Nov 15, 2009
Oct 30, 2009
Have Russia and Iran Checkmated Obama? | Britannica Blog
Have Russia and Iran Checkmated Obama? | Britannica Blog
President Obama’s decision to abandon the plan to deploy a missile defense system in Europe shocked many analysts in the United States as well as our eastern European allies who were counting on the shield to protect them from the threat of Russian missiles. Perhaps the only one who was not surprised was the political chess grandmaster Vladimir Putin.
President Obama’s decision to abandon the plan to deploy a missile defense system in Europe shocked many analysts in the United States as well as our eastern European allies who were counting on the shield to protect them from the threat of Russian missiles. Perhaps the only one who was not surprised was the political chess grandmaster Vladimir Putin.
Civil War wounds are far from healed - washingtonpost.com
Civil War wounds are far from healed - washingtonpost.com
For more than 70 years, the foothills of Spain's Sierra Nevada mountains have contained the country's darkest memories. Francisco Galadi intimately knows: Fascists executed his grandfather during the nation's Civil War, dumping his body in one of many mass graves that cover this serene landscape overlooking the city of Granada.
For years, Galadi has sought to give his grandfather, a bullfighter and anarchist, a proper burial. But he is believed to be in the same grave as Spain's most acclaimed 20th century poet, Federico García Lorca, whose family has long opposed opening the grave.
Quote from Nihad Siris's "Ali Assan intrigue" in german radio
SWR2 LiteraturEN vom 27.10.2009 - SWR2 :: Programm SWR.de
"Greetings from the Kitchen" by Peter Stamm quote from Ali Assan intrigue, "said Karl-Rudolf Menke Gerwig Epkes arrived in talks with the Syrian Professor Nabil Haffar on Syrian Literature" The middle class is in contemporary German literature, "by Cornelia Staudacher" Kuckart column " by Judith KuckartBeitrag by Gabi blow "Stirnhirnhinterzimmer"
"Greetings from the Kitchen" by Peter Stamm quote from Ali Assan intrigue, "said Karl-Rudolf Menke Gerwig Epkes arrived in talks with the Syrian Professor Nabil Haffar on Syrian Literature" The middle class is in contemporary German literature, "by Cornelia Staudacher" Kuckart column " by Judith KuckartBeitrag by Gabi blow "Stirnhirnhinterzimmer"
Oct 22, 2009
Held by the Taliban - Interactive Feature - The New York Times
Held by the Taliban - Interactive Feature - The New York Times
In the fall of 2008, David Rohde traveled to Afghanistan to do some reporting for a book about the region. He and two Afghan colleagues were kidnapped by the Taliban and held for seven months.
This is the first installment in a five-part daily series.
Children’s Books That Become Children’s Children’s Books: Readers Respond - ArtsBeat Blog - NYTimes.com
Children’s Books That Become Children’s Children’s Books: Readers Respond - ArtsBeat Blog - NYTimes.com
In “The Reading Life” post on Friday, which discussed Maurice Sendak’s book “Where the Wild Things Are” among others, we asked readers to let us know the books they had been read as children and which of those they thought were worth reading to the next generation.
In “The Reading Life” post on Friday, which discussed Maurice Sendak’s book “Where the Wild Things Are” among others, we asked readers to let us know the books they had been read as children and which of those they thought were worth reading to the next generation.
Oct 19, 2009
FT.com / Companies / Middle East
FT.com / Companies / Middle East
COMMENT: CULTURE CAN COUNTER CONSERVATISM
The Arab world is in need of a cultural revival
By Heba Saleh
Western detractors of Farouk Hosni, the Egyptian culture minister who failed last month to become the head of Unesco, focused their attacks on his threat to burn Israeli books if they were found in the Alexandria Library.
But in Egypt too, where it might have been expected that the artistic and literary community would have rallied behind a fellow countryman seeking a prestigious international position, Mr Hosni also received vociferous criticism. Here, the minister, who has occupied his position for 22 years, has been lambasted for the sorry state of Egyptian culture.
COMMENT: CULTURE CAN COUNTER CONSERVATISM
The Arab world is in need of a cultural revival
By Heba Saleh
Western detractors of Farouk Hosni, the Egyptian culture minister who failed last month to become the head of Unesco, focused their attacks on his threat to burn Israeli books if they were found in the Alexandria Library.
But in Egypt too, where it might have been expected that the artistic and literary community would have rallied behind a fellow countryman seeking a prestigious international position, Mr Hosni also received vociferous criticism. Here, the minister, who has occupied his position for 22 years, has been lambasted for the sorry state of Egyptian culture.
Oct 17, 2009
قلم سعودي: هل أصيب المصريون بمرض استوكهولم؟!
قلم سعودي: هل أصيب المصريون بمرض استوكهولم؟!
