INTERNATIONAL

  More than 60 people died in a series of bomb blasts across Iraq on Wednesday. The endless violence indicates that Iraq’s problems are far from over though the United States withdrew its troops – at least on paper – six months ago.   That the victims of Wednesday’s bomb attacks were largely Shiite pilgrims indicates that the sectarianism created …

In its more than 5,000-year history, Egypt last month had what the Western media called its first free-and fair election to pick a head of state. The election ended inconclusively requiring a run-off which will be held on June 16 and 17. In the run-up to the run-off, a sham trial ended with former tyrant Hosni Mubarak and his interior …

     “Will it be the climax of a revolution, or will it tear the country asunder?”  Egypt is an ancient country with a recorded history of more than 7,000 years. Known for its pyramids and the River Nile this Mediterranean country linking the Middle East and Africa with Europe was the centre of a flourishing civilization, while most of …

Rupert Murdoch is a bad man. His son James is also bad. Rebekah Brooks is allegedly bad. The News of the World was very bad; it hacked phones and pilloried people. British prime ministers grovelled before this iniquity. David Cameron even sent text messages to Brooks signed "LOL", and they all had parties in the Cotswolds with Jeremy Clarkson. Nods …

Saudi Arabia and its Sunni allies may right now be boosting oil production, aiming to plunge the market price to as low as US$60 per barrel. The ultimate goal is to cripple the economies of Shiite Iran and Iraq, an insider view suggests. The insight comes from Barton Biggs, hedge fund manager running Traxis Partners, who spoke with a Saudi …

  Soldiers on Monday violated the status quo on the esplanade of the mosques in east Jerusalem by raising Israel's flag, the head of theIslamic Waqf organisation that oversees the compound charged. "More than 180 soldiers from a special Israeli army unit today raised a large Israeli flag opposite the mosque of the Rock, which is a grave provocation," Sheikh Azzam al-Khatib told AFP. The sprawling esplanade containing …