Q&A:Mousavi's Revelations Would Destroy the Govt's Legitimacy
    on 24/08/2010 17.46.18 GMT
Omid Memarian interviews ABOLHASSAN BANISADR, Iran's first post-Revolution president... (continue)

U.N. Treads Cautiously in Probe of Border Firefight:ISRAEL-LEBANON
    on 23/08/2010 11.46.20 GMT
Jennifer Leong UNITED NATIONS, Aug 20 (IPS) - Three weeks after a fatal exchange of fire between Israel and Lebanon along the U.N.-demarcated Blue Line, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has yet to make recommendations on easing tension at the border.... (continue)

Arab-Israeli Orchestra Spreads Message of Peace in Latin America
    on 16/08/2010 22.12.02 GMT
Gonzalo Ortiz QUITO, Aug 16 (IPS) - "The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra has proved that music can break down barriers previously considered insurmountable," its Argentine-Israeli conductor, Daniel Barenboim, told IPS on a visit to Ecuador.... (continue)

White House Questions Suspension of Military Aid to Lebanon
    on 12/08/2010 01.34.20 GMT
Eli Clifton* WASHINGTON, Aug 11 (IPS) - Several powerful members of Congress have worked to suspend U.S. military aid to Lebanon's military after a deadly skirmish on the Lebanese-Israeli border last week which left two Lebanese soldiers, a Lebanese journalist and one Israeli officer dead.... (continue)

LEBANON:Racism Legitimised by Law
    on 06/08/2010 16.40.08 GMT
Mona Alami BEIRUT, Aug 6 (IPS) - Lebanon has a reputation for openness because of the relative freedom enjoyed by women in comparison to other Middle Eastern countries. But many women face rampant discrimination.... (continue)

Iran Benefits from Arab Disillusion with Obama
    on 06/08/2010 00.00.18 GMT
Jim Lobe* WASHINGTON, Aug 5 (IPS) - U.S. President Barack Obama has suffered a sharp drop in popularity in the Arab world over the past year, and Iran may be reaping the benefits, according to a major new survey of public opinion in five Arab countries released here Thursday.... (continue)

Long-Awaited Cluster Bomb Ban Enters Into Force
    on 30/07/2010 17.01.42 GMT
Esther Banales UNITED NATIONS, Jul 30 (IPS) - Thirty-eight countries will start observing the Convention on Cluster Munitions this Sunday, Aug. 1, after a rapid entry into force since the treaty was announced two years ago in Oslo.... (continue)

Women Prepare to Set Sail Past Israel
    on 22/07/2010 09.55.02 GMT
Mona Alami BEIRUT, Jul 22 (IPS) - The 'Maryam', an all-female Lebanese aid ship, currently docked in the northern Lebanese port of Tripoli, is getting ready to set sail for Gaza in the next few days. The ship, which aims to break Israel's siege on the Palestinian territory, will carry about 50 aid workers, including some U.S. nuns keen to deliver aid to the long-suffering women and children of Gaza.... (continue)

UN Chief Dilly-Dallying on Panel to Probe Israeli Killings?
    on 21/07/2010 20.42.12 GMT
Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, Jul 21 (IPS) - When the Security Council condemned the killings by Israeli military forces of nine Turkish civilians on a flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza last May, it also released a presidential statement "taking note" of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's proposal for an international investigation of the incident.... (continue)

MIDEAST:Can't Digest This Occupation
    on 20/07/2010 09.52.16 GMT
Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler... (continue)

MIDEAST:Israel's Next War Could Be Lebanon: Analyst
    on 20/07/2010 00.25.22 GMT
Jim Lobe* WASHINGTON, Jul 19 (IPS) - While speculation over a possible Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear facilities intensifies, at least one influential analyst here is calling on Washington to focus more on the likelihood of a new war breaking out between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah militia and how to prevent or contain it.... (continue)

Rumblings Rise Between Hezbollah and Israel
    on 12/07/2010 14.21.40 GMT
MEL Frykberg RAMALLAH, Jul 12 (IPS) - Israeli intelligence has warned that a new war with Hezbollah on Israel's northern border with Lebanon cannot be ruled out, following heightened tensions between United Nations peacekeeping forces and Hezbollah supporters in the south of Lebanon.... (continue)

