Armed Conflicts

Syria Peace Talks ‘Scheduled for November’

By AJ Correspondents
International peace talks on the Syria conflict could take place next month, Syria's deputy prime minister has said.

Afghan Families Want Accountability, Not Apologies

By Giuliano Battiston
The dusty cemetery in Saracha village hosts three new graves: small hills of soil shielding the bodies of Sahebullah, Wasihullah and Amanullah, three of the five boys and young men killed by an ISAF-NATO airstrike on late Friday, Oct. 4.

When the Missing Don’t Return

By Amantha Perera
Some call it ‘frozen loss,’ a point in time that families and relatives find almost impossible to extricate themselves out of, even years after their loved ones have disappeared.

Activists Struggle to Recover Human Rights Archives

By Edgardo Ayala
Some 50,000 files on crimes against humanity are languishing in an undisclosed location in El Salvador, prey to damp and the ravages of time, while activists and lawyers frantically try to regain control over them.

Grief Veils Eid for Syrian Refugees

By Rebecca Murray
This week the Islamic world marks one of its holiest holidays, Eid al-Adha - honouring Ibrahim’s commitment to sacrifice his first-born son to Allah. The festival involves large family gatherings, bountiful lunches and generous gift giving.

Russia May Do Better Than its Nuclear Rhetoric

By Pavol Stracansky
Despite a seemingly entrenched resistance to change on its nuclear disarmament policy, the Kremlin’s recent initiative to get Syria to destroy its chemical weapons provides hope that Russia could play a more positive role in reducing the world’s global nuclear stockpiles, experts say.

BOOKS: Containing Iran Is the “Least Bad Policy” for U.S.

By Heather Hurlburt
The day that the much-heralded new round of nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1 world powers opens might seem like the wrong day to pick up Unthinkable, Kenneth Pollack’s new exploration of what to do if talks fail.

Tamils Get Some Symbolic Power

By Amantha Perera
True democracy at last or a toothless tiger propped up to appease unfavourable international opinion? As Sri Lanka’s Northern Province got its first council after an election last month, many in this South Asian island nation were mulling this conundrum.

Kurds Build Bridges At Last

By Karlos Zurutuza
After fleeing the war three months ago, Gulnaz is headed back for Syria to bury her brother within the 24 hours Islam stipulates. But it is far from easy to take the coffin across the Syrian-Iraqi border.

Mystery Attackers Hit Sinai

By Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani
A period of more than three months since former president Mohamed Morsi's ouster by Egypt's powerful military establishment have been marked by almost daily attacks on Egyptian security personnel, especially in the restive Sinai Peninsula. The identity of the attackers remains a mystery.

Israeli Claim of Iranian ICBM Exploits Biased U.S. Intel

By Gareth Porter
In an effort to provoke any possible opposition in U.S. political circles to a nuclear deal with Iran, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has returned to exploiting an old claim that Iran is building intercontinental ballistic missiles that could hit the United States.

Swat Not at Peace With Malala

By Ashfaq Yusufzai
Back in Swat Valley in Pakistan where she comes from, Malala Yousafzai who had been tipped to win the Nobel peace prize this year, has not only left behind more girls in school now than there were a year ago but also large numbers of people who are now distanced – and even hostile – to her.

Nobel Laureate Fights African Pullout from Global Court

By Thalif Deen
South Africa's Desmond Tutu, the 1984 Nobel Peace prize laureate, has launched a global campaign to stop African nations from abandoning the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC).

U.S. Suspends More Military Aid to Egypt, Arousing Scepticism

By Jim Lobe
The administration of President Barack Obama announced Wednesday it was freezing hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to the Egyptian military pending "credible progress" toward a return to democratic rule.

Syrians Struggle with a Life of Sorts

By Shelly Kittleson
Free Syrian Army fighters stand guard over the state cable company premises to avoid looting in Khan Al-Assal, a district 14 kilometres west of Aleppo. Much of the rest of the place seems a nightmarish ghost town.

Somalis Caught Between Terrorism and a Border Dispute

By Miriam Gathigah
Somali militia groups are beginning to operate in Kenya’s remote and arid North Eastern Province, an area that borders southern Somalia – a former stronghold of the extremist group Al-Shabaab.

Egyptians Clash on Streets and over Constitution

By Hisham Allam
Bloody clashes erupted in Cairo on Sunday Oct. 6 between supporters of the military and followers of ousted elected president Mohamed Morsi as the latter protested against the July military coup that deposed their leader. But as clashes occurred on the streets, a clash of ideologies has been occurring on the country’s 50-member committee as it amends Egypt’s constitution.

Turkey’s Reform Package Gets Tepid Reception

By Alexander Christie-Miller
Turkey’s new democratisation reform package may mark a step forward for civil rights, but it does not go far enough to ease social tension and feelings of mistrust that are afflicting the country, analysts say.

Somalia Takes Teaching to the Extreme

By Ahmed Osman
Mukhatar Jama has been teaching at a secondary school in Mogadishu for the past decade. Religious education is part and parcel of the curriculum of all schools in Somalia, but he says most parents are unaware of exactly what their children are being taught – a radical form of Islam.

Hope and Pessimism as Israelis and Palestinians Resume Talks

By Mitchell Plitnick
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators returned to the negotiating table on Thursday, ready to put claims by the United States that it will engage more forcefully in the negotiating process to the test.

Banning Nukes Still a Political Fantasy

By Thalif Deen
The General Assembly's first-ever high-level meeting on nuclear disarmament closed last week on a predictable note: the longstanding proposal for the elimination of nuclear weapons remains firmly in the realm of political fantasy.
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