'Reform of global governance in itself should not worry any but the most dyed-in-the-wool reactionary or conservative power. Surely it is in our common interest to improve the way the international community conducts its affairs, strengthening purposeful multi-lateralism and international law, says NSA Shivshankar Menon
Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel won the Grand Prix in Bahrain on Sunday while rage boiled beyond the circuit among protesters who say the ruling family that crushed Arab Spring demonstrations last year should not have hosted the race.
The 'Arab Awakening' will fundamentally alter the notion that Islam is incompatible with democratic capitalism, writes Shahid Javed Burki
It was a 'turbulent year' for global oil markets.
Formula One cars took to the track in Bahrain on Friday, while the government, hoping for a successful Grand Prix, squared off against activists determined to mark it with "days of rage" after more than a year of Arab Spring protests.
Safety fears grew ahead of this weekend's Formula One Grand Prix in Bahrain on Thursday after members of the Force India team were caught up in a petrol bomb incident.
Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri has asked Pakistanis to revolt against their government and military by staging uprisings on the pattern of 'Arab Spring' and labelled the nation's army as "slaves of America".
Anna Hazare's anti-corruption movement that saw Indians rally in support has been named among the top 10 news stories in the world this year by Time magazine, which listed the Arab Spring and killing of Osama bin Laden as the top attention-grabbing headlines.
Formula One cars take to the track in Bahrain on Friday with the government hoping a successful Grand Prix will draw a line under more than a year of Arab Spring protests and activists promising to mark the motor race with 'days of rage'.
With Syria 'evolving' after the 'Arab Spring,' senior journalist Seema Mustafa takes stock of this ancient country as a member of a visiting Indian delegation. She realises that the ground reality in Syria is quite different from what has been portrayed; the fact that Syrians are wary of the 'US game plan' and that it's a country with a beautiful blend of modernity and deep-rooted traditions. Excerpts from her tour diary:
The Global Peace Index 2011 notes that while several countries experienced improved levels of peacefulness, others, notably those in North Africa and the Middle East that have been swept up in the political turmoil of the "Arab Spring", have experienced sharp falls in their peacefulness.
Nirupama Rao, India's new ambassador to the United States, has defended India's stand on Libya and Syria, which stands in stark contrast to that of the US and its allies in the NATO. In the interaction that followed her keynote address at the third Brookings-FICCI Strategic Dialogue on US-India Relations, Rao said, "Let me say that we deeply value the consultations that we had with the United States on issues related to the Arab Spring and the upheavals that we have seen".
The whole nation is watching TV visuals from the Ramlila Grounds and other places in India, with a mix of feelings regarding the epic anti-corruption struggle being waged by social activist Anna Hazare and his followers from different age groups and different strata of society. And, it is not the Arab Spring, or a Jasmine Revolution, writes B Raman.
The ineptness of successive American presidents, from Bush the Younger to Joe Biden the Old, combined with the cluelessness that Americans demonstrate in foreign lands, contrasts with the Chinese leadership's seemingly singular focus on the accumulation of wealth and power, asserts T N Ninan.
The Indian Spring represented by Anna Hazare's anti-corruption campaign, which has culminated in the Aam Aadmi Party's impressive electoral debut in New Delhi, began around the same time as the Arab Spring in 2011 but they led to different outcomes in India and the Arab world, says Ramesh Ramachandran.
The protests brought home the fact that the Sri Lankan public is in no mood for halfway measures, as voices against Rajapaksa 'family rule' and 'securitisation' of the civilian administration began sidestepping the more critical economic crisis, affecting the nation and afflicting the individual, observes Sri Lanka watcher N Sathiya Moorthy.
Gota has to decide if he could order elder brother Mahinda's arrest as the agent provocateur of Monday's violence. Then he has to prepare for an interim government, in which no one would now want to become a cabinet minister leave alone prime minister, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
Identity checks had established 'without a shadow of doubt' that the dead man was Amri, Italy said.
As the 25-year-old, who has refugee status in Australia, got off a plane in Bangkok on November 27, Thai immigration police were waiting to arrest him based on an Interpol "red notice" from Bahrain.
Considering that Qatar is a trusted ally of Washington for decades, it is expected to be a steady influence on the Taliban leadership, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud on Wednesday dismissed the heir to the throne, Crown Prince Moqren bin Abdul Aziz bin Saud, and replaced him with the Interior Minister Mohammed bin Nayef.
'There's no wonder that many Pakistani parents send their kids to madrasa and one knows what happens to a small percentage of the kids who go there.
Bahraini footballer Hakeem Al Araibi, who fled Bahrain in 2014 and was later granted asylum in Australia, was arrested in Bangkok in November on an Interpol notice issued at Bahrain's request.
The best of India and the Middle East, now at the Dharamsala Film Festival.
The uncertainty surrounding the Liverpool forward's participation after he suffered shoulder ligament damage in last month's Champions League final, had a huge impact on both preparations and team confidence coming into the tournament.
An Egyptian court will hear an appeal by Hosni Mubarak in a corruption case, raising the prospects of the former dictator's release from prison on Wednesday.
Months before his killing in May 2011, Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was "utterly" focused on striking the United States in its "heartland".
'None of these three countries -- Turkey, Iran or Malaysia -- ever made a hostile move against India to support the Pakistan-based terrorist elements,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'If ISIS was popular, they don't need to use violence.' 'The strategy of violence is a false interpretation of Islam.' 'The main victims of ISIS violence are Muslims.'
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
'The return of violence in Kashmir justifies government precautions, but risk has to be taken.' 'We need to act and ensure that risk is converted to gain through direct interaction with Kashmir's public,' says Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Blair, however, stopped short of a full apology for the war, saying, "I find it hard to apologise for removing Saddam. I think, even from today in 2015, it is better that he's not there than that he is there."=
'You worry when serious people, with control of our and our children's future, begin to start obsessing over social media, seeing it as an easy, lazy, fun, low-cost substitute for boring, old-fashioned practices of politics, governance and serious, fact-based debate,' says Shekhar Gupta.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Egypt was on the edge on Sunday as protest rallies demanding Mohammed Mursi's ouster and early elections kicked off across the deeply polarised country on the first anniversary of his presidency, raising fears of an escalation in violence.
A disparate global network of violent fundamentalist Islamic groups threatens India's eastern flank as much as the north and west with a real possibility of these spilling over into our borders, says Shyam Saran.
At least 22 people have been killed in Tunisia after two gunmen stormed the Bardo national museum.
'There are several stories in the Mahabharata where kings drunk on their power are banished to hell.' 'The story of Krishna and Kamsa is a case in point and the Ramayana, at its very core, is a story about Rama's victory over an arrogant Ravana,' says Arundhuti Dasgupta.
Will he take Modi's 'sab ka saath, sab ka vikas' route? Or will he turn UP into Egypt under Morsi, asks Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
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