Articles by Al Jazeera

We found 953 results.


Defiant Spaniards Continue Protests
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service, 23 May 2011

Tens of thousands of protesters furious over soaring unemployment keep up their week-long movement on Election Day.

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New World in Middle East
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service, 23 May 2011

Robert Fisk speaks on the prospect of a Palestinian state after Binyamin Netanyahu’s comments during his US visit. Pres. Obama at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee-AIPAC conference on Sunday, 22 May 2011.

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Anonymous and the Arab Uprisings
Yasmine Ryan – Al Jazeera, 23 May 2011

The cyberactivists discuss their work and the broader global push for freedom of speech and freedom from oppression – Anonymous’s rapid rise from the depths of geekdom to becoming a catalyst and nerve centre for real-life revolutionaries is one that has taken even some of its own members by surprise. The loosely-knit hive brings anonymous techies, hackers and, increasingly, activists together under a single appellation, united in their non-violent but often illegal collective action.

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Iraq’s Abandoned Children (VIDEO OF THE WEEK)
Jane Arraf reports from Baghdad – Al Jazeera, 23 May 2011

Iraq is full of street kids; children with one or both parents killed, or some who have merely been abandoned. It has been estimated that there are now over a million orphans in the country. But there are just four small orphanages in the capital, Baghdad – none of them filled to capacity. The Iraqi government says that relatives would rather abandon children they are unable to take care of, than bear the shame of bringing them to an orphanage.

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Organ Trafficking: ‘Her Heart Was Missing’
Chris Arsenault – Al Jazeera, 23 May 2011

The stories are grim and often impossible to confirm: illicit clinics, corrupt doctors and global networks dealing in human flesh. International organ trafficking is a big business, with an estimated value of $50m in 2008. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimated in 2007 that organ trafficking accounts for between five and 10 per cent of kidney transplants performed annually across the globe.

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Dirty Money
Steve Levinson, financial journalist – Al Jazeera, 23 May 2011

There has been an economic undercurrent to the recent uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa. The lavish lifestyles enjoyed by dictators have fuelled widespread anger at the way national assets have been looted for the benefit of the few. Why does the international banking system make it so easy for corruption to flourish?

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Glencore: Profiteering From Hunger and Chaos
Chris Arsenault – Al Jazeera, 16 May 2011

The world’s largest commodities trader is issuing a stock sale, and critics say the firm causes spikes in food price.Valued at about $60 billion, Glencore controls 50 per cent of the global copper market, 60 per cent of zinc, 38 per cent in alumina, 28 per cent of thermal coal, 45 per cent of lead, almost 10 per cent of the world’s wheat and about one quarter of the world market in barley, sunflower and rape seed. The firm employs about 57,000 people, generated a turnover of $145 billion in the past year and has assets worth more than $79 billion. Based in Baar, Switzerland, where regulation is minimal, the company’s sprawling interests span Bolivian tin mines, Angolan oil, zinc producers in Kazakhstan, Zambian copper mines and Russian wheat operations.

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Global Capitalism and 21st Century Fascism
William I. Robinson – Al Jazeera, 16 May 2011

As unprecedented economic and environmental degradation continues, right-wing extremists are increasing their power, particularly in the US, according to a professor of global studies at the University of California.

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Al Jazeera: One Organisation, Two Messages
Teymoor Nabili – Al Jazeera, 9 May 2011

A few days ago, an article with the above headline appeared on the website of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Penned by David Pollock, the piece has been a metaphorical pebble in my shoe ever since. So here’s an attempt to add some clarity, by pointing out some of the inconsistencies in Pollock’s article.

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Barenboim Conducts Peace Concert in Gaza
Khadija Magardie – Al Jazeera, 9 May 2011

The Israeli conductor Daniel Barenboim has given his first concert inside Gaza. Barenboim is a lifelong activist for peace between Israelis and Palestinians. He entered the blockaded strip from Egypt, along with an orchestra of top European musicians.

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Palestinian Factions in Reconciliation Bid
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 May 2011

Fatah and Hamas agree to form interim government and fix general election date following talks in Cairo. With the US keeping a distance, Israel not delivering the goods on the peace process and the settlements, it was time for Palestinians to come together and agree on what they basically agreed on almost a year and a half ago. Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, said on Wednesday [27 Apr 2011] that “the Palestinian Authority must choose either peace with Israel or peace with Hamas. There is no possibility for peace with both.”

