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: U.S. Weighs Options As Syrian Violence Intensifies Samer Araabi WASHINGTON - Following a failed bid to pass a U.N. Security Council Resolution calling for regime change in Syria, Washington is considering other means to influence events on the ground, as the country slips ever closer toward civil war. MORE >>
: U.N. Security Council Remains "Neutered" by Five Big Powers Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS - Since Russia and China vetoed a key resolution critical of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's violent repression of the ongoing 11-month old civilian uprising, there has been plenty of public outrage directed at the two permanent members of the Security Council who stood defiant against an overwhelming majority. MORE >>
: Israel and Iran Agreed on Nuclear Ambiguity Analysis by Pierre Klochendler JERUSALEM - Will Israel attack Iran’s nuclear facilities this spring? That is a question dominating the international agenda. Meanwhile, the grand project of a nuclear weapon-free Middle East is relegated to the utopian "day after" a solution is found to the Islamic republic’s atomic programme. MORE >>
: New Libya Off to a Shaky Start Mike Elkin BENGHAZI - It's been almost a year since Benghazi launched its uprising against former Libyan president Muammar Gaddafi and three months since he was killed, but there is a growing sense of frustration in eastern Libya with the National Transitional Council. Two weeks ago, a group of protesters attacked the Council’s Benghazi headquarters as chairman Mustafa Abdeljalil was inside, forcing him to flee through the back door. MORE >>
: U.S. Leak on Israeli Attack Weakened a Warning to Netanyahu Analysis by Gareth Porter* WASHINGTON - When Defence Secretary Leon Panetta told Washington Post columnist David Ignatius this week that he believes Israel was likely to attack Iran between April and June, it was ostensibly yet another expression of alarm at the Israeli government's threats of military action. MORE >>
: Chinese Feed Illegal Ivory Trade Cam McGrath CAIRO - The illegal trade in ivory continues in Egypt, with ivory products sold openly in local tourist markets by traders who operate with impunity, a new study by the conservation group Traffic has found. MORE >>
MIDEAST: And At Last There Was Water Pierre Klochendler BIR EL-BASHA, Occupied West Bank - Only days ago, turning on the tap was cause for concern. Would there be running water? Now, it’s reason for celebration. MORE >>
US-BAHRAIN: Rights Groups Oppose Smaller Arms Transfer Jim Lobe* WASHINGTON - The decision by the administration of President Barack Obama to approve limited transfers of military equipment to Bahrain is coming under renewed fire by human rights and pro-democracy groups here. MORE >>
SYRIA: "Street Fighting Rages" Near Damascus Correspondents* - IPS/Al Jazeera DOHA, Qatar - Fighting is continuing in the eastern suburbs of Damascus, according to activists, as Syrian security forces appeared to be reasserting their control over the restive fringes of the country's capital. MORE >>
: The Ancient Wither in New Iraq Karlos Zurutuza BASRA - "I’d say there are around 5,000 of us in the country, but if you ask me next week we may well be under 3,000. After twenty centuries of history in Mesopotamia, we Mandaeans, are about to vanish." Anxiety about the future of his people is more than evident in the figures given by Saad Atiah Majid, chairman of Basra’s Mandaean Council. MORE >>
MIDEAST: Censorship Changes Colours Simba Shani Kamaria Russeau CAIRO - Attempts by regimes in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) to suppress the flow of information during the region's pro-democracy uprisings has led a higher number of journalists killed, attacked or arrested. MORE >>
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