All Backchannels
The chutzpah of Rupert Murdoch's SunMurdoch's tabloid The Sun is under pressure over phone hacking and bribing cops. A deputy editor decries a 'witch hunt' that shows the British press is less free than ex-Soviet states.
Israel blames Hezbollah and Iran for attacks on diplomats. Is it right?Hezbollah, the Iran-backed group that has carried out attacks as far afield as Argentina before, is certainly a prime suspect in today's attacks in India and Georgia.- US colonel: Don't believe US statements on progress in AfghanistanLt. Col. Daniel Davis just finished a year in Afghanistan and says don't believe claims of progress.
Despite $1.5 billion in US aid, Egypt threatens prosecution of AmericansEgypt said yesterday it will prosecute a large number of people, including 19 Americans, involved in democracy promotion in the country, putting the country's US aid in extreme jeopardy.
After massacre in Syria, Russia and China veto UN resolutionThe past 24 hours have been one of the bloodiest of Syria's war, with government forces indiscriminately shelling the restive town of Homs over night. Russia and China were unmoved.
Egypt soccer riot: Could it hasten military's exit from politics?Anger pulsed through Cairo today after 73 soccer fans were killed in clashes yesterday. The protests may provide an opportunity for civilian politicians to come to grips with the military.
Egypt soccer riot: Whatever actually happened, public fury is what countsThe Egypt soccer riot yesterday took 73 lives, and now furious protesters are flooding the streets of Cairo looking for someone to blame.
Egypt soccer tragedy claims 73 lives and fans rumorsAt least 70 people died in a melee following a soccer match in Port Said, Egypt. The security failure is spawning rumors that the incident聽plays into the military's law-and-order appeal.
Graphic images flood out of Syria. Why no world uproar?Grainy videos depict the violence that has killed at least 6,000 Syrians, but the prospects for international intervention appear dim. Is the world inured to the ubiquitous images?
With Americans holed up in Cairo embassy, Egypt's lobbyists in DC quitIt takes a lot to get K Street to distance itself from a regime. Egypt's ruling military junta has manged the feat by investigating a group of American NGO workers for criminal prosecution.- A negotiated solution to Syria? Unlikely.Syria's war is going to end with a defeat for Bashar al-Assad or the uprising, but not because of events at the UN or Arab League.
- Iran is gearing up for elections and it isn't prettyThe arrest of at least 10 reporters since the turn of the year and new Internet restrictions point to a battening down of social control ahead of Iran's March elections.
- Egypt bars Americans from leaving: What's going on here?Egypt's military rulers escalated a dispute over US-funded NGOs by barring some American employees from leaving the country, including the son of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
Israel says ... Iran isn't building a nuclear weaponIf Israeli media reports are correct, Israel shares the US and European views of Iran: That it isn't seeking a nuclear weapon at the moment.- Marines urinating on the dead? This is war.The video of US marines urinating on dead Taliban fighters has shocked many. But the dehumanizing of the enemy was much worse back in the day.
- Are the assassinations of Iranian scientists an act of terrorism?Iran has many capable engineers, and none of the victims appear to have had indispensable knowledge. But spreading fear among the living can slow them down and deter young recruits.
Iran keeps issuing threats, US keeps saving Iranian sailorsAs Iran has been promoting its naval prowess and ability to shut the Straits of Hormuz, US naval assets have been busy rescuing Iranian sailors.- Thomas Friedman in Cairo: A fact-checkNew York Times columnist Thomas Friedman聽is enormously influential, with a cabinet full of Pulitzer prizes, so it's important to set the record straight when he gets some facts wrong.
Iran sentences an American to death: the history of such 'spies'The good news is that many Americans accused of spying in Iran are eventually released. The bad news for Amir Mirzaei Hekmati is that Iranian-Americans have it rougher.
US democracy NGOs in Egypt still shutteredMaking life hard for NGOs, particularly foreign ones, has long been a sport in Egypt.