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The Middle East’s Oldest Dictatorship
Marwan Bishara – Al Jazeera, 2 May 2011

As the conventional wisdom goes – especially in the West – Israel is the “only democracy” in the Middle East. However, Israel has been anything but democratic for the indigenous people of the land, the Palestinian Arabs. By nature and precedence, foreign military occupation is temporary. Colonialism on the other hand, and more precisely civilian colonisation, is a socio-political system of ruling over another people.

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Israel Withholds Palestinian Cash Transfer
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service, 2 May 2011

Israel will hold up an $89 million cash transfer to the Palestinian Authority [PA] planned for this week because of a new unity deal between rival Palestinian factions. “Israel wants assurances that any money transferred to the Palestinians will not reach the militant Hamas organisation, which is set to become part of the Palestinian government,” Yuval Steinitz, the Israeli finance minister, said on Sunday [1 May 2011].

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Boxed In
Andrew Thomas – Al Jazeera, 2 May 2011

Now Australia’s Federal government is demanding cigarettes are sold in ‘plain packaging’. Regardless of brand, those elements of the box not covered by off-putting pictures will have to be olive green – research suggests that’s the colour least appealing to consumers. The name of the brand, and product name, will have to be in a uniform font, in tiny writing at the base of the box. For tobacco companies, this is a big deal. Worldwide, they already operate an ostracised industry.

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Bahrain: Below the Radar
Listening Post - Al Jazeera, 25 Apr 2011

Bahrain – a small kingdom cracking down on the media in a big way. Plus, a look at state media in post-revolution Egypt.

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BP Anniversary: Toxicity, Suffering and Death
Dahr Jamail – Al Jazeera, 25 Apr 2011

April 20, 2011 marks the one-year anniversary of BP’s catastrophic oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. At least 4.9 million barrels of BP’s oil would eventually be released into the Gulf of Mexico before the well was capped 87 days later. BP has used at least 1.9 million gallons of toxic dispersants to [try unsuccessfully to] sink the oil. Marine and wildlife biologists, toxicologists, and medical doctors have described the impact of the disaster upon the environment and human health as “catastrophic.” This is only the beginning of that what they expect to be an environmental and human health crisis that will likely span decades.

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News Media: Rupert Murdoch’s Watergate
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service, 25 Apr 2011

When a reporter with the British tabloid News of the World was jailed for illegally tapping into the phones of high profile names back in 2007, the newspaper insisted it was the work of a rogue reporter. But as more cases of phone hacking were brought to light and senior News of the World staff members implicated, the company finally conceded that the practice of phone tapping had been widely used within the organisation. It has since publicly apologised to all the victims and has reportedly put around $33mn into a compensation fund. Rupert Murdoch’s Watergate – the phone hacking scandal, the extent of the crime and the implications for News Corp.

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Rights Groups Slam Bahraini Crackdown
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service, 25 Apr 2011

“North American and European governments, so vocal recently in espousing the cause of human rights in Libya, Tunisia and Egypt, need also to speak out loudly about what is going on in Bahrain,” said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International’s director for the Middle East and North Africa. “To avoid the charge of double standards, they must be much more robust in pressing the Bahraini authorities to uphold their international human rights obligations.”

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Japan: Lives under Pressure
D. Parvaz – Al Jazeera, 18 Apr 2011

With its nuclear crisis deemed on par with Chernobyl, Japan is dealing with multiple emergencies.

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Hooked On Drugs, Medical World Needs Change
Kanya D'Almeida – Al Jazeera, 18 Apr 2011

Although resistant bacteria and viruses may be killed by innovative methods, the focus remains on pharmaceuticals.

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American Radical: The Trials of Norman Finkelstein
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service, 18 Apr 2011

American Radical is the probing, definitive documentary about Jewish-American political scientist Norman Finkelstein. A devoted son of holocaust survivors, an ardent critic of Israel and US Middle East policy, Finkelstein has been steadfast at the centre of many intractable controversies, including his denial of tenure at DePaul University. Called a lunatic and self-hating Jew by some and an inspirational street-fighting revolutionary by others, Finkelstein is a deeply polarising figure.

