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17 Feb 2011 10:40

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World: Middle East update: What’s happening in Bahrain, Yemen and Libya?

  • » Journalists still in danger: Reporting from Bahrain, ABC News reporter Miguel Marquez found himself in the middle of the worst of it. “I just got beat rather badly by a gang of thugs,” he said in a phone call, as he was attempting to hide from his attackers.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Feb 2011 09:41

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World: Middle Eastern unrest reaches Libya, but will it go any further?

  • Last night was a bad night. … There were about 500 or 600 people involved. They went to the revolutionary committee (local government headquarters) in Sabri district, and they tried to go to the central revolutionary committee … They threw stones.
  • An anonymous Benghazi, Libya resident • Describing the scene during the riots that took place in the city the night before. Leader Muammar Gaddafi has been in power for over 40 years, and his country neighbors Egypt and Tunisia, so he’s obviously a key target for protests in the current spate of them. However, Libya is different from those countries in that their oil revenues are so significant that they could just throw money at the problem to placate unhappy citizens. Still though, this is obviously a huge issue for Gaddafi’s government. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Feb 2011 20:04

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World: On the Islamic Revolution’s 32nd anniversary, could Iran be next?

If Ahmadinejad has a nervous look on his face, it’s because the Egyptian protests may give Iranian activists new life on Monday. Especially after Wael Ghonim gave the Green Revolution a big up. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Feb 2011 09:41

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World: Hillary Clinton: Transitioning to democracy can be risky

  • There are risks with the transition to democracy. (The) transition can backslide into just another authoritarian regime. Revolutions have overthrown dictators in the name of democracy, only to see the political process hijacked by new autocrats who use violence, deception, and rigged elections to stay in power, or to advance an agenda of extremism.
  • Secretary of State Hillary Clinton • Regarding the pitfalls that Middle Eastern countries could face as they fight for democracy. This is true, yes, but is she saying it to convince others to be careful, or to dissuade less-committed democracy fighters in the region? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

01 Feb 2011 12:34

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World: Turkish PM Tayyip Erdogan tries to show Mubarak the door

  • pressure… The Egyptian opposition’s call succeeded wildly with over a million protesters flooding the streets of Cairo’s Tahrir Square, turning up the heat on the beleaguered reign of President Hosni Mubarak.
  • …rising! Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan added his voice to the chorus asking Mubarak to step down, telling him they all would one day die and be “questioned over what we left behind.” source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Jan 2011 12:54

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World: Al-Jazeera: How the network became the Arab world’s conscience

  • The notion that there is a common struggle across the Arab world is something Al Jazeera helped create. They did not cause these events, but it’s almost impossible to imagine all this happening without al-Jazeera.
  • George Washington University Middle East Studies professor Marc Lynch • Describing the role in popular uprisings that al-Jazeera has had over the years. It’s a role that’s clearly becoming more apparent this week as protests and popular uprisings become more widespread. While many praise the Qatar-based network for this role (we certainly do), others note that its coverage often seems biased or plays favorites – particularly favoring Hezbollah and Hamas. That said, al-Jazeera hasn’t played such a central role as the conscience of the Arab world since the heady days of the Iraq War in 2003. Especially considering scenes like this one. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Jan 2011 10:44

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World: Yemen gets in on the mass-revolt bandwagon; good for them

Today in the Arab world’s collective realization that they don’t have to put up with this *#(& anymore: Yemen. Hotbed of al-Qaeda. Coldbed of jobs. Home of fresh protests. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

24 Jan 2011 10:13

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World: Palestine: Al-Jazeera’s “Palestine Papers” full of lies

  • We don’t have anything to hide. [The papers have been] taken out of context and contain lies … Al-Jazeera’s information is full of distortions and fraud.
  • PLO chief negotiator Saeb Erekat • Denying the claims of al-Jazeera and The Guardian, which published the Palestine Papers, which reportedly show that Palestinians were ready to give Israel a huge concession without getting much of anything from Israel. Hamas officials, on the other hand, is quite angry about the report, saying it shows “this leadership is not honest.” FYI: More stuff is coming this week. Keep an eye out. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Jan 2011 12:14

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World: Wikileaks, Stuxnet collide to create awesome article about Iran

  • Iran doesn’t have the bomb yet. But they’ve been trying really hard to get it, according to the latest round of data released from Wikileaks. The Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten, which reportedly has all 250,000 diplomatic cables, has been releasing them slowly but surely, and the latest one is kinda sorta a big deal. The cables portray it as kind of last-gasp attempt for Iran to jump-start its diplomatic prowess. “A race exists between the bomb and financial collapse,” one French nuclear expert explained in the cable. Some quick numbers:
  • 350 Iranian companies and groups were reportedly involved in the pursuit of nuclear technology
  • 30+ countries that have contacts Iran is trying to use to make this bomb thingy happen
  • no Iran doesn’t have much in the way of its own uranium, making their job tougher source
  • » Oh, and remember Stuxnet? That computer worm seemingly designed to damage Iran’s nuclear program was reportedly a American-Israeli joint, according to this here article by The New York Times. It was reportedly so effective at causing a malware ruckus that it set Iran’s nuclear program back by several years. Favorite line: “The computer program also secretly recorded what normal operations at the nuclear plant looked like, then played those readings back to plant operators, like a pre-recorded security tape in a bank heist, so that it would appear that everything was operating normally while the centrifuges were actually tearing themselves apart.” Class.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Jan 2011 12:38

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World: Lebanon cabinet thrown into chaos after Hezbollah supporters resign

  • 11 ministers in the Lebanese cabinet resigned today (uh oh) source
  • » Why did they resign? The members, supporters of Hezbollah, resigned in protest of a UN-backed tribunal looking into the death of former prime minister Rafik Hariri. It’s likely that the tribunal will point the finger at members of Hezbollah, which is what led to the instability today and even made it an inevitability. The result? The government dissolves. Yikes.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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