علاء الأسواني – صحيفة الشروق
هذه الحكاية حدثت فى السويد. فى يوم 23 أغسطس عام 1973، هاجم بعض المسلحين أكبر بنك فى مدينة استوكهولم واحتجزوا بعض الموظفين كرهائن، وعلى مدى أيام حاول رجال الشرطة السويديون التفاوض مع الخاطفين من أجل إطلاق سراح الرهائن. ولما وصلت المفاوضات إلى طريق مسدود، نفذت الشرطة هجوما مفاجئا ونجحت فى تحرير الرهائن.. وهنا حدثت المفاجأة: فبدلا من مساعدة الشرطة فى مهمتها، راح بعض المخطوفين يقاومون محاولة تحريرهم، بل إنهم أبدوا تعاطفهم مع الخاطفين وظلوا يدافعون عنهم وذهبوا ليشهدوا لصالحهم بعد ذلك أمام القضاء..
علاء الأسواني – صحيفة الشروق
هذه الحكاية حدثت فى السويد. فى يوم 23 أغسطس عام 1973، هاجم بعض المسلحين أكبر بنك فى مدينة استوكهولم واحتجزوا بعض الموظفين كرهائن، وعلى مدى أيام حاول رجال الشرطة السويديون التفاوض مع الخاطفين من أجل إطلاق سراح الرهائن. ولما وصلت المفاوضات إلى طريق مسدود، نفذت الشرطة هجوما مفاجئا ونجحت فى تحرير الرهائن.. وهنا حدثت المفاجأة: فبدلا من مساعدة الشرطة فى مهمتها، راح بعض المخطوفين يقاومون محاولة تحريرهم، بل إنهم أبدوا تعاطفهم مع الخاطفين وظلوا يدافعون عنهم وذهبوا ليشهدوا لصالحهم بعد ذلك أمام القضاء..
Oct 8, 2009
Oct 7, 2009
Qantara.de - إبداعات أدبية رغم عيون الرقابة الأمنية
Qantara.de - إبداعات أدبية رغم عيون الرقابة الأمنية
ينتشر أفراد المخابرات في سوريا في كل مكان مثلما ينتشر أفراد شرطة المرور في الغرب. ويتم تسجيل كل حركة وكلمة، لكن بعض الكتّاب يعتبرون ذلك تحديا خلاّقا ومبدعا ليعطون بالنكتة والفكاهة والخواطر لمحة من النظرة الأولى عن المجتمع والنظام السياسي. سوزانه شاندا تلقي الضوء على هذه المسألة.
ينتشر أفراد المخابرات في سوريا في كل مكان مثلما ينتشر أفراد شرطة المرور في الغرب. ويتم تسجيل كل حركة وكلمة، لكن بعض الكتّاب يعتبرون ذلك تحديا خلاّقا ومبدعا ليعطون بالنكتة والفكاهة والخواطر لمحة من النظرة الأولى عن المجتمع والنظام السياسي. سوزانه شاندا تلقي الضوء على هذه المسألة.
Syria fashion designers splash out in debut show - Yahoo! News
Syria fashion designers splash out in debut show - Yahoo! News
DAMASCUS, Syria – The svelte models strutted down the catwalk in sexy dresses with bare backs and short hemlines — all under the watchful portraits of Syrian President Bashar Assad and his late father, Hafez.
DAMASCUS, Syria – The svelte models strutted down the catwalk in sexy dresses with bare backs and short hemlines — all under the watchful portraits of Syrian President Bashar Assad and his late father, Hafez.
Al-Qaida showing smaller presence in Afghanistan
KABUL – Al-Qaida's role in Afghanistan has faded after eight years of war. Gone is the once-formidable network of camps and safe houses where Osama bin Laden and his mostly Arab operatives trained thousands of young Muslims to wage a global jihad. The group is left with fewer than 100 core fighters, according to the Obama administration, likely operating small-scale bomb-making and tactics classes conducted by trainers who travel to and from Pakistan.
Oct 4, 2009
Report Says Iran Has Data to Make a Nuclear Bomb - NYTimes.com
Report Says Iran Has Data to Make a Nuclear Bomb - NYTimes.com
Senior staff members of the United Nations nuclear agency have concluded in a confidential analysis that Iran has acquired “sufficient information to be able to design and produce a workable” atom bomb.
Senior staff members of the United Nations nuclear agency have concluded in a confidential analysis that Iran has acquired “sufficient information to be able to design and produce a workable” atom bomb.
Sep 27, 2009
FT.com / Comment / Analysis - Man in the News: Dan Brown
FT.com / Comment / Analysis - Man in the News: Dan Brown
On its first day on sale this week, The Lost Symbol, Mr Brown’s long-awaited follow-up to The Da Vinci Code, sold more than 1m copies in English. Within 36 hours the book had achieved the highest lifetime sales of any adult hardback novel published in the UK.