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Palestinian PM Hails UN ‘Birth Certificate’
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service, 18 Apr 2011

Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian prime minister, has said that a United Nations endorsement of his administration’s readiness to govern amounts to “a birth certificate” for Palestinian statehood. Fayyad’s comments on Wednesday [13 Apr 2011] came as diplomats and donors met in Brussels to discuss Palestinian state-building efforts and follow a UN report that assessed the Palestinian Authority as “sufficient for a functioning government of a state”.

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Brazil: Tensions Escalate Over Amazon Mega Dam
Benjamin Dangl – Al Jazeera, 18 Apr 2011

Indigenous communities say $10bn reservoir in Brazil’s largest rainforest will destroy their way of life.

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WikiLeaks: Great Power Rivalry at the UN
Nikolas Kozloff – Al Jazeera, 18 Apr 2011

The UN Security Council is in desperate need for reform, and Brazil is leading the charge – Few would argue that the United Nations Security Council, which has long been dominated by five powers including the United States, China, France, the United Kingdom and Russia, would not benefit from some degree of democratic reform. Indeed, it can hardly be said that the United Nations, which was originally set up in 1945, truly reflects a more diverse 21st century world.

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Fukushima: A ‘Nuclear Sacrifice Zone’
Dahr Jamail – Al Jazeera, 11 Apr 2011

Some experts believe Japan’s nuclear disaster could become worse than Chernobyl. Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant that was heavily damaged by the tsunami from the massive March 11 magnitude 9.0 earthquake continues to spread extremely high levels of radiation into the ocean, ground, and air.

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Jesse Ventura: Clandestine US Missions
Riz Khan – Al Jazeera, 11 Apr 2011

Has the US secretly started wars and assassinated leaders? We talk to Jesse Ventura, the former governor of the US state of Minnesota, about his controversial new book, ’63 Documents the Government Doesn’t Want You to Read’. In the book, Ventura has published dozens of previously classified US government papers that seem to suggest Washington may have secretly provoked the Vietnam War, lied to the American people about the actual threat of terrorism and experimented on its own soldiers.

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The Arab Uprisings: Intervention, Double Standards and the Affect on Democracy (VIDEO OF THE WEEK)
Riz Khan – Al Jazeera, 4 Apr 2011

Aired on Tue, March 29, 2011 – Panel with Prof. Johan Galtung, ex Israeli ambassador to the US Itamar Rabinovich, and foreign affairs analyst, author Mark Perry. Why are Western nations so keen to intervene in Libya and why are they not coming to the aid of other Arabs facing similar violence?

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‘I Cried When I Saw Them Marching’
Phil Cain – Al Jazeera, 4 Apr 2011

Roma residents of a Hungarian village describe the far-right vigilante group that has been patrolling their streets – For A Better Future, a paramilitary organisation deriving its name from a Nazi youth movement slogan, entered the village at the start of the month. It conducted foot and car patrols, followed Roma around and stopped them from entering shops. On March 10, the intimidation reached its peak when 1,000 black-uniformed neo-Nazis marched through the village, some reportedly armed with dogs, whips and chains.

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Cote d’Ivoire: The Forgotten War?
Azad Essa – Al Jazeera, 4 Apr 2011

It reads like a poorly conceived Hollywood film: A national election in some West African nation goes horribly wrong when the sitting president refuses to vacate his position despite losing at the polls. A bloody standoff between forces loyal to the two politicians ensues, catching hundreds in the crossfire and forcing thousands to flee. The incumbent is supported by the army, the internationally recognised new president by a troop of former rebels.

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Boycotting Israel … From Within
Mya Guarnieri – Al Jazeera, 4 Apr 2011

Israelis explain why they joined the Boycott Divestment Sanctions movement.

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Haiti’s Movement from Below Endures
Jeb Sprague – Al Jazeera, 4 Apr 2011

As twice ousted former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his family were escorted out from the airport tarmac in Port-au-Prince, loud chants of “Titid, Titid, Titid” rose from an ecstatic gathering that filled every space of a causeway leading out from the airport.

