Pirates seize Aramco supertanker
The Dubai-based Vela International, which is the shipping unit of Saudi Aramco, said the supertanker was fully laden at the time of its hijacking. The Sirius Star held as much as two million barrels of oil — more than one quarter of Saudi Arabia’s daily exports — worth over $100 million.
Somali pirates claim biggest heist yet - a Saudi supertanker
Somali pirates have hit the jackpot by capturing a giant Saudi oil tanker loaded with 2 million barrels of crude oil, worth more than $100 million, and sailing it to a pirate haven off the Somali coast.
Pirates hijack oil tanker with Britons on board
Pirates have seized the biggest booty ever taken on the high seas, capturing a fully laden Saudi oil supertanker and its multinational crew, among them two British merchant seamen.
Graphic: the taking of a tanker
Will Mideast reformers have a friend in Obama?
Yet Obama may not find it so easy to put Arab democracy on a back burner. Whether or not he approves, a series of fateful elections is likely to be held in the Middle East over the next three years -- in Iraq, the Palestinian territories and -- yes -- Egypt. Iraq's provincial elections early next year will reshape Sunni and Shiite leadership and perhaps determine whether the political stability Obama needs to safely withdraw U.S. troops can be achieved. A Palestinian election due next year may settle whether Hamas or the moderate Mahmoud Abbas wins the ongoing Palestinian power struggle -- and whether the Obama administration can broker a Middle East peace settlement.
My question - after vetting the Clinton's finances, will she still be offered the job or is this a political master stroke to hamstring the Clintons once and for all? The Wind of Change has started to blow
Barack Obama the candidate had promised changes. He had promised changes both in domestic and foreign policies. Obama the president-elect is beginning to work on getting those changes implemented as soon as he moves into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in a little over 60 days – two months. The word on the street is that as president, Obama will ask New York Senator Hillary Clinton to be his secretary of state.
Mr. Obama, give that man a medal
By having Mr. Luti draw up the concept for a surge, Mr. Hadley ensured that when options were presented to the president, one of them would be to fight. In Mr. Luti's strategic conception, securing the population became the top priority. In public, advocates like retired Army Gen. Jack Keane and military strategist Fred Kagan did yeoman's work to press the case for a surge. But within the White House decision-making process, it was almost this simple: No Steve Hadley, no surge -- and no success.
Iran aims for 2009 launch of nuclear plant
Russia has already delivered nuclear fuel under a $1 billion contract to build the Bushehr plant on the Gulf coast in southwest Iran. But the start-up timetable has frequently been put back because of issues such as a row over payments.
'All options are on the table'
In order to stop Tehran from developing a nuclear bomb, the Israeli army is preparing itself for a possible military strike on Iran. "We are ready to do whatever is demanded of us," Israeli Air Force Major General Ido Nehushtan tells SPIEGEL in an exclusive interview.
Iranian blogger arrested as Israeli spy
According to a report in Jahan News, which is close to Iran's intelligence community, quoted by the Middle East analyst Meir Javedanfar, the blogger, Hossein Derakhshan, returned to Iran about three weeks ago, having previously been based in Canada.
Millband breaks with US by urging Syria to lead Middle East peace process
The Foreign Secretary, the first senior British visitor to Damascus in seven years, urged the Syrian government to strike a peace deal with Israel and suggested it could also help solve the historic conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. For years, Washington has insisted on isolating Syria.
Islamists say Damascus backed Lebanon attack
A Lebanese newspaper on Saturday published statements purporting to be by members of Fatah al-Islam showing the radical group had links with Syria and that Damascus had backed an attack in Lebanon.
In Lebanon, puritanical Sunnis and a reputed playboy team up in politics
Lebanon's Salafists, often equated with terrorists in much of the Arab world, have teamed with Saad Hariri and his mainstream Future Movement to become part of the country's political order.
Swiss attack on Israeli policy escalates ‘cold war’
The Swiss attack on Israeli actions might surprise some, but it is only the latest incident in a rising 'cold war' between the Alpine republic and the Jewish state. Earlier this year, Israel summoned Swiss Ambassador Walter Haffner to its Foreign Ministry offices in Jerusalem to protest against Switzerland's signing of a multi-billion dollar energy deal with Iran.
Gaza:The calm before the storm
The minor escalation of hostilities this past week between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip did manage to make some noise amid the epochal cacophony of the global financial crisis. The headlines in the international media, however, had less to do with the limited border skirmishes, rocket launches, air strikes, and border closures which transpired, than with the fact that the nearly five-month ceasefire between the Palestinian militant group and the Jewish state appeared to be unraveling.
Under heavy international pressure, Israel allowed food and medicine but not fuel supplies into Gaza on Monday. Amnesty International had called on Israel to “stop its policy of collective punishment.” European Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner had declared herself “profoundly concerned about the consequences for the Gazan population of the complete closure of all Gaza crossings for deliveries of fuel and basic humanitarian assistance.” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon had demanded that Israel immediately end “measures which increase the hardship and suffering of the civilian population of the Gaza Strip.”
The subject of “honor killings” is gradually becoming a matter of public controversy these days. The incidence of these crimes appears to be rising although the response to them is ambiguous and vacillating. There is little doubt that something alarming is happening—and has been happening for a long while—and that what we are really witnessing is a form of culture-specific violent behavior. But the general tendency among Muslim spokespeople and social activists is to average out these tragic events as part of a garden variety social phenomenon that is statistically inevitable.
Religious contributions to peacemaking
Middle East Times published a report on Monday on "The Abrahamic religions as an alternative to war." This is the second of a two-part series on religion in war and peace.
0 comments:
Post a Comment