UPI International Intelligence articles from November 2006

UPI International Intelligence archives from November 2006

Analysis: N. Korea to return to nuke talks.
November 1, 2006... Byline: LEE JONG-HEON SEOUL, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- North Korea Wednesday said it would return to the long-stalled multilateral talks on its nuclear drive, reviving hope of a diplomatic resolution to the deepening nuclear crisis. But...

Atlantic Eye: Flags of our Fathers.
November 1, 2006... Byline: MARC S. ELLENBOGEN HAMILTON, Ontario, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- As the cinema cleared, I sat numb. My father had served in the Pacific during World War II. As the final faces of Iwo Jima passed on the screen, I could hear my father talking...

Review of the Arab press.
November 1, 2006... AMMAN, Jordan, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- Arab press roundup for Nov. 1: London-based al-Quds al-Arabi Wednesday blasted escalating Israeli threats against the Palestinians. The independent Palestinian-owned daily commented on Israeli Deputy...

Walker's World: Bush, Iraq and terror.
November 1, 2006... Byline: MARTIN WALKER WASHINGTON, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- With less than a week before the mid-term elections for the United States Congress, the most intriguing question arising from the UPI-Zogby poll is how to define the difference between...

Outside View: China anti-superpower?
November 1, 2006... Byline: DMITRY KOSYREV MOSCOW, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- The arrival of the "Asian century": China's becoming the world's second most influential power and the fourth largest economy (after the United States, Japan and Germany) and the possibility...

Analysis: EU gives Turkey bad grades.
November 1, 2006... Byline: STEFAN NICOLA BERLIN, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- A new European Union report is set to give Turkey low grades on its democratic reforms and further delay the country's EU accession, a process already under scrutiny by most of Europe. An...

Analysis: Israeli forces invade Gaza.
November 2, 2006... Byline: JOSHUA BRILLIANT BEERSHEBA, Israel, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- Israeli troops backed by tanks, armored personnel carriers, bulldozers and close air support Wednesday invaded the town of Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip. By...

Realpolitik: Averting defeat in Iraq.
November 2, 2006... Byline: ALON BEN-MEIR NEW YORK, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- Although President George W. Bush, in his most recent news conference, provided a more somber assessment about the horrifying situation in Iraq, he still insisted that the United States can...

Outside View: Russia top arms exporter?
November 2, 2006... Byline: VIKTOR LITOVKIN MOSCOW, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- Last year Russia was ranked No. 1 in the world as an exporter of arms to developing countries, having concluded agreements on the supply of weapons and military equipment worth $7.1 billion....

Review of the Arab press.
November 2, 2006... AMMAN, Jordan, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- Arab press roundup for Nov. 2: Jordan's al-Arab al-Yawm said Thursday that the Israeli military campaign in Gaza was not a campaign; television images show it is a "new, brutal Israeli aggression" that is not...

Analysis: N.Korea tour project in doubt.
November 2, 2006... Byline: LEE JONG-HEON MT. KUMGANG, North Korea, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- The future of the fledgling inter-Korean tour project has been thrown into deep uncertainty in the wake of the North's recent nuclear test that has heightened geopolitical...

Analysis: Latin American U.N. duel ends.
November 2, 2006... Byline: WILLIAM M. REILLY UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- A two-and-a-half week fight in the U.N. General Assembly between Guatemala and Venezuela for a single, two-year seat on the Security Council representing Latin America and the...

Analysis: Israeli gay parade sparks debate.
November 3, 2006... Byline: JOSHUA BRILLIANT JERUSALEM, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- A gay parade scheduled for next week in Jerusalem has already led to bursts of violence, highlighting an argument over the city's character: Is it a holy place that should behave...

Analysis: N. Koreans see nuke as pride.
November 3, 2006... Byline: LEE JONG-HEON MT. KUMGANG, North Korea, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- Outside the country, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is viewed as a ruthless dictator who starves his people, devoting many of the country's scarce resources to nuclear...