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Revolutions: What Went Wrong In The West?
Prof. Hayrettin Yucesoy – Al Jazeera, 4 Apr 2011

The fact that various components of the civil society staged the revolutions has been a matter of grief for some. Had “Islamic fundamentalism”, as a scholarly as well as media construct, played a major role in these revolutions, they would have affirmed the forecast, fit the existing paradigm, and therefore validated the traditional analyses. However, the paradigm utterly failed.

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Palestine Comes to Hollywood
Sandy Tolan – Al Jazeera, 28 Mar 2011

Despite its flaws, ‘Miral’ marks the first time anyone has tried to tell just a Palestinian story in Hollywood.

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Huge Payout over US Priests Sex-Scandals
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service, 28 Mar 2011

The Pacific Northwest chapter of the Roman Catholic Church’s Jesuit order has agreed to pay $166 million to settle more than 500 child sexual abuse claims against priests in five states, attorneys have said.

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Libya Intervention Threatens the Arab Spring
Phyllis Bennis – Al Jazeera, 28 Mar 2011

Ironically, one of the reasons many people supported the call for a no-fly zone was the fear that if Gaddafi managed to crush the Libyan people”s uprising and remain in power, it would send a devastating message to other Arab dictators: Use enough military force and you will keep your job. Instead, it turns out that just the opposite may be the result: It was after the UN passed its no-fly zone and use-of-force resolution, and just as US, British, French and other warplanes and warships launched their attacks against Libya, that other Arab regimes escalated their crack-down on their own democratic movements.

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Fresh Blast at Japan Nuclear Plant
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service, 14 Mar 2011

Mon 14 Mar 2011 – A second explosion rocked Japan’s stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power complex, sending a plume of smoke into the air and touching off fresh concerns of radioactive leak in the quake and tsunami-hit country. The International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] said on Monday the reactor has not been damaged. Tokyo Electric Power Co [TEPCO], the plant operator, in a press release said, it was believed to be a hydrogen explosion at the plant’s No.3 reactor and that 11 workers were injured.

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India ‘World’s Biggest Arms Buyer’
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service, 14 Mar 2011

India has overtaken China to become the world’s largest importer of weapons, according to a Swedish think-tank that monitors global arms sales. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute report said India was pushing ahead with plans to modernise its military in an effort to counter China’s influence and gain international clout.

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Livni’s Guidance on Arab Democracy
Robert Grenier – Al Jazeera, 14 Mar 2011

Tzipi Livni’s disingeuous calls for a “code” on all democracies.

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A Middle East without Borders?
Mohammed Khan - Al Jazeera, 7 Mar 2011

The modern geography of the Middle East was carved out by British and French colonialists whose sole interest was in sharing the spoils of war between themselves and in maintaining their supremacy over the region in the early part of the 20th century. The contours of the region, with its immaculately straight lines (see maps of Algeria, Libya, Egypt and Sudan) are much the same today as when they were first drawn up, despite decades of cross-border encroachment and conflict.

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History’s Shifting Sands
Mark LeVine – Al Jazeera, 7 Mar 2011

The revolutions sweeping the Arab world indicate a tectonic shift in the global balance of people power. For decades, even centuries, the peoples of the Arab world have been told by Europeans and, later, Americans that their societies were stagnant and backward. According to Lord Cromer, author of the 1908 pseudo-history Modern Egypt, their progress was “arrested” by the very fact of their being Muslim, by virtue of which their minds were as “strange” to that of a modern Western man “as would be the mind of an inhabitant of Saturn”.

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Brazil’s ‘Lessons’ For Arab Rebels
Chris Arsenault – Al Jazeera, 7 Mar 2011

Countries transitioning to democracy need to reduce economic inequality, says Brazil’s former foreign minister. During Brazil’s two decades of military dictatorship, it would have been unthinkable that a female former revolutionary would lead the country in the 21st century. And, while he refused to directly give advice to Egyptians, Bahrainis, Tunisians or Libyans, Brazil’s experiences appear to have some parallels with the developments underway in the region today.

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Democracy Is No Panacea
Lev Grinberg – Al Jazeera, 7 Mar 2011

It will be harder for the people of the Arab world to uproot a corrupt economic regime than to topple a dictator.

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The Project for a New Arab Century
Mohammed Khan – Al Jazeera, 28 Feb 2011

The birth pangs of a new Middle East are being felt, but not in the way many outsiders envisioned.