The novel marks a departure for a writer whose plots have previously played out in European capitals. In The Lost Symbol, protagonist Robert Langdon returns home to Washington in search of Masonic secrets in the corridors of power – though such is the publicity surrounding the book, it is likely that few readers will be entirely innocent of the surprises that await.
On its first day on sale this week, The Lost Symbol, Mr Brown’s long-awaited follow-up to The Da Vinci Code, sold more than 1m copies in English. Within 36 hours the book had achieved the highest lifetime sales of any adult hardback novel published in the UK.
The novel marks a departure for a writer whose plots have previously played out in European capitals. In The Lost Symbol, protagonist Robert Langdon returns home to Washington in search of Masonic secrets in the corridors of power – though such is the publicity surrounding the book, it is likely that few readers will be entirely innocent of the surprises that await.
Why would Iran need so many centrifuges to make a nuclear warhead? - By Daniel Engber - Slate Magazine
Why would Iran need so many centrifuges to make a nuclear warhead? - By Daniel Engber - Slate Magazine
Because each one is so small.
By Daniel EngberPosted Friday, Sept. 25, 2009, at 7:12 PM ET
Iranian officials confirmed on Friday that a new uranium-enrichment facility has been constructed near the ancient city of Qom. Intelligence reports claim it can house up to 3,000 centrifuges—enough to make a nuclear warhead, but not enough to fuel a power station. In 2006, Daniel Engber explained why Iran needs so many centrifuges to enrich uranium.
Because each one is so small.
By Daniel EngberPosted Friday, Sept. 25, 2009, at 7:12 PM ET
Iranian officials confirmed on Friday that a new uranium-enrichment facility has been constructed near the ancient city of Qom. Intelligence reports claim it can house up to 3,000 centrifuges—enough to make a nuclear warhead, but not enough to fuel a power station. In 2006, Daniel Engber explained why Iran needs so many centrifuges to enrich uranium.
Bardot slams planned pig cull in Egypt
CAIRO - French animal rights activist and former actress Brigitte Bardot has written to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, slamming the decision to slaughter the country's pig population in the wake of swine flu.
"Taking advantage of the global hysteria over the propagation of 'Mexican' flu, which has nothing to do with animals, in order to launch a campaign to exterminate pigs raised by a destitute section of the population is extremely cowardly," Bardot wrote in the letter, a copy of which was also sent to Agence France-Presse.
Sep 26, 2009
FT.com / Comment / Analysis - The dragon stirs
FT.com / Comment / Analysis - The dragon stirs
Yet the bigger question raised by these celebrations is: what does Beijing really think of the US? Or, more specifically, does it now believe America – embroiled in two wars and with its economy wilting after last year’s financial crisis – is facing inevitable decline? If the answer is yes, it will have big implications for some of the most important global issues in President Barack Obama’s in-tray, from the future role of the dollar to Iran.
Yet the bigger question raised by these celebrations is: what does Beijing really think of the US? Or, more specifically, does it now believe America – embroiled in two wars and with its economy wilting after last year’s financial crisis – is facing inevitable decline? If the answer is yes, it will have big implications for some of the most important global issues in President Barack Obama’s in-tray, from the future role of the dollar to Iran.
Sep 24, 2009
Qantara.de - How Creativity Blossoms in a Rigid Regime
In Syria, the secret police is as omnipresent as traffic wardens are in the West. Every movement and every word are registered. Yet some writers see this as a creative challenge rather than a nuisance. They use their wit, humour and imagination to offer the world an insight into a society that at first glance seems closed off. Susanne Schanda reports
FT.com / UK - Unesco choice reveals north and south rift
The election of the new head of Unesco, the United Nations culture and learning arm, has exposed a deep rift between developed and developing countries after the Arab frontrunner surprisingly lost after coming under attack for alleged racism.
Late on Tuesday a rank outsider - Irina Bokova, Bulgaria's ambassador to France - was chosen as the first woman and the first eastern European to lead the agency. Ms Bokova, 57, emerged to beat Farouk Hosny, Egypt's long-serving culture minister, in the fifth round of a secret ballot after two countries on Unesco's executive board switched sides at the last minute and backed her.
"Nobody really took her candidacy seriously," said an EU diplomat in Paris.
The election of the new head of Unesco, the United Nations culture and learning arm, has exposed a deep rift between developed and developing countries after the Arab frontrunner surprisingly lost after coming under attack for alleged racism.
Late on Tuesday a rank outsider - Irina Bokova, Bulgaria's ambassador to France - was chosen as the first woman and the first eastern European to lead the agency. Ms Bokova, 57, emerged to beat Farouk Hosny, Egypt's long-serving culture minister, in the fifth round of a secret ballot after two countries on Unesco's executive board switched sides at the last minute and backed her.
"Nobody really took her candidacy seriously," said an EU diplomat in Paris.
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