Policy Watch: What Maliki's move means.
November 3, 2006... Byline: MARK N. KATZ WASHINGTON, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- Although he has dropped his "stay the course" slogan, President Bush has made clear that he intends to keep American forces in Iraq until they achieve "victory." He defines victory to be a...

Analysis: Cakewalks and walks in the park?
November 3, 2006... Byline: ARNAUD DE BORCHGRAVE WASHINGTON, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- Ripley's Believe It Or Not! began in 1918 as a comic strip featuring unusual, hard-to-believe facts from around the world. Today it is a website for a global community that combs...

Analysis: U.N. to solve emissions crisis?
November 3, 2006... Byline: JACKSON E. KENTEBE UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- The United Nations will host a conference on climate change in Nairobi, Kenya, Monday to discuss ways to improve the climate amid British warnings of a worldwide disaster should...

Outside View: Russia's Mideast influence.
November 3, 2006... Byline: MARIANNA BELENKAYA MOSCOW, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has flown to Moscow for a visit. The Russian-Egyptian high-level dialogue being what it is, visits by the head of one of the leading Middle Eastern and...

Analysis: Chechnya food crisis looms.
November 6, 2006... Byline: EDITH HONAN UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- With another bitterly cold winter on the way and tuberculosis rates on the rise, nearly 250,000 people in Chechnya face a cutoff of U.N. food aid. Donor countries say the U.N. World...

Politics & Policies: And now Richard Perle.
November 6, 2006... Byline: CLAUDE SALHANI WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- A one-time Pentagon adviser, staunch neoconservative and one of the original architects of the war on Iraq, admitted that the Bush administration has turned the situation in the...

Walker's World: From Suez to Saddam.
November 6, 2006... Byline: MARTIN WALKER WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- In one of history's recurrent coincidences, there is a curious thread that connects the death sentence on Saddam Hussein and the 50th anniversary Monday of the British order for a ceasefire...

Outside View: Kyrgyzstan's 2nd season.
November 6, 2006... Byline: PYOTR GONCHAROV MOSCOW, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- Kyrgyzstan is living through its second revolutionary season. The opposition to President Kurmanbek Bakiyev is using the methods of the March 2005 "tulip revolution" -- demonstrations...

Review of the Arab press.
November 6, 2006... AMMAN, Jordan, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- Arab press roundup for Nov. 6: Arab newspapers reacted Monday to the death penalty handed Sunday to toppled Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein by an Iraqi court established by the U.S. authorities. London-based...

Analysis: Saddam's sentence makes history.
November 6, 2006... Byline: SAMAR KADI BEIRUT, Lebanon, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- Saddam Hussein will enter history as the first Arab head of state to be tried and sentenced to death after being deposed by a foreign invasion. Until now Arab leaders have either ruled...

Analysis: German defense minister under fire.
November 6, 2006... Byline: STEFAN NICOLA BERLIN, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- In another blow to the reputation of the German armed forces, a newspaper accused German soldiers of holding a loaded gun to the head of a young boy in Afghanistan. The recent scandals have...

Review of the Arab press.
November 7, 2006... AMMAN, Jordan, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- Arab press roundup for Nov. 7: Arab newspapers continued to comment Tuesday on the death sentence handed to toppled Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein by an Iraqi court set up by the U.S. occupation authorities. ...

Realpolitik: Time for the Saudis to act.
November 7, 2006... Byline: ALON BEN-MEIR NEW YORK, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- Whereas the Iraq war has not achieved any of its stated objectives, it has dramatically and irreversibly changed the geopolitical landscape in the Middle East, ushering in new conflicts that...

Analysis: Israel prepares for another war.
November 7, 2006... Byline: JOSHUA BRILLIANT ARMY POST NURIT, Israel, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- The engine of the Lebanese army truck groaned as its driver engaged the muddy track along the border with Israel. At the Israeli army post Nurit, overlooking the route, a...