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The South African Scourge
Jonah Hull – Al Jazeera, 28 Feb 2011

Sexual attacks against lesbians, ostensibly to cure them of their ‘unAfrican’ predilection, are on the rise.

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Anonymous and the Global Correction
Anonymous – Al Jazeera, 21 Feb 2011

A loosely organised group of hackers has been targeting oppressive regimes and has said this is just the beginning.

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Climate: Putting People over Money
Dahr Jamail – Al Jazeera, 21 Feb 2011

Facing climate change, a social movement in El Salvador fights mass flooding and the toxic burning of cane fields. While debate about whether climate change is real or not continues in the US, the world’s leading producer of CO2 emissions per capita, those already living with the effects, like Jose Domingo Cruz in El Salvador, don’t have time to debate.

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Islamaphobia ‘on the rise’ in Australia
Andrew Thomas – Al Jazeera, 21 Feb 2011

Australia often bills itself as a multicultural country – but the relationship between new and old residents is not always a smooth one. Al Jazeera’s Andrew Thomas takes a look at how the latest immigration debate is affecting the country’s Muslim community.

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US Vetoes UN Draft on Settlements
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service, 21 Feb 2011

The US has vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have condemned Israeli settlements as “illegal” and called for an immediate halt to all settlement building. All 14 other Security Council members voted in favour of the resolution, which was backed by the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), on Friday [18 Feb 2011].

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Mexican Media’s Balancing Act
John Holman – Al Jazeera, 21 Feb 2011

Experts say the Mexican press walk a fine line between censoring their reporting and balancing their revenues.

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Lies That Launched a War
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service, 21 Feb 2011

The 2003 invasion of Iraq was sanctioned largely because of claims the country had weapons of mass destruction. The source of some of the alleged intelligence behind the claims was an Iraqi defector living in Germany, someone who has now admitted the evidence he submitted was false.

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UK Firms Blamed for Food Price Hike
Laurence Lee – Al Jazeera, 21 Feb 2011

Banks and hedge funds in London are coming under increasing scrutiny over their practice of speculating on food prices. The allegation is that financial institutions are buying up vast stocks of food, thereby forcing prices to rise. This comes as food costs are increasing the world over.

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US Economics: One Big Ponzi Scheme
Danny Schechter – Al Jazeera, 21 Feb 2011

While Bernie Madoff languishes in jail, bankers continue to profit as the poor lose their homes and hope. What is clear is that ripping off the rich is punished far more severely than ripping off the poor.

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Haiti Issues Passport for Aristide
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service, 14 Feb 2011

Move paves the way for the ousted president to return from exile ahead of a March 20 presidential runoff election.

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FAQ: The Palestine Papers
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service, 7 Feb 2011

What are these papers? Why are they in English? We answer the most common questions.

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A Tale of Two Protests
Mohammed Khan – Al Jazeera, 7 Feb 2011

The subdued US reaction to events in Egypt sits in sharp contrast to its previous support for Iranian protesters. Cast your minds back to June 2009 and the aftermath of Iran’s disputed presidential elections. Months of unrest following the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and severe crackdowns meted out by the state security apparatus captured the airwaves not only in the Middle East but across the globe.

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Haiti Allows Ex-President’s Return
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service, 7 Feb 2011

Haiti’s government has said it was ready to issue a new passport to Jean-Bertrand Aristide, former president, to would allow him to return to his country after almost seven years in exile in South Africa. “The government will give assurances that as soon as it receives such a request, it will be swiftly granted,” the information ministry said in a statement on Monday [31 Jan 2011].

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Misunderstanding Israeli Motives
Alistair Crooke – Al Jazeera, 31 Jan 2011

Why is there no Palestinian state? Because the Israeli government’s objective is not a Jewish state, but a Zionist one.

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Palestine Papers Stir Global Reaction
Laila Al-Arian – Al Jazeera, 31 Jan 2011

Al Jazeera’s release on Sunday [23 Jan 2011] of the Palestine Papers, a trove of documents related to Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, has led to reaction throughout the world.

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Vatican Abuse Cover-Up Bid Revealed
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service, 24 Jan 2011

Irish broadcaster RTE have uncovered a 1997 letter from the Vatican discouraging Ireland’s Catholic bishops from reporting on all suspected child-abuse cases to police. The letter, revealed on Wednesday [19 Jan 2011], documents the church’s emphasis to handle in-house all child-abuse allegations and determine punishments instead of delegating that responsibility over to civil authorities.