CNN's Objectivity Questioned in Sacking of Mideast Reporter
    on 09/07/2010 01.58.22 GMT
Eli Clifton WASHINGTON, Jul 8 (IPS) - CNN's firing of Octavia Nasr, the editor responsible for the network's Middle East coverage, over a Twitter post in which she expressed her sadness over the death of a Lebanese cleric has set off a firestorm of debate about what the decision says about CNN's fairness in reporting on the region.... (continue)

Gender Equality Seen as Goal, Not Yet Realised û Poll
    on 02/07/2010 00.09.24 GMT
Jim Lobe WASHINGTON, Jul 1 (IPS) - While the goal of gender equality is embraced by almost all countries, the perception that men are - and should be - favoured in employment and education remains widespread, especially in poor nations or predominantly Muslim countries, according to a survey released Thursday by the Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project (GAP).... (continue)

Gulf Spill Galvanises Activist Community
    on 30/06/2010 18.45.52 GMT
Matthew Cardinale NEW ORLEANS, Jun 30 (IPS) - With the U.S .government and oil giant British Petroleum under fire for their handling of the more than two-month-old Gulf Coast oil spill disaster, environmental and community activists across the country are taking matters into their own hands.... (continue)

Unmanned Drones - Targeted Killing vs. "Collateral Murder"
    on 29/06/2010 18.11.48 GMT
Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, Jun 29 (IPS) - When a Pakistani-U.S. national pleaded guilty last week to a failed attempt to detonate explosives packed in a vehicle in the heart of New York City, he admitted that one of the reasons he targeted the busy Times Square neighbourhood was to "injure and kill" as many people as possible.... (continue)

Peace Groups Slam High Court Ruling on "Terror Support"
    on 22/06/2010 03.26.42 GMT
William Fisher NEW YORK, Jun 21 (IPS) - In the wake of Monday's Supreme Court decision upholding a law making it a crime to provide any "material support" to an organisation designated as a "terrorist" by the U.S. government, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter charged that the law "actually threatens our work and the work of many other peacemaking organisations that must interact directly with groups that have engaged in violence".... (continue)

Israel Navigates Between Inquiries
    on 18/06/2010 07.35.38 GMT
Jerrold Kessel & Pierre Klochendler... (continue)

Obama Still Globally Popular, But Doubts Grow in Muslim World
    on 18/06/2010 00.13.28 GMT
Jim Lobe* WASHINGTON, Jun 17 (IPS) - While U.S. President Barack Obama has largely retained huge popularity among most of the world's publics, disillusionment with his leadership appears to have set in throughout much of the Islamic world, according to the latest annual survey of global public opinion by the Washington-based Pew Research Centre released here Thursday.... (continue)

MIDEAST:Most Palestinians in Lebanon Stay Unemployed
    on 14/06/2010 11.25.14 GMT
Mona Alami BEIRUT, Jun 14 (IPS) - Lebanon's record of segregating Palestinians is not much better than that of Israel. Since their exodus here, after the establishment of Israel in 1948, Palestinians have been systemically denied equal employment and social rights.... (continue)

INDIA:Experts Rue Untold Damage to Marine, Coastal Ecosystems
   Analysis by Pankaj Sekhsaria on 12/06/2010 05.52.38 GMT
NEW DELHI, June 12 (IPS) - In mid-April this year, MV Malavika, a cargo ship of the Essar Shipping Corporation, a major sea logistics firm in India, leaked an estimated eight tonnes of furnace oil after being struck by a barge near the Gopalpur port on the eastern Indian coast of Orissa.... (continue)

IRAN:Sanctions' Effectiveness Widely Questioned
    on 10/06/2010 00.40.54 GMT
Jim Lobe* WASHINGTON, Jun 9 (IPS) - While top U.S. officials touted the U.N. Security Council's approval Wednesday of a new sanctions resolution against Iran as a major diplomatic breakthrough, most nuclear and Iran specialists say it is unlikely to be effective and could prove counterproductive.... (continue)

Brazil, Turkey Defy U.S. on Nuke Vote Against Iran
    on 09/06/2010 23.39.56 GMT
Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, Jun 9 (IPS) - After several months of closed-door negotiations and shuttle diplomacy, the United States succeeded Wednesday in getting a new Security Council resolution - the fourth in a series - imposing a fresh set of sanctions penalising Iran for its nuclear programme.... (continue)