Analysis: German airport security faulty?
November 7, 2006... Byline: STEFAN NICOLA BERLIN, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- Mock terrorists in one out of three cases manage to smuggle weapons and explosives past security guards at Frankfurt International Airport, a German news magazine has said. The report has...

Analysis: Panama gets U.N. council seat.
November 8, 2006... Byline: WILLIAM M. REILLY UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- The U.N. General Assembly has taken its last tally for the Latin America and Caribbean seat becoming available on the U.N. Security Council Jan. 1, 2007, and after 48 ballots the...

Analysis: Counterterrorism a test of wills.
November 8, 2006... Byline: LAURA HEATON WASHINGTON, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- Stepping up cooperation after Sept. 11, the key intelligence and security organizations of the European Union find that their counterterrorism efforts are only as ambitious and efficient as...

Review of the Arab press.
November 8, 2006... AMMAN, Jordan, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- Arab press roundup for Nov. 8: London-based al-Hayat commented Wednesday the death sentence against toppled Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein has fueled sectarian tensions in the region. The Saudi-financed...

Analysis: Dems to pressure EU to do more.
November 8, 2006... Byline: STEFAN NICOLA BERLIN, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- The Democratic victory in the U.S. midterm elections may pressure Europe into shouldering more of the burden in Afghanistan and Iraq, experts say. After being controlled by the Republicans...

Walker's World: Has Bush lost?
November 8, 2006... Byline: MARTIN WALKER WASHINGTON, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- It turned out to be a Democratic wave, but no tidal wave, that swept them to a workable majority in the House of Representatives. But the Democrats look poised to have a barely workable one...

Analysis: PetroChina to affect WTO?
November 8, 2006... Byline: JACOB RUSSELL WASHINGTON Nov. 8 (UPI) -- Recent divestment strategies against PetroChina, the energy-thirsty Asian giant's biggest oil producer, for trading with Sudan will not affect talks with the World Trade Organization,...

Chinese doctor tapped for U.N. health agency.
November 8, 2006... UNITED NATIONS Nov. 8 (UPI) -- Dr. Margaret Chan of China has been nominated to become the U.N. World Health Organization's director-general. Chan was chosen for the post Wednesday by the WHO's 34-member executive board from a list of...

Analysis: More rumors of bin Laden's death.
November 9, 2006... Byline: CLAUDE SALHANI WASHINGTON Nov. 9 (UPI) -- Has the rumor of Osama bin Laden's death been greatly exaggerated, or is there more to it than initially thought? The news first surfaced last September, when a French regional newspaper...

Analysis: German govt split over Turkey.
November 9, 2006... Byline: STEFAN NICOLA BERLIN, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- The European Union's growing dispute with Turkey is sure to dominate the German EU presidency, which starts on Jan. 1, 2007, but the two top politicians in Berlin are at odds over whether to...

Analysis: U.N. seeks to unify efforts.
November 10, 2006... Byline: ALEXIS M. MATSUI UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- The U.N. Secretary-General's High-Level Panel on U.N. System-wide Coherence seeks to consolidate U.N. efforts to create a more effective and efficient world body. Panel...

Analysis: No end for Gaza's woes.
November 10, 2006... Byline: JOSHUA BRILLIANT JERUSALEM, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- Thousands of mourners Thursday trudged along Gaza Strip's dusty alleyways in funerals for 17 members of a Palestinian extended family and others killed in clashes with Israel. The...

Policy Watch: Republican deadline in Iraq.
November 10, 2006... Byline: MARK N. KATZ WASHINGTON, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- The American public's growing unhappiness with the war in Iraq played a large role in the November 2006 elections that resulted in the Democrats retaking control of both the House and the...