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US Should Recognise Palestine
MJ Rosenberg – Al Jazeera, 24 Jan 2011

If the US is serious about peace, it should follow the current trend and recognise Palestinian statehood in 2011.

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CIA-Trained ‘Terrorist’ in US Court
Chris Arsenault – Al Jazeera, 24 Jan 2011

Accused of killing 73 in an airline bombing, Luis Posada Carriles charged with immigration violations, not terrorism.

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Guyana Recognises Palestinian State
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service, 17 Jan 2011

Guyana is latest Latin American country to state a commitment to the “legitimate aspirations” of Palestinians.

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An Insider’s Critique of What Went Wrong in Haiti
Gabriel Elizondo – Al Jazeera, 17 Jan 2011

You will be hard pressed to find a man anywhere more passionate about the plight of the Haitian people than Ricardo Seitenfus. The Brazilian professor of international affairs first went to Haiti in 1993 and the warmth of the Haitian people – combined with their immense struggle – has been drawing Seitenfus back to the island nation like a magnet ever since his first trip. Seitenfus has authored a book about the country, as well over a dozen other publications about international affairs. Seitenfus feels so connected to Haiti, he often doesn’t even realise he refers to the country as “we,” not as “they” or “it.”

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Illnesses Linked to BP Oil Disaster
Dahr Jamail – Al Jazeera, 10 Jan 2011

Doctor attributes widespread sickness to toxic chemicals from the Gulf of Mexico catastrophe.

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One on One – Johan Galtung
Riz Khan – Al Jazeera, 10 Jan 2011

Johan Galtung, considered the father of peace studies, discusses why he dedicated his life to waging peace in the world.

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Hopes of Gaza Cast in Lead
Richard Falk – Al Jazeera, 10 Jan 2011

Israel is gearing up for another major offensive into Gaza, yet the world community still remains bafflingly silent. The influential Israeli journalist, Ron Ren-Yishai, writes on December 29, 2010, of the likely prospect of a new major IDF attack, quoting senior Israeli military officers as saying “It’s not a question of if, but rather of when,” a view that that is shared, according to Ren-Yishai, by “government ministers, Knesset members and municipal heads in the Gaza region”.

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Palestine: Recognising the State
John V. Whitbeck – Al Jazeera, 3 Jan 2011

International lawyer and author analyses the quality as well quantity of the states that recognise Palestine.

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Drug Gang ‘Threatens Guatemala War’
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service, 3 Jan 2011

Group claiming to belong to Zetas cartel issues warning on radio broadcasts after Guatemalan forces launch crackdown.

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Zapatistas: The War with no Breath?
Chris Arsenault – Al Jazeera, 3 Jan 2011

The poverty-stricken people of Chiapas are still marginalised and experiencing great hardship, 17 years after rebellion.

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Israel’s Unequal Policy Slammed
Nour Odeh - Al Jazeera, 27 Dec 2010

A new report by Human Rights Watch has slammed Israel’s treatment of Palestinian communities in the West Bank. It says Israel is using a two-tier system to promote illegal settlements, while deliberately stifling Palestinian development.

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Hollywood and the War Machine
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service, 27 Dec 2010

Empire examines the symbiotic relationship between the movie industry and the military-industrial complex.

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The Palestinian ‘Legitimacy War’
Prof. Richard Falk – Al Jazeera, 27 Dec 2010

These ideas [Nuremberg Principles] underlie the recent prosecution of geopolitical pariahs such as Saddam Hussein or Slobodan Milosevic, and several African tyrannical figures. But when it comes to the lead political actors, as understood by the American-led hegemonic hierarchy, the leadership of the rest of the world enjoys impunity, in effect, an exemption from accountability to international criminal law.

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Don’t Go, Don’t Kill!
Cindy Sheehan – Al Jazeera, 27 Dec 2010

The recent repeal of the US military policy of “Don’t ask, don’t tell” is far from being the human rights advancement some are touting it to be. I find it intellectually dishonest, in fact, illogical on any level to associate human rights with any military, let alone one that is currently dehumanising two populations as well as numerous other victims of it’s clandestine “security” policies.

