Category: Blogs

Top News: Al-Qaeda in Yemen claims responsibility for attack on Charlie Hebdo

By MENASource

Al-Qaeda in Yemen (AQAP) claimed responsibility for the attack on French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, saying it was ordered by the Islamist militant group’s leadership for insulting the Prophet Mohammad, according to a video posted on YouTube.

Top News: Sisi Moves on Banning Foreign Publications Offensive to Religion

By EgyptSource

President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi issued a decree giving Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab the power to ban any foreign publication offensive to religion. Issued in the official State Journal on Tuesday, the presidential decree delegated the prime minister the president’s powers stipulated in a law regulating the publishing of printed media in Egypt.

EconSource: Major British Trade Delegation in Egypt

By EconSource

British companies are paying one of the most high-profile visits to Egypt by a Western trade delegation since the 2011 uprising. The delegation is seeking assurances that Egypt will eliminate complex investment laws and stamps of approval required from dozens of government agencies. Investment Minister Ashraf Salman said he is optimistic a draft investment law […]

An Economic Rebound in Egypt

By MENASource

The past four years in Egypt have wreaked havoc on the country and the ouster of former president Mohamed Morsi by the military in July 2014 in addition to the subsequent crackdown on dissent left many feeling that the political process has all but fallen apart. Despite the Egyptian leadership’s heavy-handed approach in dealing with political […]

Abu Hasira: Between Religious Intolerance and Political Squabbles

By Sonia Farid

The Abu Hasira Festival, an annual celebration in Egypt commemorating the birth of a Moroccan Rabbi, was canceled permanently by court order in December 2014. The Alexandria Administrative Court, which issued the verdict, cited “moral offenses” as the main reason for cancelling the festival. It also ordered the removal of the shrine from Egypt’s list […]

France Is Not Disturbed by ‘Storm in a D.C. Teacup,’ Dungan Says

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Charlie Hebdo Features Muhammad Cartoon in New Issue French officials on Tuesday hunted for the accomplices of three terrorists who killed 16 people in Paris last week, while some of the victims of the attacks were laid to rest at tearful funerals. In Washington, however, the controversy over the Obama administration’s decision not to send […]

Rajan Menon: For Security, Ukraine Needs an Army, the West—and China

Author of New Book on Ukraine Conflict Urges Careful Priorities for Kyiv Atlantic Council Senior Fellow Rajan Menon, chairman of political science at the City College of New York, has just co-authored a new book, Conflict in Ukraine, with Eugene Rumer of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. The book, to be published in March […]

As Ukraine Sinks Below ‘Life Support,’ the West Gropes for Loan Money

By James Rupert

Slowly Dribbling Out Help May Cost More in the End, George Soros and Economist Tim Ash Say Ukraine’s finances are now “beyond life support,” says economist Tim Ash as its foreign reserves plunged to $7.5 billion last month, less than half of what the International Monetary Fund considers critical to a country’s financial health. The […]

SACEUR: NATO Looking at Beefing Up Baltic Exercises

By Wiktor Szary, Reuters

NATO’s top military commander, General Philip Breedlove, said on Tuesday the defense alliance was looking at beefing up its exercises in the Baltic Sea region in response to a surge in Russian military maneuvers there late last year.