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Syria has begun implementing Annan peace plan, Russia says

Russia has a keen interest in seeing Kofi Annan's plan succeed, given Moscow's role as Bashar al-Assad's key ally

Worldview

Is Washington undermining Israel’s campaign against Iran?

Did the U.S. leak news of a secret Israeli-Azerbaijan pact to derail Israel’s plan?

Accused in Rwandan genocide demands trial in French

Léon Mugesera, deported to Rwanda from Canada in January, delivered incendiary speech against Tutsi 20 years ago

Egypt's Coptic Christians quit Islamist-dominated constitution drafting panel

The move fed growing fears that Islamists and the military will end up controlling the most important governmental bodies in post-revolutionary Egypt

Annan secures a Syrian 'ceasefire' – but will it be enough?

As peace envoy Kofi Annan secures a 'ceasefire' commitment, a separate decision to pay rebel fighters and provide communications assistance has many talking about a proxy war in Syria - in which outside countries help rebels against the al-Assad regime.

Palestinian family loses court fight for landmark site in East Jerusalem

The Husseini family said the Shepherd Hotel is a symbol of the Palestinian rights to their land and to East Jerusalem, and criticized the Supreme Court ruling

Russia urges al-Assad to begin withdrawing troops from Syria's cities

Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said Monday on a visit to Armenia that Syria's opposition forces should quickly follow suit by withdrawing too

Kenya rangers kill nine suspected elephant poachers

Kenya Wildlife Service blames China’s growing footprint in Africa for a recent surge in elephant deaths

Israel’s Kadima party elects new leader as Shaul Mofaz triumphs over Tzippi Livni

More than 62 per cent of the party members who voted cast ballots for Mofaz, booting Livni from power just three years after she led the party to largest number of seats in parliament

Shaul Mofaz triumphant in race to lead Israel's Kadima party

Former defence chief who oversaw assassination of Palestinian leaders takes the lead in preliminary results

Fewer countries use capital punishment, but executions increased: Amnesty International

Amnesty International’s report on capital punishment in 2011 show a more polarized world where fewer countries are killing, but those who did carried out more executions

Egypt's Brotherhood considering presidential run

The Islamist group's political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party, said on its website that 110 members of the Brotherhood's senior legislative council were meeting Tuesday to decide on fielding a presidential candidate

Worldview

In Jordan, Syrian refugees find a home away from home

Jordanians are opening up their homes and authorities are secretly building a camp to house several thousand refugees

Israel to bar UN fact-finding team from entering country for settlements investigation

The United Nations Human Rights Council is accused of having a pronounced anti-Israel bias

DOUG SAUNDERS

France's Jews trapped between neighbours and politics

To history’s long gallery of horrific images, we can add that of a helmeted man chasing a terrified seven-year-old girl in Toulouse

New Jersey school bans hugging

Announcement comes after some ‘incidents of unsuitable, physical interactions’

MICHAEL BELL

An Iraq ruled by one – or none

What clearer indictment of the neo-cons than Nouri al-Maliki’s autocracy, where the only law is the law of unintended consequences

Lawyer describes ‘emotional’ chat with U.S. soldier accused in Afghan massacre

Lawyer John Henry Browne met with Staff Sgt. Robert Bales and spent three-and-a-half hours with him Monday at the military prison Fort Leavenworth

Now identified, Afghan massacre suspect arrives at Kansas base

Soldier expected to face charges under military rules; post-traumatic stress could feature in his defence.

Mideast

Gaza – where rockets rain down amid cheers

Missile launches elicit expressions of glee from both Palestinians and Israelis, despite an awareness they trigger inevitable retaliation

Targeting anti-Taliban politician, bomb kills 15 in northwest Pakistan

The politician, Khush Dil Khan, escaped unhurt in the blast on the outskirts of Peshawar, the main city in the northwest

U.S. soldier accused of shooting 16 Afghans likely acted alone: official

A U.S. service member accused of carrying out the shootings has been detained at a NATO base

Israeli airstrike kills militant commander in Gaza

Commander was part of militant group behind the abduction of Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit

crisis in syria

Video of deputy minister’s defection boosts cause of Syrian rebels

Little-known official’s announcement has a big impact as footage travels the world, calling Assad regime a ‘sinking ship’

CLIFFORD ORWIN

Is Obama trying to leave Israel no choice?