Outside View: New model at APEC forum.
November 10, 2006... Byline: DMITRY KOSYREV HANOI, Vietnam, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- As always, statistics will be king at the next forum of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation organization in Vietnam's capital, Hanoi. The Nov. 13-20 meeting will involve several...

Analysis: Bush, Olmert, Iran and Palestine.
November 10, 2006... Byline: JOSHUA BRILLIANT TEL AVIV, Israel, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will probe the likelihood of the United States providing a nuclear umbrella against Iranian nuclear threats when he meets President Bush in...

Analysis: U.N. calls for more clean water.
November 10, 2006... Byline: WILLIAM M. REILLY UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- The United Nations is calling on the G8 group of developed nations to initiate a plan to resolve the world's growing water and sanitation crisis, one that kills nearly 2 million...

Analysis: American to run U.N. food agency.
November 10, 2006... Byline: ISAAC KARDON UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization Director-General Jacques Diouf are supporting Josette Sheeran of the United States for the post of executive...

Politics & Policies: U.S. veto reaps ire.
November 13, 2006... Byline: CLAUDE SALHANI WASHINGTON, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- How likely are Americans to find themselves the target of renewed Palestinian ire as a result of the U.S. decision to veto a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning the...

Walker's World: Baker's Middle East return.
November 13, 2006... Byline: MARTIN WALKER WASHINGTON, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- The proposal Sunday by the Arab League for a new international conference to restart the Middle East peace process comes at a useful time, because suddenly an awful lot of people are...

Analysis: Seoul rejects U.S. N. Korea plea.
November 13, 2006... Byline: LEE JONG-HEON SEOUL, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- Despite pressure from Washington, South Korea announced Monday it would not join a U.S.-led campaign aimed at stopping North Korean weapons traffic by sea for fear of possible clashes with the...

Review of the Arab press.
November 13, 2006... AMMAN, Jordan, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- Arab press roundup for Nov. 13: Egypt's al-Ahram commented in its editorial Monday that condemnations, warnings and threats regarding Israel's "brutal behavior" and "massacres" against the Palestinians are...

Analysis: NATO wants more support for ISAF.
November 13, 2006... Byline: STEFAN NICOLA BERLIN, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- NATO has urged the countries contributing to the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan to drop limits on their missions, a move that calls on Germany to send its troops to...

Review of the Arab press.
November 14, 2006... AMMAN, Jordan, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- Arab press roundup for Nov. 14: Kuwait's al-Rai al-Aam said in a commentary Tuesday the U.S. veto against a U.N. Security Council resolution denouncing Israel's killing of women and children in Beit Hanoun in...

Outside View: Cuba on the eve of change.
November 14, 2006... Byline: PYOTR ROMANOV MOSCOW, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- Having spent two weeks in Havana, I saw for myself what seemed quite obvious: after Fidel's departure, which is not far off, Cuba is in for serious change. The Cubans themselves are well...

Analysis: Blair urges Bush to alter policy.
November 14, 2006... Byline: CLAUDE SALHANI PARIS, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair, one of President George W. Bush's most ardent supporters in the triple wars -- Iraq, Afghanistan and the war on terrorism -- is urging the American president...

Analysis: A Palestinian unity government.
November 14, 2006... Byline: JOSHUA BRILLIANT JERUSALEM, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- The nationalist Fatah and its main rival, the Islamic Hamas, are in the process of forming a national unity government, and hope it will end an international boycott that has been...

Atlantic Eye: The spymasters' spymaster.
November 14, 2006... Byline: MARC S. ELLENBOGEN CALGARY, British Columbia, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- His face was unknown for over 30 years. He was believed to be the archetype spy in John Le Carre's novels. He brought down powerful men and their governments. ...

Analysis: Europe to rethink Iraq strategy?
November 14, 2006... Byline: STEFAN NICOLA BERLIN, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- In the wake of pressure from the German federal president and possible strategy changes by the U.S. government for Iraq, Berlin repeated its refusal to send troops to the violence-ridden...

