“I fear this looks like a civil war”, one Libyan rebel commander from Misrata told the Associated Press, in the wake of a fierce firefight between rival militia factions using heavy weapons in broad daylight in Tripoli on …
Africa
Why Qatari Owners of Paris’ Soccer Team Hanker For Aging Englishman Beckham
Why does perennially under-performing Paris Saint-Germain of France’s anemic professional soccer league see hiring a fading star at over $1 million per month as vital to assuring its future? Because the aging player in question …
Did a Gaddafi Scion Try to Enter Mexico?
TIME’S Dolly Mascareñas reports out of Mexico that Saadi Gaddafi, one of the sons of the late Libyan dictator, attempted to enter Mexico on Sept. 6 under the name Daniel Bejar. The Mexican government said Saadi Gaddafi’s wife and two daughters would have accompanied him. Mexican intelligence sources said they prevented them from using …
The Return of the Blood Diamond. (And We Don’t Mean the Movie).
They say a diamond is forever. From today, and for now, that also includes blood diamonds. On Monday the respected rights and commerce watchdog Global Witness announced it was quitting the international certification scheme set …
Israel on the Islamist Surge in Egypt: Told You So
The stunning showing by Salafist parties in the first round of Egypt’s parliamentary elections surprised Israeli officials as much as the rest of the world. The estimated 40 percent of the vote that went to the Muslim …
South Africa’s “Secrecy” Bill: A Blow to Post-Apartheid Democracy
If in any revolution, there is a moment after which it becomes unstoppable, that moment came for South Africa on Feb. 11, 1990, when Nelson Mandela walked free after 27 years in jail. But if there arrives another moment after which a revolutionary party — too long in power, too arrogant, too corrupt — can no longer claim to act …
The Syria Game of Thrones: Turkey vs. Iran vs. the Saudis in Battle to Shape a Rebellion’s Outcome
The Arab League called Wednesday for “urgent measures” to protect Syrian civilians in the face of violent repression by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. But lest anyone take that as an echo of the call that legitimized the NATO-led military operation in Libya, the League’s statement also rejected “all foreign intervention” …
At Cannes G20 Summit, Europe’s Currency and Leadership Pushed to the Brink
They may be clichés, but the phrases “life isn’t always fair”, and “things don’t necessarily work out the way you’d like” are cruel realities that French President Nicolas Sarkozy has to be ruefully mulling over just now. Rather than basking in the sunlight of a France-presided G20 summit meant to usher in major …
Human Rights Watch Reports Abuses in Chinese-Run Mines in Zambia
New York-based Human Rights Watch issued a 122-page report detailing the “abusive conditions” and lax safety standards of Chinese-run mines operating in the southern African nation of Zambia. Titled “You’ll Be Fired if You Refuse,” the report is one of the more targeted recent critiques of the effect of Beijing’s growing influence …
Magic Kingdom: Is Qatar Too Good To Be True?
When something seems too good to be true, according to an old adage, it usually is. The announcement, Tuesday, by Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani that legislative council elections would be held in 2013 , without a push from protestors on the street, raises the question of what kind of dark skeletons lurk behind the …
Militia Mayhem Underscores Libya’s Power Vacuum, Threatening its Revolution
It’s hardly unexpected that a U.S. political-media culture that routinely repackages yesterday’s panicky improvisations as today’s established “doctrines” has seen many in Washington hail Libya as “the new model” for U.S. intervention abroad. With comparatively limited investment of Western treasure — and no troops on the ground, …
Planet 7 Billion: Five Crisis Hotspots to Watch
The following is a guest post from TIME contributor Joe Jackson.
As the planet’s population climbs towards a new U.N.-projected peak of 10.1 billion by the turn of the next century, competition for resources within and between states will likely intensify. So too, goes the logic, will the number of resulting conflicts over oil, …
Bombardment of Somali Refugee Camp Is Symbolic of Kenya’s Doomed Invasion
Kenya’s hasty invasion of its northern neighbor Somalia took a tragic turn late Sunday when, according to witnesses on the ground, the Kenyan air force bombed a refugee camp sheltering those fleeing Somalia’s famine, killing three children and two adults. A spokesman for the Kenyan military in Nairobi insisted that the bombers killed …