Car bombs 'target Israel envoys' in India and Georgia

Bombers have targeted staff at Israeli embassies in India and Georgia, officials say, with Israel accusing Iran of masterminding the attacks. Witnesses said a motorcyclist placed a device on an embassy car in Delhi, causing a blast that hurt four people - one seriously. A bomb underneath a diplomat's car in Tbilisi was defused. Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran was behind...

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Mossad chief travelled to Washington to gauge US reaction to Iran strike

The head of the Mossad, Tamir Pardo, made a secret trip to Washington earlier this month to gauge the likely US reaction to an independent Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear facilities. The highly sensitive content of Mr Pardo's discussion with his American counterparts has been revealed in a Newsweek article entitled 'Obama's Dangerous Game With Iran'. Unnamed US officials claim the...

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The Washington Post: Threats of war cloud hopes for Middle East

Fears of an as-yet-undefined Middle Eastern war are darkening the horizons of a Middle East that only a year ago was celebrating the fall of dictators, the ascent of people power and the promise of a new era of democracy. Iranian threats to mine the Strait of Hormuz raise the specter of conflict between the United States and Iran in the Persian Gulf. Warnings from Israel...

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Independent: Aleppo bears the brunt in another day of carnage and defiance

At least 28 people were killed when two explosions ripped through state security buildings in Aleppo yesterday, widening Syria's conflict to a regime stronghold which has so far escaped major unrest. One of the blasts tore through a street outside the city's Military Intelligence Directorate. Footage broadcast by state television showed rubble strewn over the road and five corpses lying...

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Telegraph: Protests planned for anniversary of Mubarak's downfall

Strikes and demonstrations are planned to protest against the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, a committee of generals which took over the reins of power when Mr Mubarak was forced to resign on 11 Feb last year. Chaired by Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi - an old ally of the former president - the council has been accused of being as repressive as the regime it replaced. Hundreds...

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Guardian: Egypt's politicians are still under the spell of the military

The protests over Egypt's recent football tragedy are symptomatic of daily life in the ongoing Egyptian revolution. Even now, hardly a month, week or day goes by without someone else losing their life for freedom, or being wounded in the struggle. In essence the revolution is a struggle for legitimacy between the Egyptian parliament, the army and the establishment, and the people in Tahrir S...

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FINANCIAL TIMES : Raucous start for Egypt first free parliament

  Egypt’s first freely elected parliament got off to a raucous start at its inaugural session in Cairo on Monday, held just two days ahead of the anniversary of the January 25 revolution which toppled Hosni Mubarak, the former leader.         The previous parliament did little more than rubber stamp legislation presented by Mr Mubarak’s ministers. The...

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