
Opposition paper shut down again in Sudan
KHARTOUM: Sudanese authorities on Monday shut down the newspaper of the opposition Popular Congress Party — just months after it started publishing again following an earlier raid. The Rai Al-Shaab…
Egypt’s Salafi challenge
By Omar Ashour CAIRO: “We want democracy, but one constrained by God’s laws. Ruling without God’s laws is infidelity,” Yasser Burhami, the second leading figure in the Salafi Call Society (SCS)…
The lasting damage of Iraq
By Shlomo Ben Ami MADRID: The folding of the American flag in Iraq amid a collapse of public security and a severe crisis in the country’s fragile political order seals a…
India’s anti-corruption contest
By Shashi Tharoor NEW DELHI: India ended 2011 amid political chaos, as the much-awaited “Lokpal Bill,” aimed at creating a strong, independent anti-corruption agency, collapsed amid a welter of recrimination in…
The decline and fall of the Euro?
By Daniel Gros BRUSSELS: Great empires rarely succumb to outside attacks. But they often crumble under the weight of internal dissent. This vulnerability seems to apply to the eurozone as well.…
Oil above $110 on Iran, China data
LONDON: Crude oil rose above $110 a barrel on Tuesday as tension between Iran and the United States stirred fear of a possible disruption to oil supplies from the Middle…