The Globe and Mail - Africa-Mideast News

Palestinian urges Obama to back up talk with action

Wed, 20 May 2009 00:00 EDT

A key Palestinian official demanded yesterday that President Barack Obama follow up his tough talk with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and force Israel to stop West Bank settlement construction and accept a Palestinian state.

The cult of Hastings Banda takes hold of Malawi

GEOFFREY YORK — Wed, 20 May 2009 00:00 EDT

With his Homburg hats, his three-piece English-style suits, and his lion-tail fly whisk, Hastings Kamuzu Banda was one of the oddest dictators in African history.He banned women from wearing trousers or mini-skirts. He prohibited kissing in public. He ordered haircuts for long-haired tourists. He censored the mail, jailed his opponents, declared himself President-for-Life and ruled Malawi for three decades until the age of 96, when his countrymen finally wearied of his totalitarian reign.

Lebanon's election will shine a light on the Mideast

Rami Khouri — Tue, 19 May 2009 00:00 EDT

The outcome will be significant far beyond the country's borders, says Rami Khouri

Obama gives Iran deadline to consider better relations with U.S.

PAUL KORING — Tue, 19 May 2009 00:00 EDT

Iran's ruling mullahs have only a few months to take up the offer of better relations with America and must abandon all efforts to join the club of nuclear-armed states, President Barack Obama said yesterday, setting a soft deadline for Tehran.

Madagascar's crisis of confidence

GEOFFREY YORK — Tue, 19 May 2009 00:00 EDT

Chow Kwan-Lo surveys the vastness of his factory floor and admires the silence of his garment workers. ''Look how quiet they are - look at their concentration,'' he marvels. ''They don't even turn their heads when we're talking.''