News updates

The defeat of the Tamil Tigers has finally provided a rare historic opportunity to set our war- battered country on the path to progress. The bitterness and suspicions between the communities  remain deep. However, the need to correct past wrongs backed by remedial and reconciliation measures are indispensable to bring communal harmony on the principles of pluralism, equality, mutual understanding …

PARIS: France is set to adjust its legal and fiscal framework to accommodate Islamic bonds this year, a leading Paris official said, as the French capital looks to attract business in this potentially fast-growing industry. “Work is well advanced on the matter of hosting sukuk (Islamic bond) emissions,” Paris Europlace managing director Arnaud de Bresson said in an interview. Paris …

Truth and Consequences in the Gaza Invasion Public outrage at the Gaza invasion did not come out of the blue but rather marked the nadir of a curve plotting a steady decline in support for Israel. As polling data of Americans and Europeans, both Gentiles and Jews, suggest, the public has become increasingly critical of Israeli policy over the past …

Every detail of September 16, 2007, is burned in Mohammed Kinani’s memory. Shortly after 9 am he was preparing to leave his house for work at his family’s auto parts business in Baghdad when he got a call from his sister, Jenan, who asked him to pick her and her children up across town and bring them back to his home …

KABUL – General Stanley McChrystal’s cautiously worded support for a negotiated settlement with the Taliban leadership is only the first public signal of a policy decision by the Barack Obama administration to support a political settlement between the Karzai regime and the Taliban, an official of the McChrystal’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) command has revealed in an interview with …

The Obama administration sent lawmakers this week a plan for $1.45 billion (Dh5.32bn) in aid for Pakistan this year, funding media campaigns to counter extremist views as well as water, energy and other projects. The 2010 spending plan, obtained by Reuters, was sent to lawmakers as part of the US administration’s obligation to consult Congress over the civilian aid package. …