There are 416 articles

  • Casualties of another war

    The deadly blast in Islamabad was a revenge attack for what has been going on over the past few weeks in the badlands of the North-West Frontier. It highlighted the crisis confronting the new government in the wake of intensified US strikes in the tribal areas on the Afghan border. Hellfire missiles, drones, special operation raids inside Pakistan.. More

  • Gaza's tunnel economy stumbles

    Fayez Shweikh, one of Gaza's up-and-coming businessmen, shakes his head as he considers his mixed fortunes. In the past year, he had significantly increased his household income by investing in a black-market, "tunnel" economy, which relied on smuggled goods siphoned through underground passages between Egypt and Gaza. Israel has always.. More

  • Uncovering Turkey's dark past

    Many ethnic Kurds and Turks hope that an ongoing investigation into an undercover organization may help explain hundreds of unsolved murders, disappearances and bombings which rocked Turkey in the early 1990s. State prosecutors allege that a highly-secretive group - 'Ergenekon' - was responsible for many unsolved, high-profile killings in Turkey in.. More

  • Kosovo talks end in deadlock

    After more than 13 months of talks, Serbian and ethnic Albanian leaders have failed to reach a compromise on the future of the disputed province of Kosovo. The two sides were discussing a UN proposal that offers the trappings of statehood, including a constitution, flag and national anthem, under a draft but does not mention formal independence. The.. More

  • Kyrgyzstan: Debate on legalized polygamy continues

    The debate on legalizing polygamy has returned to Kyrgyzstan. The issue has come before the parliaments of all the Central Asian states -- Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Polygamy is practiced in all parts of Central Asia. For centuries Islamic law guided how societies in this region behaved and polygamy was a traditional.. More

  • Bosnians decry genocide ruling

    Bosnian Muslim and Croat leaders have voiced disappointment at the International Court of Justice's decision to clear Serbia of genocide in Bosnia, while Serbs have expressed relief at the verdict. The highest UN court said Serbia had not planned or carried out in the 1995 Bosnian Serb massacre of 8,000 Muslims at Srebrenica. But it said Serbia.. More

  • All roads lead to checkpoints

    There may have been a period when all roads led to Rome, but for the Palestinian people, all roads lead to checkpoints. The latest checkpoint Palestinians find themselves at is not manned by Israel but rather the ostensible mediator of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, the Quartet (which is comprised of the US, Russia, the European.. More

  • Albania under siege -I

    Geographical facts: Albania (Albanian Shqipëria, “Country of the Eagle”), is a republic in southeastern Europe, and it is officially known as the Republic of Albania. Albania lies along the northwestern edge of the Balkan Peninsula, with a total area of 28,748 sq km (11,100 sq mi). The greatest distance from north to south is about.. More

  • Albania under siege -II

    Albania today: Today Albania is surrounded by Italy, Greece, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. Almost 4 million Albanians live in the Republic of Albania. Another 2 million live in Kosova and an additional 700,000 in Macedonia. Adding up the number of people scattered in the territories, there are an estimated 6.5 million ethnic Albanians... More

  • Iraq oil and colonial powers –II

    World War II In accordance with its treaty of alliance with Britain, Iraq broke off diplomatic relations with Germany early in September 1939 and during the first few months of World War II had a pro-British government under Premier General Nuri as-Said. In March 1940, however, Said was replaced by Rashid Ali al-Gailani, an extreme Arab nationalist,.. More

  • Iraq: oil and colonial powers -I

    The Mongol sacked Baghdad in 1258 and there was further pillage of this city by the Turkic conqueror Tamerlane in the following century. In less than a century, the Mongol conquerors themselves converted to Islam, and Islamic power resurged in Turkey and India after being dislodged from the Arabian heartland. The story of the invasion of Baghdad.. More