Monthly Archives: April 2013

Will Hezbollah force Obama’s hand in Syria?

April 30, 2024 by Matt Taylor in Middle East.

A man listens to Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah speaking on television at a coffee shop in Beirut, April 30, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

Shiite group’s promise to aggressively aid the Assad regime if it starts to collapse adds another wrinkle to the calculus for the United States and allies.

Is Letta’s grand coalition doomed in Italy?

April 30, 2024 by Matt Taylor in Europe.

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta talk while standing outside on a balcony at the Chancellery in Berlin, April 30, 2013, in this picture provided by BPA. REUTERS/Jesco Denzel/BPA/Handout

The new prime minister is attempting a delicate tightrope, hugging the European Union while leading the trend away from pure austerity.

Ben Ali receives new life sentence, safe in Saudi Arabia

April 30, 2024 by Lara Vergnaud in Africa.

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A Tunisian employee of the Prime ministry removes a portrait of former Tunisian president Ben Ali to on January 17, 2011.

Alas, like many of his top cronies and family members, Ben Ali is well out of reach of Tunisia’s judiciary.

French Socialists’ anti-Merkel passions leak

April 29, 2024 by Matt Taylor in Europe.

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel addresses guests at the Family Business Day in Berlin, Germany on April 26, 2013.

Hollande’s mushiness on the central question permeating European politics has fed a growing body of dissenters in his own Socialist Party.

Zuma’s overdone Mandela visit

April 29, 2024 by Lora Moftah in Africa.

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South African President Jacob Zuma, centre left, sits with the ailing anti-apartheid icon Nelson Madela, centre right, on Monday April 29, 2013. (AP Photo/SABC TV)

The awkwardly staged encounter appeared to be less of a bedside visit than a photo opportunity for Zuma and his ruling party.

Stigma and alienation risks for Chechen diaspora

April 27, 2024 by Mark Galeotti in Asia-Pacific, U.S..

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Muslim men arrive for prayers in the central Mosque in the Chechen capital Grozny April 26, 2013. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

After the Boston Marathon bombings, this marginalized minority group could be further radicalized by the ongoing media frenzy.

Putin condemns French gay marriage act

April 26, 2024 by Lara Vergnaud in Europe.

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People celebrate in front of the Paris City Hall on April 23, 2013, hours after the French National Assembly adopted a bill legalizing same-sex marriages and adoptions for gay couples, defying months of opposition protests.

Given that Putin’s won approval at home for his administration’s anti-gay policies, this should surprise no-one.

Iraqi Sunnis mimic their Syrian neighbors

April 26, 2024 by Matt Taylor in Middle East.

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U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry meets with Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on March 24, 2024 in Baghdad. (Photo by Jason Reed - Pool/Getty Images)

Will Nouri al-Maliki go too far in efforts to contain the violent Sunni insurgency?

Turkish Kurds to withdraw, but peace still at risk

April 25, 2024 by Lara Vergnaud in Europe.

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Pro-Kurdish politicians Sirri Sureyya Onder (L) and Pelvin Buldan (R) read jailed Kurdish rebel chief Abdullah Ocalan's message on March 21, 2013, in the southern Turkish city of Diyarbakir.

While the withdrawal is already being lauded as the “beginning of the end” of a bloody three-decade-old insurgency by many observers, the reality is more complicated.