In another gesture of perverse irony, the Bush administration has appointed John Bolton, a longtime anti-UN ideologue, as ambassador to the UN (replacing John Danforth, who is stepping down). Currently State Department undersecretary for arms control (where he has exhibited… Read moreAnti-UN ideologue appointed UN ambassador
Following days of protests by predominantly Christians and Druze for Syria to pull out of Lebanon (their demands backed by the US and Israel), thousands of mostly Shi’ite demonstrators led by Hezbollah rallied in Beirut March 8 in support of… Read moreLebanon crisis could mean civil war for Syria: Uri Avnery
In an event organized by the progressive Islamic organization Muslim Wake Up!, the traditional Friday prayers will be led March 18 by a woman, Amina Wadud, a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University. Hailed as an historic first for Islam, the… Read moreManhattan’s Soho stages historic breakthrough for Islam
Ramush Haradunaj, the ethnic Albanian prime minister of Kosovo (known to the Albanians as Kosova) stepped down from his post and boarded a flight for the The Netherlands March 9, turning himself over to international authorities at The Hague, where… Read moreKosovo prime minister to The Hague
Italians are demanding answers in the case of US troops opening fire at a checkpoint on a car containing an Italian secret serviceman and an Italian journalist recently freed from Iraqi abductors. The secret serviceman, Nicola Caripari, was killed, and… Read moreDid U.S. target Italian journalist?
A friend writes, translating from the Feb. 27 edition of the Turkish journal Aksam: At the moment Turkey wishes to enter into Europe, the ideological book of AdolfHitler entitled "Mein Kampf," forbidden in Germany, is a success in Turkey. One… Read moreMein Kampf best-seller in Turkey
Thomas Friedman in his March 3 New York Times column, "Brave, Young and Muslim," hails restive and modern-minded reformers in the Islamic world, and especially singles out Irshad Manji, Canadian Muslim feminist author of The Trouble with Islam Today. Friedman… Read more“Muslim Refuseniks” make op-ed page
On March 1, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that executing convicts who were under 18 when their crime was committed constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. In a commentary for TruthOut, Marjorie Cohn notes that this finally brings the US in… Read moreU.S. finally outlaws execution of children
Citing an anonymous "intelligence source," Newsday and assorted other media outlets claim that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the most-wanted militant leader in Iraq, has been urged by Osama bin Laden’s top aide to organize attacks in the US. "It was a… Read moreZarqawi urged to hit U.S.?
A judge in the tribunal created to try Saddam Hussein was assassinated by unkown gunmen along with his son outside their home in north Baghdad, two days after the tribunal ruled that a first group defendants from the Saddam regime… Read moreSaddam tribunal judge assassinated
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Omar Karami has resigned follwing a wave of angry protests in Beirut. "I declare the resignation of the government that I had the honour to head. May God preserve Lebanon," Karami said. Lahoud was a close ally… Read moreLebanon’s government resigns
Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon implicated Syria in the Feb. 25 suicide bombing of a Tel Aviv nightclub that left four dead, after the group Islamic Jihad, which maintains a Damascus office, claimed responsibility. "The terrorist attack was perpetrated by… Read moreIsrael blames Syria in suicide blast
