INTERNATIONAL

Kenya Defence Forces soldiers take their position at the Westgate shopping centre, on the fourth day since militants stormed into the mall, in Nairobi. REUTERS/Noor Khamis  Whether the myriad Islamic extremist groups are the creation of the world’s most astute intelligence groups or whether they are the products of a warped interpretation of Islam, once again we have been reminded …

Our people want to have freedom, God’s gift to humanity, and to enjoy the grace of living an ordinary life.  History teaches us – and it is the best teacher – that waging war, occupation, settlements and walls may provide temporary quiet and a momentary domination, but they certainly do not ensure real security nor guarantee a sustainable peace.   …

  Two acts of terror this past week demonstrate how the evils of terrorism are often masked by warped religious ideologies.  In northwestern Pakistan, a couple of suicide bombers detonated explosives in the vicinity of the All Saints Church in Peshawar’s Kohati Gate district.  The blasts took place just as worshiperswere streaming out after church services.  More than 60 people …

What Putin Has to Say to Americans About Syria   Relations between us have passed through different stages. We stood against each other during the cold war. But we were also allies once, and defeated the Nazis together. The universal international organization — the United Nations — was then established to prevent such devastation from ever happening again. The United …

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 4 2013 (IPS) – The United States, which is preparing to launch a military strike on Syria, is being cautioned by several former world leaders and Nobel Peace laureates to seek a political solution to the ongoing crisis – and forego armed intervention in the beleaguered Middle Eastern nation. Former U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan argues that there is …

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has repeatedly said that the Syrian crisis can be solved only politically. Credit: IPS UNITED NATIONS, Aug 30 2013 (IPS) – If and when the United States launches a military attack on Syria, one of the biggest political losers would be the United Nations. The administration of President Barack Obama will not only bypass the Security Council, …