| POLITICS-US: Bush Comments Rally Dems Behind Obama | more |
WASHINGTON, May 16 (IPS) - U.S. President George W. Bush's comments in
Israel Thursday ignited a political campaign row back home as
Democratic leaders decried his comparison of engaging enemies to
Nazi appeasement.
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| POLITICS-US: An Ocean Apart, Bush, McCain Play to Neo-Con Dreams | more |
WASHINGTON, May 15 (IPS) - In separate speeches delivered an ocean apart, the
two standard bearers of the Republican Party Thursday offered
rosy visions of a future designed to gladden the hearts of
Israel-centred neo-conservatives without offering any details
about how their dreams will be achieved.
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| MIDEAST: Siege Hits Palestinians Before They Are Born | more |
GAZA CITY, May 14 (IPS) - The Israeli siege of Gaza that has restricted
access to food, water and medicine is now beginning to hit unborn
children and newborn babies.
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| EGYPT: Giving With One Hand, Taking Back With the Other | more |
CAIRO, May 14 (IPS) - In an effort to offset soaring inflation, President
Hosni Mubarak last month announced generous salary increases for
all public sector employees. The gesture lost its lustre days
later, however, when the government drastically raised prices of
subsidised fuel.
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| MIDEAST: Another Corruption Scandal Pursues Olmert | more |
JERUSALEM, May 13 (IPS) - Badly tarnished by his management of the Lebanon
war in the summer of 2006, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had
begun, in recent months, to resurrect his public image. But a new
corruption scandal in which he is being questioned by police has
again undermined his credibility, and raised questions about his
ability to govern effectively.
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| POLITICS: Bush Tour Diminished by Hezbollah Show of Force | more |
WASHINGTON, May 12 (IPS) - While this week's trip by President George W.
Bush to Israel, Saudi Arabia and Egypt was never conceived as a
triumphant "victory lap" around the region, the swift
rout of U.S.-backed forces by Lebanon's Hezbollah Friday has
provided yet another vivid illustration of the rapid decline in
Washington's influence in the Middle East during his tenure.
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| MIDEAST: Spy Chief Presents New Peace Plan | more |
CAIRO, May 12 (IPS) - Palestinian resistance factions signed on to an
Egyptian ceasefire proposal last month aimed at bringing a
measure of calm to the hapless Gaza Strip. In a bid to secure Tel
Aviv's endorsement of the plan, intelligence chief Omar
Suleiman is expected to travel to Israel later this month.
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| LEBANON: Hezbollah, In Opposition, Takes Charge | more |
BEIRUT, May 10 (IPS) - At least 11 people are dead and 30 injured during
ferocious gun battles pitting opposition Shia Amal and Hezbollah
fighters against members of the Sunni Future Movement, which is
part of the majority March 14 alliance in government. As the
opposition's militia men clamped down on government
headquarters, the balance of power seems to have been shifted
permanently in the Land of the Cedars.
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| LEBANON: Hezbollah Unleashes a Coup Bid | more |
BEIRUT, May 9 (IPS) - Men clad in black have roamed the streets of Beirut
since Wednesday, their faces covered with ski masks or dark
kaffiya, as they wreaked havoc in the large avenues leading to
the airport or dividing Sunni and Shia areas. As darkness loomed
over Lebanon, the winds of discord seem to set the Lebanese
capital ablaze.
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| MIDEAST: Israelis Believe Another War Is Coming | more |
JERUSALEM, May 8 (IPS) - As Israel marks its 60th anniversary, Israelis are
deeply pessimistic about the prospects of peace with their
neighbours, with an overwhelming majority believing they will be
at war again within the next five years.
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| MIDEAST: Villagers Fight for Promised Land | more |
BI'LIN, The West Bank, May 7 (IPS) - Some 1,700 Palestinians in the West Bank village of
Bi'lin have been promised land, but so far it has not been
delivered.
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| LEBANON: Al-Qaeda on a Slippery Base | more |
BEIRUT, May 7 (IPS) - Al-Qaeda's second-in-command, Ayman Zawahiri,
announced in an audiotape broadcast Apr. 21 that Islamic groups
would play a pivotal role in the war against Jews, and encouraged
militants to expel invading 'Crusaders' masquerading as
peacekeepers, referring to UNIFIL troops deployed in South
Lebanon.
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| EGYPT: Salary Hike Kills Strike | more |
CAIRO, May 7 (IPS) - Calls for a nationwide protest against the rising
cost of living ended in anticlimax on Sunday (May 4), with most
Egyptians going to work as usual. Although protest leaders had
urged the public to register its disaffection en masse by staying
home, the streets of the capital were busy.
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| MIDEAST: Egypt Braces for New Gaza Influx | more |
CAIRO, May 6 (IPS) - With next-door Gaza Strip in a humanitarian crisis,
the government is desperate to avoid a repeat of January's
Palestinian influx into the Sinai Peninsula. In recent weeks, the
security presence along Egypt's 14-kilometre border with the
hapless territory has been significantly reinforced.