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The Delusions of the Peace Process
Richard Falk – Al Jazeera, 20 Dec 2010

In effect, a habitual armed robber was being asked to stop robbing a few banks for three months in exchange for a huge financial payoff. Such an arrangement qualifies as a transparently shameless embrace of Israeli lawlessness on behalf of a peace process that has no prospect of producing peace, much less justice.

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US House Passes Anti-Palestine Bill
MJ Rosenberg – Al Jazeera, 20 Dec 2010

Congressman Howard Berman (D-CA), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, rushed to the House floor with a resolution drafted by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee [AIPAC] condemning the Palestinians for publicly suggesting that, in the wake of Netanyahu’s refusal to freeze settlements and negotiate, they will consider a unilateral declaration of statehood. Congress passed the Berman bill, drafted only this week, on Wednesday [15 Dec 2010]. When it comes to pleasing AIPAC, there are simply no limits.

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Rabbis Say ‘No Housing for Arabs’
Mya Guarnieri – Al Jazeera, 13 Dec 2010

Hundreds of Israeli rabbis have signed a religious edict forbidding Jews from renting or selling homes to Arabs.

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Israel’s Unwanted Citizens
Sherine Tadros – Al Jazeera, 13 Dec 2010

Palestinian citizens of Israel are complaining about a string of policies, which they say are designed to drive them out of Israel. First, a bill requiring them to pledge allegiance to a Jewish state was passed by the Israeli cabinet. Now the Knesset is debating whether to stop Arab Israelis from living in cities where there’s a Jewish majority. So who are Palestinian-Israelis and how did they become citizens of a state that doesn’t want them?

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The Secret Wall Street Bailout
Danny Schechter – Al Jazeera, 13 Dec 2010

The US doled out $12.3 trillion dollars to finance bailouts, a figure far higher than what was previously stated. Go, Wall Street, Go!

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Farewell to Greece
Barnaby Phillips – Al Jazeera, 6 Dec 2010

The IMF and European Central Bank were giving their verdict on the Greek economy, and the press conference was packed. A colleague from the local media put up her hand, and started to ask her question, in Greek. The IMF official looked at her blankly; “please, speak in English,” he interrupted. My colleague replied, in Greek: “We are in Greece, so I will speak Greek”. “I’m sorry, we can’t understand you,” said the IMF official, and asked for another question. It was a telling moment. Yes, it was insensitive of the IMF and the ECB not to have provided any translation for an important press conference, largely attended by Greek journalists. But there’s also a subtext. By taking the IMF and European money, Greece has lost part of its sovereignty. Unwittingly, the officials at the press conference had reinforced that point. It was as if they had said “you messed up your economy, and now you need our money, so we make the rules, and we don’t need to speak your language”.

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Brazil Recognises Palestine
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service, 6 Dec 2010

Israel expresses disappointment over Brazil’s decision to recognise a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders.

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Let Israel Keep Its Freeze
Lamis Andoni – Al Jazeera, 29 Nov 2010

The freeze being negotiated between the US and Israel is ultimately designed to legitimise illegal Jewish settlements.

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Slavoj Zizek – Are We Living in the End Times?
Riz Khan – Al Jazeera, 29 Nov 2010

Is the world ignoring the signs of the so-called “end times”? Renowned philosopher and critic, Slavoj Zizek, explains what he thinks is causing the downhill slide, and points to the faltering economy, global warming and deteriorating ethnic relations as evidence.

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Axis of Evil Redux
Teymoor Nabili – Al Jazeera, 29 Nov 2010

Another day, another top-level conference to analyse the “Iran threat”, and once again the experts’ conclusion is sharply at variance with the State Department’s preferred narrative.

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The Tribulations of the Tuareg
Jeremy Keenan – Al Jazeera, 29 Nov 2010

In fact, the reality of the GWOT in the Sahara-Sahel has not been about fighting ‘terrorists’, but about how the local governments, linked into the GWOT through Washington’s Pan Sahel (PSI) and Trans-Sahara Counter-terrorism initiatives of 2004 and 2005 respectively, have been provoking the Tuareg into taking up arms so that they might be categorised as ‘terrorists’ or, as one US state department analyst argued rather quaintly in the context of the assumed link between terrorism and trafficking, ‘putative terrorists’. What the Tuareg have had to endure in the so-called GWOT is both shocking and shameful.