Netanyahu's government faces an agonizing dilemma: Strike now, or rely on Washington later

World powers agree Iran nuclear talks can go on

Iran also gave permission for inspectors to visit a site suspected of secret atomic work

At White House summit, Iran clouds peacemaking with Palestinians

As Benjamin Netanyahu and Barack Obama meet, there is a disconnect between what one sees as an existential threat and the other regards as a serious but manageable foreign-policy problem

Yemen suffers heavy losses in al-Qaeda sneak attack

Militants’ strike on military base leaves more than 100 soldiers dead as political unrest in the Arab country emboldens radical Islam

China calls for ceasefire to end Syria crisis

Beijing rejects intervention by outside forces, but puts forward compromise that would mean UN-mediated negotiations and humanitarian aid

Harper, Netanyahu stand side-by-side, but apart

PM careful to cool his own past heated rhetoric on Iran despite Israeli leader’s loud sabre rattling in lead-up to his Washington stop next week

TIMOTHY GARTON ASH

Far from the Tahrir dream

A year later, the military-dominated security state is trying to roll back Egypt’s revolution, and the West can only hope for a pragmatic Islamist government

Israeli PM

In Ottawa visit, Netanyahu will seek backing for strike on Iran

Request for support will force Prime Minister Stephen Harper to navigate a path between his allies in Israel and Washington

UN’s new Syria envoy says Assad must stop killing

Former UN chief Kofi Annan to visit Mideast very soon to seek peaceful end to 11-month conflict

Egypt lifts travel ban against Americans facing charges

Americans charged with inciting protests against military leaders must post bail before leaving country

Man arrested in Cairo says he was misidentified as al-Qaeda leader

Mohammed Ibrahim Makkawi tells reporters he is not the senior al-Qaeda leader known as Saif al-Adel, says he’s had nothing to do with the terror group since 1989

Demolition begins at Pakistan compound where Osama bin Laden spent his final days

Under powerful floodlights and surrounded by rings of soldiers and police, heavy machines have begun to demolish the three-story compound in northwestern Pakistan

Death of U.S. military advisers in Kabul sows doubt over Afghan allies

Obama praises Karzai for seeking to restore calm as Pentagon urges decisive action to curb extremism in Afghanistan

Syria

Diplomats torn over support for fractured Syrian opposition

Syrian regime overwhelms rebel positions, leaving international community stalled on best move forward

Iran rapidly expanding nuclear work, UN agency says

The confidential IAEA report outlines concerns about how quickly the Islamic republic could produce an atomic bomb

JOHN MUNDY

Tone down the rhetoric on Iran

Tehran’s leaders are neither irrational nor suicidal – Canada’s role is diplomatic, not confrontational

In a challenge to Israel, Hamas endorses Palestinian unity government

Reconciliation with Fatah follows the adoption of a more moderate stance and raises the stakes in any future peace process

LEWIS MacKENZIE

The road to Damascus goes through Moscow

The Western proclivity for anointing good and bad sides has been hasty as usual – instead of rattling sabres and sending toothless observer missions, we should be enlisting the Kremlin

Iran says it will pre-emptively strike anyone who threatens it

Statement by general continues defiant tone Tehran has taken in its confrontation with West over its nuclear program

Palestinian held by Israel ends 66-day hunger strike

Palestinians claim symbolic victory over detention

Sixteen killed in Iraqi police academy blast, say officials

Twenty-six people wounded in mid-day explosion

Egypt permits Iranian ships to sail through Suez

Move likely to be keenly watched by Israel

Worldview

Q&A: What happens next for the Saudi blogger awaiting trial over Prophet Mohammed tweets?

A young Saudi blogger awaits trial and possible execution for his tweets about Prophet Mohammed. A human rights monitor tells us about the looming ‘witch hunt’ against the blogger’s friends, the lawyer who will defend the blogger, and the precedent that could give Hamza Kashgari hope.