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| MIDEAST: Too Quiet in the Harbour | more |
GAZA CITY, May 6 (IPS) - It's been strangely quiet for some time at the
port in Gaza. No clanging of hooks, no sounds of creaking cranes
or of thumping of nets upon decks. Boat engines, normally
puttering and spewing exhaust, lie entombed under covers.
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| LEBANON: Wobbling In Uncertainty | more |
BEIRUT, May 6 (IPS) - As clashes between supporters of Lebanon's
feuding factions become increasingly frequent, Lebanon seems to
be walking a fine line between stability and violence.
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| POLITICS: Washington Cool on New Israel-Syria Talks | more |
WASHINGTON, May 5 (IPS) - Amid regional fears of a summer war between Israel
and Syria, the two countries may in fact be inching closer to a
deal. Not even President George W. Bush's recent disclosures
to Congress, intended to prove Syrian-North Korean nuclear
cooperation, appear able to dent the resolve for peace, or at the
very least, a reduction in tensions.
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| EGYPT: New Strike to Greet Mubarak | more |
CAIRO, May 2 (IPS) - Hundreds remain in detention following a nationwide
protest Apr. 6 against rising food prices and political
stagnation. But this has not deterred activists from calling for
a second general strike on May 4, timed to coincide with
President Hosni Mubarak's birthday.
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| CANADA: Jewish Defence League Energised by Israel's Far Right | more |
TORONTO, Apr 30 (IPS) - Like an aging group of retro rocker musicians, the
Jewish Defence League (JDL) resurfaced in Toronto recently after
a decade of dormancy, trying to look a little more mainstream.
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| LEBANON: Hate the U.S., And Head For It | more |
BEIRUT, Apr 30 (IPS) - The growing rift between the U.S. and Iran has
spread also to Lebanese soil, with Shia youngsters frequently
seen burning U.S. flags. But ironically, for many of
Hezbollah's Shia constituency, the U.S. is home.
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| US/MIDEAST: Palestinian Negotiators Go Home Frustrated | more |
WASHINGTON, Apr 28 (IPS) - Five months after the U.S. hosted the Annapolis
conference to push for a decisive Israeli-Palestinian peace,
negotiations between the two sides have shown no visible progress.
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| EGYPT: The Global Makes the Local Worse | more |
CAIRO, Apr 28 (IPS) - The appearance of long breadlines outside state-run
distribution centres in recent weeks has raised fears of possible
bread shortages. Although the government has taken measures aimed
at easing the crisis, experts point to soaring international
wheat prices that have made the commodity more costly for
households worldwide.
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| MIDEAST: Olmert Closer to Deal with Syria, Israel Is Not | more |
JERUSALEM, Apr 28 (IPS) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said he is
"very interested" in peace with Syria. He has sent a
message to Syrian President Bashar Assad expressing a willingness
to give back the Golan Heights in exchange for a comprehensive
peace treaty.
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| MIDEAST: Israel Could Make Orphans Homeless Again | more |
HEBRON, The West Bank, Apr 28 (IPS) - Nibaal Shriteh may soon be homeless. The
17-year-old Palestinian lives in a Hebron orphanage but, if the
Israeli military has its way, she and 240 fellow orphans like her
will be out on the streets.
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| LEBANON: Christian Divisions Complicate Politics | more |
BEIRUT, Apr 28 (IPS) - The political crisis gripping Lebanon has chipped
away at what has been viewed by most since the 2005 parliamentary
elections as an unlikely alignment of two political heavyweights.
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| EGYPT: Islamists Given Jail, and a Message | more |
CAIRO, Apr 24 (IPS) - A year-long military trial of 40 leading members of
the Muslim Brotherhood opposition movement ended last week with
stiff jail terms for most of the defendants. Although the group
is officially banned by the state, many observers were taken
aback by the severity of the rulings.
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| LEBANON: Assassinations Shake Christian Town | more |
BEIRUT, Apr 24 (IPS) - The lush Bekaa Valley is nestled between snowy
Mount Lebanon and the Syrian border. The region, reputed for its
wine production, was this week the witness to a violent crime in
the Christian city of Zahleh, where two members of the
anti-Syrian Kataeb party (Phalangists) were gunned down.
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| EGYPT: New Ban Tightens Noose Around Freedom | more |
CAIRO, Apr 23 (IPS) - Egypt's parliament ratified legislation earlier
this month outlawing public demonstrations in or near religious
establishments. While government officials say the move is meant
to preserve the inviolability of Egypt's mosques and churches,
critics say the new law aims to further stifle freedom of
expression.
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| MIDEAST: Israel Sees Iran Threat Recede | more |
JERUSALEM, Apr 22 (IPS) - In the clearest indication yet that Israel now
believes Iran's nuclear aspirations will be curbed, Prime
Minister Ehud Olmert has said that efforts being undertaken by
the international community will ensure that Tehran does not
acquire nuclear capability.
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| MIDEAST: Israel Strengthens Hamas Leadership | more |
GAZA CITY, Apr 22 (IPS) - The one political result of Israel's attacks and
sanctions on Gaza has been that the Hamas leadership, and
particularly Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, have emerged
greatly strengthened.
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