Review of the Arab press.
November 15, 2006... AMMAN, Jordan, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- Arab press roundup for Nov. 15: The London-based ash-Sharq al-Awsat commented in its editorial Wednesday on the abduction of more than 100 higher education officials in Baghdad by gunmen dressed in police...

Walker's World: France's Royal progress.
November 15, 2006... Byline: MARTIN WALKER PARIS, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- The election season for France's next president gets formally under way Thursday as the opposition Socialist Party holds its first American-style primary campaign to select its challenger to...

Realpolitik: The last war for oil?
November 15, 2006... Byline: ALON BEN-MEIR NEW YORK, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- There should be no doubt that the United States has waged two Gulf wars largely, if not solely, for oil. To ensure that the Iraq war is the last Gulf war, the administration and the...

Analysis: Ban talk won't hurt Nazi party.
November 15, 2006... Byline: STEFAN NICOLA BERLIN, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- Leading German politicians have called for banning Germany's far-right National Democratic Party, or NPD, but the move and recently unearthed financial problems will not hurt the neo-Nazi...

Analysis: Lebanon on a tinderbox.
November 16, 2006... Byline: CLAUDE SALHANI BEIRUT, Lebanon, Nov. 16 (UPI) -- Lebanon is a relatively small country, approximately the size of Rhode Island. Yet, it comes with problems larger than Texas. After years of relative calm and prosperity that...

Review of the Arab press.
November 16, 2006... AMMAN, Jordan, Nov. 16 (UPI) -- Arab press roundup for Nov. 16: Lebanon's an-Nahar commented Thursday the Bush administration, particularly President George W. Bush and his Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, seem to be disturbed by the...

Analysis: Annan blunt on climate change.
November 16, 2006... Byline: WILLIAM M. REILLY UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 16 (UPI) -- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who will occupy his post for about six weeks more, seemed to be pulling no punches during a get-tough speech on global warming. He told the...

Analysis: Palestinians escalate attacks.
November 16, 2006... Byline: JOSHUA BRILLIANT TEL AVIV, Israel, Nov. 16 (UPI) -- An escalation of Palestinian rocket fire at Israel from the Gaza Strip, which resulted in the killing of a 57-year-old woman Wednesday, could lead to further Israeli retaliations...

Analysis: EU hopeful on Fatah-Hamas govt.
November 16, 2006... Byline: STEFAN NICOLA BERLIN, Nov. 16 (UPI) -- The European Union's foreign ministers are hopeful that a new Palestinian government between the radical Hamas and the more moderate Fatah party could help revive the Middle East peace...

Analysis: Kim's gift politics in challenge.
November 17, 2006... Byline: LEE JONG-HEON SEOUL, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has recently recognized the academic works of dozens of local scholars by presenting them with wrist watches as part of his "gift politics." But this policy may...

Policy Watch: Blair's Mideast logic flawed.
November 17, 2006... Byline: MARK N. KATZ WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair has told the U.S. government-sponsored Iraq Study Group that pushing for an Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement "was the only way" to bring about...

Analysis: How to reduce rocket attacks.
November 17, 2006... Byline: JOSHUA BRILLIANT TEL AVIV, Israel, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- Hezbollah and Palestinian militants launched more than 5,000 short-range rockets at Israel this year, proving at least one thing: Israel failed to stop that fire. What made...

Outside View: Israel backs Bush in Iraq.
November 17, 2006... Byline: MARIANNA BELENKAYA MOSCOW, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- Monday's visit by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to Washington, which did not promise surprises, has shocked many Israeli analysts, several American politicians, and everyone who...

Report: Dutch soldiers tortured Iraqis.
November 17, 2006... AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- Dutch soldiers have abused Iraqi prisoners and high-ranking officers knew about the incidents, a newspaper reported. After U.S. and British soldiers were accused of torturing prisoners, new...