Religious conflict

Assad’s fellow Alawites in Turkey pose threat of counter-uprising

Islamic sect fears persecution from Muslim Brotherhood if Sunni-led rebellion assumes control of Syria

International relations

China shifts from spectator to player in Mideast

Beijing signals desire to wield greater influence in global issues by engaging Western pariahs Iran, Syria

RAMI KHOURI

Is Bashar al-Assad listening?

A diplomatic offensive indicates that politics, rather than fighting on the ground, will determine the outcome of what’s a low-intensity civil war

Israel and Iran: At war in the shadows

A series of what appear to be tit-for-tat attacks suggests that Middle East antagonists Iran and Israel are targeting each other’s scientists and diplomats for assassination

Then and now

Syria today and Russia in 1917: two teetering dictatorships

Not long ago, London-born Asma al-Assad was gushingly profiled in Vogue. Today, she's the female face of one of the world's most reviled regimes.Elizabeth Renzetti looks at the Syrian first lady and her husband and recalls another ill-starred couple – the last rulers of the Russian Empire

Worldview

Saudi blogger flees after death threats over Prophet Mohammed tweets: ‘I’m afraid’

A little-known Saudi blogger who caused a social media storm over his three Tweets about the Prophet Mohammed has been detained in Malaysia after death threats forced him to flee the Saudi kingdom.

As atrocities mount in Syria, international community struggles to choose course of action

Now that Russia and China have vetoed the UN Security Council resolution on Syria, Western nations have limited number of options – and all of them carry great risks

Qatar orchestrates creation of unity government in Palestine

An agreement between Fatah and Hamas that unites Palestinian factions that have fought each other for years has turned the Arab-Israeli peace process on its ear

MICHAEL BELL

After Assad's fall, a sectarian struggle

Tehran, reliant on a sympathetic Damascus in its pursuit of a Shia-dominated crescent, would be a major loser. And that's just the start of the chaos

Worldview

Was Egypt’s soccer tragedy political ‘payback’ for a group that crossed the military?

Egyptian soccer fanatics turned political actors. Who exactly are the ‘Ultras’ and why do they blame the military for the this week’s soccer tragedy?

On the Middle East, Canadians give Baird room to play his hand

Forty-eight per cent of the population supports the Harper government’s pro-Israel policy, a poll finds, countering the notion that neutrality is what Canadians want

If Israel is an ally, press them for peace, Abbas urges Canada

Put close ties to Israel to good use, Palestinian president tells John Baird and Jim Flaherty as ministers meet for talks in Ramallah

Canadian ministers take firm line with Palestinians

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird and Finance Minister Jim Flaherty urge resumption of peace talks ‘without preconditions’ and insist on the acceptance of Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people

MIDEAST

Arab League’s new plan for Syria rejected

Both Assad regime and opposition balk at proposal to end conflict

LYSIANE GAGNON

Christian canaries in an Arab coal mine

We’ll have a clearer view of what’s in store for Egypt when the elections are finished. But what’s certain is that the horizon is darker than ever for the Coptic minority

Arab League ponders what will replace Syrian President’s crumbling regime

Bashar al-Assad’s leadership is finished, but Syrians and political observers not sure what will come next

Sports another loss for Iran women’s rights

Iranian filmmaker looks at women’s rugby team during President Mahmoud Amadinejad’s regime

BURNEY and HAMPSON

The last thing we need is another foreign policy review

Stop the navel-gazing. Ultimately, the effect of our role in the world will be determined more by what we do than what we say we should do

Hamas leader to step down just as his relative moderation most needed

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal is stepping down just as his relative moderation is most needed

SNC-Lavalin developed close relationship with Gadhafi son: documents

Montreal engineering giant offered advice from top Canadian military brass and planned joint civil and military projects late into the regime’s final years

POWERFUL ALLY

Russia stands shoulder-to-shoulder with besieged Syrian leader

Bashar al-Assad’s regime receives munitions and verbal support in stand off with the West

Tensions between U.S., Iran rise with killing of another Iranian nuclear scientist

U.S. denies involvement in action seen as effort to thwart country’s nuclear aspirations

