Articles

Surprise! Surprise! Surprise! Leading western newspapers have suddenly stumbled on the fact that it is indeed the Algerian junta - not the ‘bloodthirsty Islamic extremists’ routinely blamed by the regime...

The currency turmoil in Southeast Asia is spreading. It started in Thailand but quickly engulfed neighbouring countries Indonesia and Malaysia as well.

Living under occupation can be quite boring at times, especially during lockdowns and blockades such as those on the West Bank following last summer’s bombings in Jerusalem. But no fear, television is here to ‘occupy’ your idle hours.

The failure of the fourth Middle East-North Africa (MENA) Economic Conference in Doha, Qatar (November 16-18), boycotted by most Arab countries despite strong US pressure to attend, has triggered guarded optimism that the summit of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC)...

In fighting off a ruthless superpower bully, at a colossal cost, the Chechens have established that they have a tremendous sense of purpose. And now they prove that lurking behind that sense of purpose is great sense of humour and originality as well.

A BRUTAL FRIENDSHIP: THE WEST AND THE ARAB ELITE By Said K Aburish. Published by Victor Gollancz, London, UK. 1997. pp. 414. Hbk: UK20.00.

In the west, king Husain of Jordan is projected as a plucky little monarch battling enormous odds. His kingdom sandwiched between Israel on the one side and Iraq, Syria and Saudi Arabia on the other, is in a precarious position.

Israelis, whose State was founded 50 years ago, and expanded since through naked aggression and unremitting acts of terrorism, might have loudly deplored Mossad’s humiliating failure to assassinate Khaled Meshal...

First there was the troika - the president, prime minister and army chief - that ruled Pakistan. Now it is a foursome, with the chief justice elbowing his way in. In a perverse sense, it could be called progress towards democracy by 25 percent.

As Bangladesh aid donors met in Dhaka on November 4, they got a glimpse of the problems confronting the country. The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) held a noisy rally in the capital condemning the regime’s performance.