U.S.:Neo-Conservatives Lead Charge Against Turkey
    on 09/06/2010 20.22.44 GMT
Jim Lobe* WASHINGTON, Jun 9 (IPS) - As the right-wing leadership of the organised U.S. Jewish community defends Israel against international condemnation for its deadly seizure of a flotilla bearing humanitarian supplies for Gaza, a familiar clutch of neo-conservative hawks is going on the offensive against what they see as the flotilla's chief defender, Turkey.... (continue)

EUROPE:Flotilla Raid Fires Up Israel Lobby
   Analysis by David Cronin on 04/06/2010 17.53.44 GMT
BRUSSELS, Jun 4 (IPS) - Within three days of Israel's attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla Monday, the pro-Israel lobby in Brussels was already seeking to deflect attention from the killing of nine peace activists in international waters.... (continue)

Doubts Grow Over Israel's Value as U.S. Ally
    on 03/06/2010 23.52.18 GMT
Jim Lobe* WASHINGTON, Jun 3 (IPS) - Israel's disastrous raid in international waters Monday on a Turkish-flagged flotilla carrying humanitarian supplies to Gaza has resurrected a long-running debate over whether Washington's close alliance with the Jewish state really serves U.S. strategic interests.... (continue)

LEBANON:Where the Bikini Finds Sisterhood With the Hijab
    on 02/06/2010 18.59.50 GMT
Mona Alami BEIRUT , Jun 2 (IPS) - Hijab or bikini? That is a question that Lebanon seems to be forever balancing.... (continue)

Gaza Aid Attack Complicates New Sanctions on Iran
    on 01/06/2010 22.52.54 GMT
Barbara Slavin WASHINGTON, Jun 1 (IPS) - Israel's lethal confrontation with pro-Palestinian activists in the Mediterranean is complicating U.S. strategy toward Iran and undermining the likelihood of a solid sanctions victory at the United Nations.... (continue)

Brazil-Turkey Deal with Iran Undermines Big Power Politics
    on 20/05/2010 01.02.04 GMT
Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, May 19 (IPS) - When Brazil and Turkey clinched a deal with Iran over its disputed nuclear programme last weekend, the two non-permanent members of the Security Council not only challenged the unbridled political power exercised by the five big powers but also jeopardised U.S. plans for a unanimous resolution imposing sanctions against Tehran.... (continue)

MIDEAST:Chomsky - Latest Jewish Thinker Savaged by Israel
    on 18/05/2010 06.15.36 GMT
Mel Frykberg RAMALLAH, May 18 (IPS) - When internationally renowned linguist, philosopher and political analyst Noam Chomsky was barred from entering the West Bank, he joined a chorus of Jewish intellectuals savaged by the Israeli government for outspoken criticism.... (continue)

MIDEAST:Israel, Iran Talking War to Ward Off War?
    on 17/05/2010 14.42.08 GMT
Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler... (continue)

GREECE:Turks Bearing Gifts
   Analysis by Apostolis Fotiadis on 15/05/2010 21.03.44 GMT
ATHENS, May 15 (IPS) - The first visit in six years of a Turkish prime minister to Greece has been widely hailed as a historical rapprochement after a long period of mutual bitterness.... (continue)

Iraqi Christians Cling to Their Faith in Jordanian Exile
    on 14/05/2010 10.47.22 GMT
Mona Alami AMMAN, May 14 (IPS) - As the 2003 United States-led invasion of Iraq began, the country's Christians started streaming across the border into neighbouring Jordan. Today most of them continue to live here in abject poverty with no hope of ever returning to the land of their ancestors.... (continue)

Hezbollah Rocket Inventories Worry Israel, U.S.
    on 02/05/2010 17.38.44 GMT
Mona Alami BEIRUT, May 2 (IPS) - Recent warnings by the United States that Hezbollah (Party of God) possesses more rockets than most governments has once again placed the party's arsenal under the spotlight.... (continue)

U.S./IRAN:Sanctions Debate Heats Up
    on 29/04/2010 00.40.02 GMT
Jim Lobe* WASHINGTON, Apr 28 (IPS) - Wednesday's highly unusual public launch of a "conference committee" of both houses of Congress to hash out differences in long-pending legislation to impose unilateral sanctions on Iran marks a new stage in the escalating debate over what to do about Tehran's nuclear programme.... (continue)

UN Security Council Under Fire for Back-Room Dealing
    on 28/04/2010 23.41.50 GMT
Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, Apr 28 (IPS) - The most powerful political body at the United Nations took a heavy beating last week as member states accused the Security Council of being arrogant, secretive, undemocratic - and in danger of becoming "irrelevant" and "illegitimate" in the eyes of the world.... (continue)