SYRIA

Split anti-Assad forces struggle to form co-ordinated opposition

Rebels driven into hiding on suspicion rogue elements are behind increased violence in Damascus

Gerald Caplan

It’s already a happy new year for religious extremists

The Harper government’s marquee Office of Religious Freedoms will have to hit the ground running

Accused Rwandan war criminal set for deportation

Two rulings by international tribunals have paved the way for Rwandan to be sent home to face charges

Social media

Twitter and the #Taliban

In the long term, openness, not censorship, in social media may be the greater weapon against terrorism

PETER JONES

Middle East, 2012: You read it here first

Pin these on your wall and watch to see how events compare

Africa

In Swaziland, a King tries the patience of his people

Accustomed to unquestioning obedience, Mswati III faces unprecedented protests as his subjects reject the excesses of his autocratic rule

With Taliban ‘embassy,’ Qatar again punches above its weight

Known for wielding influence beyond its size, the Gulf state pulls off another diplomatic coup with a liaison office that could help end the decade-long war in Afghanistan

Egyptian court rules ‘virginity tests’ on protesters are illegal

Activists said the verdict was a victory for civilian courts over generals who took charge when Hosni Mubarak was ousted from power by a popular revolt in February.

Arab Spring

Yemen leader calls for truce after troops kill anti-Saleh protesters

Many upset that opposition parties have agreed to a deal that gives President Ali Abdullah Saleh immunity for stepping down

Harassment of young girl deepens Israel’s debate on ultra-Orthodox Jews

Intra-Jewish friction in Beit Shemesh causes Netanyahu to denounce zealotry

Gerald Caplan

A book that should change Harper’s foreign policy

The moving tale of a Palestinian doctor whose daughters were killed by an Israeli rocket strike ought to be required reading

Mideast Conflict

Violence is no longer ‘primary option’ for Hamas

Declaration met with skepticism in Israel, seen as move toward reconciliation by Fatah

Hitchens cleared space for real debate

Discovering the master essayist carried the sort of thrill early explorers must have felt when they found uncharted continents

Israeli Prime Minister vows to stop settler assaults on army

Extremist leader calls on soldiers to sabotage equipment and prevent evacuations of settlements

SHIRA HERZOG

Stomping on Israel's liberal values

Benjamin Netanyahu seems prepared to pay a heavy price to safeguard his leadership of the right-wing bloc

For Canadian oil firm Suncor in Syria, pressure to go – and to stay

While the company contributes revenue to the Assad regime, it also helps generate electricity for the homes of Syria’s people

ARAB SPRING

Their way cleared by a popular revolt, Islamists take power in the Arab world

The liberal democracies that were expected to take root in the wake of the Arab Spring have been stillborn, their place taken by religious hardliners who pose a threat to the region, moderate Muslims and the West

Upstart Egypt fundamentalist party surprises itself with strong turnout

Salafists’ simple message of ‘food, shelter and clothing’ has strong appeal among less-affluent Muslims

Canadian Abousfian Abdelrazik taken off United Nations terror list

Canadian exiled in Sudan for years now free to travel, work – and sue Ottawa for his ordeal

Britain pulls embassy staff out of Iran

Britain says the storming of the British diplomatic mission in Tehran could not have taken place without some degree of consent from Iranian authorities

Worldview

Deadly air strikes another setback for U.S., Pakistan relations

Killing of 24 Pakistani soldiers latest in a series of blows to a relationship once regarded as vital to victory in the ‘war on terror’

CAMPBELL CLARK

The West must exhaust diplomatic options against Iran

Iran’s ‘steady crawl’ toward nuclear capabilities offers window for West to end threat without going to war

Egypt's transition

Egypt’s protests threaten Muslim Brotherhood’s ride to power

Islamist group bleeds youth support over organization’s refusal to join demonstrations against prolonged military rule

Paul Heinbecker

Think twice, Canada, before attacking Tehran

We need fewer exclamation points and more question marks while discussing Iran’s nuclear program and Syria’s crackdown

Sanctions

Canada bars financial transactions with Iran

Restrictions, except for existing contracts, or remittances of less than $40,000 to relatives, will make it nearly impossible to do new business with Iranian firms