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[MUST WATCH] NATO: Going Global
Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service, 29 Nov 2010

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation is the largest military force ever assembled, with a potential armed force of more than seven million. But as its original enemies, communism and the Soviet Union, were defeated two decades ago, what is the alliance’s new identity or new role?

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AIPAC: Fighting for Survival
MJ Rosenberg – Al Jazeera, 22 Nov 2010

The latest Aipac (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) scandal has not found its way into the mainstream media, although the Jewish media has done a great job in highlighting this very explosive story. (LATE UPDATE: The Washington Post is now reporting on the story.) The good news is that it does not much matter whether the New York Times runs the story or not. The Rosen vs. Aipac case is grinding its way through the courts and could well destroy the lobby without ever making its way on to the front page. Aipac is under siege, and is spending millions to stay alive. But that will not be easy – even if Steve Rosen ultimately accepts a payoff from the organisation and refrains from telling what he knows.

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Haitian Anger over Cholera Response
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service, 15 Nov 2010

Haitians accuse government, the UN and aid workers of failing to protect them as water-borne disease claims 700 lives.

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George Galloway on the Iraq War: Success or Blunder?
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service, 1 Nov 2010

Was toppling Saddam Hussein’s regime worth the enormous cost paid by millions of Iraqis? And where do Iraqis go to seek justice and compensation for this illegal war waged by Bush and Blair?

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Settler Drives into Palestinian Boys
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service, 11 Oct 2010

Director of settler organisation hits two children after they hurled stones at his vehicle in East Jerusalem.

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UN Warns of Global Refugee Crisis
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service, 11 Oct 2010

Refugees from never-ending conflict in Afghanistan and Somalia face systematic stigmatisation, says UNHCR chief.

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Report: Haiti Recovery ‘Paralysed’
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service, 11 Oct 2010

Refugees International says agencies co-ordinating Haitian relief efforts are “dysfunctional” and “inexperienced”. More than a million Haitians remain in squalid “emergency phase” camps, nearly nine months after January’s earthquake, and security is still a major problem, a new report says. The findings from US-based advocacy group Refugees International said that more than 70 per cent of refugee camps in Haiti face daily threats of violence and intimidation.

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Afghanistan: Does Anyone in the US Still Care?
Josh Rushing – Al Jazeera, 11 Oct 2010

The invasion of Afghanistan’s ninth anniversary passed in DC this week with hardly a notice.

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Celebrities Cultural Boycotting Israel
Sherine Tadros – Al Jazeera, 4 Oct 2010

The issue of Israeli settlements has captured attention far beyond the arena of international politics. Several celebrities have now thrown their weight behind what is being termed a “cultural boycott” against further building on Palestinian land.

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South Africa School Rethinks Israel Ties
Azad Essa – Al Jazeera, 4 Oct 2010

University of Johannesburg threatens to sever ties with Israeli Ben-Gurion University if certain conditions are not met.

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FBI Targets US Palestine Activists
Chris Arsenault – Al Jazeera, 4 Oct 2010

Searches, subpoenas, but no charges for anti-war activists ‘providing support to terrorists’ in Colombia and Palestine.

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‘Israel Flotilla Raid Was Unlawful’
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service, 27 Sep 2010

UN Gaza aid probe says the raid of Israeli forces on flotilla was in violation of international law.

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Ahmadinejad and the 9/11 Attacks
Al Jazeera – TRANSCEND Media Service, 27 Sep 2010

Surveys show large segments of the world population agree with the Iranian leader’s “US government involvement” claims.

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Countdown to Sudan’s Referendum
Lazaro Sumbeiywo and John Danforth – Al Jazeera, 20 Sep 2010

With four months to go until a referendum on self-determination, Africa’s largest country is at an historic crossroads.

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Is Mozambique an African Success Story?
Barnaby Phillips in Africa – Al Jazeera, 20 Sep 2010

Just how much of an African success story is Mozambique?

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…Meanwhile, over in Ghana
Mark LeVine – Al Jazeera, 13 Sep 2010

Ghana maybe championed for its political stability, but life for the average Ghanaian is defined by crippling poverty.

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