Aoun: We have to break the circle of fear.
November 20, 2006... Byline: CLAUDE SALHANI BEIRUT, Lebanon, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- Former Lebanese Army Gen. Michel Aoun is one of two leading candidates vying for the presidency in what is gearing up to be a heated race between Lebanon's pro- and anti-Syrian...

Review of the Arab press.
November 20, 2006... AMMAN, Jordan, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- Arab press roundup for Nov. 20: Jordan's al-Arab al-Yawm urged Arab Islamic movements, especially the Palestinian Hamas, to review its positions and calculations regarding Iran. The daily said in a commentary...

Outside View: Russia, NATO and convenience.
November 20, 2006... Byline: VIKTOR LITOVKIN MOSCOW, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- A regular NATO summit will take place in Riga, Latvia, on November 28-29, but NATO-Russia Council meetings, which have recently been held on a regular basis, will not be held this time. ...

Realpolitik: Three myths and one more.
November 20, 2006... Byline: ALON BEN-MEIR NEW YORK, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- It is time for the Bush administration to disabuse itself of three myths if it wishes to find a way out of the Iraq quagmire: Contrary to what the administration believes, there will be no...

Analysis: Time for Madrid talks, part II?
November 21, 2006... Byline: LAURA HEATON WASHINGTON, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- Renewed Israeli incursions into Gaza have sparked a bout of Qassam rocket fire from Palestinian militants that make peace talks seem further away than ever, but some experts with experience...

Review of the Arab press.
November 21, 2006... AMMAN, Jordan, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- Arab press roundup for Nov. 21: Arab newspapers commented Tuesday on Syrian Foreign Minister Waleed Muallem's landmark visit to Baghdad, saying Damascus appears to be resuming a regional role with indirect...

Analysis: Afghanistan decides security.
November 21, 2006... Byline: STEFAN NICOLA BERLIN, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair says the world's security depends on success in Afghanistan, but Washington and others feel not all countries part of ISAF are doing as much as they could....

Analysis: French Left coronates Royal.
November 21, 2006... Byline: STEFAN NICOLA BERLIN, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- Socialist Segolene Royal's triumphant inner-party victory last week boosted her chances of becoming the first female president of France, but she has not revealed her position on key political...

Analysis: Hope afloat for N.Korea talks.
November 21, 2006... Byline: LEE JONG-HEON SEOUL, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- Hopes are cautiously running high for the resumption of the long-stalled international talks aimed at dismantling North Korea's nuclear weapons program as early as next month after Washington...

Analysis: Diplomats race clock on Darfur.
November 21, 2006... Byline: ALAN MCCOMBS WASHINGTON, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- Officials with the United Nations and U.S. government say diplomats are fighting to workout a solid peace agreement for Sudan's war-torn Darfur region before the end of the year when...

Outside View: A winding road to Bogor.
November 21, 2006... Byline: DMITRY KOSYREV HANOI, Vietnam, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- The main intrigue at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, which ended in Hanoi on Sunday, found an expression in its final documents. One of them, called the Hanoi Action...

Analysis: Lebanon's revolving politics.
November 21, 2006... Byline: CLAUDE SALHANI WASHINGTON, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- Lebanon's sickly politics took a sudden and unexpected turn for the worse Tuesday with the assassination of Pierre Gemayel, a prominent anti-Syrian cabinet minister. He earns the grim...

Review of the Arab press.
November 22, 2006... AMMAN, Jordan, Nov. 22 (UPI) -- Arab press roundup for Nov. 22: Arab newspapers Wednesday commented on Tuesday's assassination of Lebanese Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel, warning it threatens dangerous repercussions. Lebanon's independent...

Walker's World: A Royal question mark.
November 22, 2006... Byline: MARTIN WALKER PARIS, Nov. 22 (UPI) -- There was a dismal sense of deja vu about the first interviews given by the new standard-bearer of France's Socialist Party for next year's presidential elections. Segolene Royal is an...