U.N. Press Corps Revolts Against Security Council Sanctions
    on 23/04/2010 00.25.28 GMT
Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, Apr 22 (IPS) - The U.N. Correspondents' Association (UNCA), which represents the interests of over 200 full-time journalists covering the world body, has lashed out at the Security Council for proposing new restrictions on the press corps - presumably for "safety reasons".... (continue)

DISARMAMENT:France Urged to Ban Cluster Bombs
    on 22/04/2010 19.36.10 GMT
A. D. McKenzie PARIS, Apr 22 (IPS) - Human rights groups are urging the French government to adopt a law that would ban the financing of companies that produce cluster munitions, the deadly bombs that have killed or maimed thousands of civilians in the past 40 years.... (continue)

Alleged Weapons Transfer Threatens Mideast Status Quo
    on 16/04/2010 22.24.30 GMT
Charles Fromm WASHINGTON, Apr 16 (IPS) - This week, Israeli President Shimon Peres accused Syria of arming Lebanon's Hezbollah with long-range Scud missiles, possibly altering the current political and military dynamics of the region and affecting U.S. interests.... (continue)

MIDEAST:Gaza Border Tension Sparks Security Concerns
    on 15/04/2010 17.29.30 GMT
Mel Frykberg GAZA CITY, Apr 15 (IPS) - Tension on Israel's border with Gaza has increased over the last two weeks. A number of rockets hit Israel while ensuing clashes between the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) and armed Palestinians left a number of Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers dead.... (continue)

IRAQ:Iran, Saudi Arabia's Roles Play Out in Post-poll Crisis
   Analysis - By N Janardhan on 05/04/2010 07.52.46 GMT
DUBAI, Apr 5 (IPS) - While Iraq's election was largely a domestic affair, efforts there to form a new government in the weeks after the March poll have been bogged down by a flurry of contradictory pulls and pressures by several international actors.... (continue)

MEXICO:Soundtrack to Violence
    on 02/04/2010 17.20.22 GMT
Emilio Godoy MEXICO CITY, Apr 2 (IPS) - "What a sad childhood Juanito had/ when shooting started in his barrio/ he was left lying on the ground/ so young/ he went to his grave".... (continue)

LEBANON:'Roumieh Prison Breeds Criminality Not Reform'
    on 01/04/2010 17.18.06 GMT
Mona Alami BEIRUT, Apr 1 (IPS) - Lebanon's notorious Roumieh prison, the scene of a stand-off between inmates and security personnel this month, is no stranger to rioting, escapes, corruption and abuse.... (continue)

RIGHTS:Not Quite Islamic Executions
    on 30/03/2010 00.05.40 GMT
Sanjay Suri LONDON, Mar 30 (IPS) - The Middle East leads the world in executions after China, says an annual Amnesty International report released Tuesday.... (continue)

ARGENTINA:Homemade Portraits of Life Behind Bars
    on 25/03/2010 16.38.22 GMT
Marcela Valente BUENOS AIRES, Mar 25 (IPS) - "I wanted to take a self-portrait, and I thought about keeping a straight face, but it came out all weird, with these very long arms," says Liliana Cabrera about the photo she took with a camera she made herself, out of a condensed milk tin, at a workshop in an Argentine prison.... (continue)

CULTURE:Arab Cinema Dying for Poor Patronage
    on 15/03/2010 06.38.18 GMT
Mohammed Omer ROTTERDAM, Mar 15 (IPS) - Arab cinema, which had a promising presence at international film festivals during the 1990s, may now be going through a declining phase for lack of patronage.... (continue)

MIDEAST:Iran, Israel Spoiling for a Fight?
   Analysis by Mel Frykberg on 10/03/2010 05.00.18 GMT
RAMALLAH, Mar 10 (IPS) - Iran and Israel appear to be spoiling for a fight, going by recent belligerent statements emanating from several regional capitals.... (continue)

Q&A:Qualified Women Have Better Chance in Top Jobs
    on 08/03/2010 18.43.14 GMT
Thalif Deen interviews UNESCO Director-General IRINA BOKOVA* - IPS/Terraviva... (continue)

RIGHTS:Arab Women Caught Between Extremes
    on 04/03/2010 23.29.22 GMT
Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, Mar 4 (IPS) - The status of women in a predominantly male-chauvinistic Arab world continues to fluctuate from one extreme to another.... (continue)