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Tunisia’s President: ‘The extremists are a minority of a minority’
By Samuel Burke, CNN
It's been almost two years since a young fruit vendor named Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in front of a Tunisian government office.
Bouazizi died from his burns, but his friends and family said that the real cause of his death was the loss of hope - that he would ever find opportunity or dignity in Tunisia.
That single act gave birth to revolution in Tunisia and then all over the Arab world - in Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Syria and beyond. FULL POST
Blair on Syria: "A murderous set of steps against his own people"
By Sonia Kennebeck
While world leaders gathered on Wednesday in the U.N. General Assembly hall to discuss the most urgent international issues, including the civil war in Syria, the conflict in that country reached another horrendous peak.
343 people were killed that day, according to an opposition group. This would mark the highest daily death toll since the beginning of the conflict in March last year.
Since then more than 30,000 people have lost their lives according to the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
In the General Assembly hall leaders have yet to agree to a solution to prevent further bloodshed. But member countries China and Russia have been accused of aiding the Assad regime by refusing to agree to a resolution. And the U.S. accuses Iraq of allowing Iranian supplies to pass through Iraqi airspace.
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour that he believes Iraq should do what they can to prevent Iran from helping the Syrian government, but he contends that this is not the actual problem. FULL POST
Iraq and its role in Syria
By Samuel Burke
This week countless leaders at the United Nations General Assembly in New York are joining in condemnation of Bashar al-Assad's brutal regime.
Yet Assad hangs on to power, thanks to strong support from a handful of nations – among them, Russia, China and Iran.
But Syria is also getting a helping hand from an unlikely source, Iraq.
The U.S. has angrily accused the Iraqis of allowing Syria’s friend, Iran, to fly over their territory with planes full of weapons for Assad's forces.
It's a bitter irony for America, which badly wants Assad out, even as it considers itself Iraq’s patron and best friend. FULL POST
Obama's failed attempt at power-sharing agreement in Iraq
In an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour, Iraq’s foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, confirms President Obama’s failed attempt to get a political power-sharing agreement in Iraq – asking President Jalal Talabani to step down in favor of former interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, as reported by Michael R. Gordon's in the New York Times.
Hague: ‘Still no Plan B in Syria’
By Samuel Burke
At this year's U.N. General Assembly, Syria's civil war is top of the agenda.
There has already been a lot of talk about the violence and the climbing death toll, but even the leaders making those speeches are skeptical that any real action will come of it.
Even British Foreign Secretary William Hague, who has played an active role in trying to find a solution, tells CNN’s Christiane Amanpour that he doesn’t see one on the horizon.
This week the prime minister of Qatar told Amanpour that he felt there was a “Plan B” in the works for Syria, but Hague doesn’t know anything about that plan. FULL POST
What's the fastest growing economy in the world?
If Mongolia didn't pop into your mind first, you're probably not alone.
This country of just 2.8 million people is landlocked in the middle of Asia, but it's growing at more than twice the rate of China.
Its staggering rate of more than 17%-a-year growth last year may explain why U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a pilgrimage to Mongolia, along with Vice President Joe Biden and before him George W. Bush.
Not to mention a parade of other Western and Asian powers, including China, along with corporate titans by the planeload.
Mongolia's secret? FULL POST
Italian PM Mario Monti says he won't run for election
By Lucky Gold & Samuel Burke
Italy’s unelected Prime Minister, Mario Monti, tells CNN’s Christiane Amanpour that he will not run in the upcoming elections.
“I don't need to, because the president of the republic appointed me senator for life,” Monti said Tuesday. “And I think it's important that the full political game resumes in Italy, hopefully with a higher degree of responsibility and of maturity. We are helping that by being part of the European Union. Obviously, I will facilitate as much as I can the evolution.”
Putting out a big European fire
Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Monti, in New York this week for the meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, sounded a note of optimism about the fate of the euro: “Since June-July of this year I am much more confident about the future of the eurozone.”
Appearing Tuesday on CNN's Amanpour program, Monti credited the tough economic measures his government has instituted, even if they have deepened the recession in the short run.
“It’s normal that Italy is still in a recession because the measures we introduced, if anything, did deepen the recession a bit…. But above all we took Italy out of the list of the countries that might have created a big European fire.”
Ghosn: Eurozone now has time, but needs growth
However, he acknowledged that there was much more work to be done. “Can I borrow an expression that President Obama used this morning in his speech to the General Assembly? He spoke of the Arab world after the [Arab] Spring - of the painstaking work of reform. That exactly applies equally to domestic reforms in each of our countries. And I’m glad to say that although the Italian people have been subjected by the government I chair to an unprecedented amount of sacrifices, and discipline and eliminating privileges and grants, the Italian people so far have behaved in a highly responsible manner.” FULL POST
Aung San Suu Kyi has “soft spot” for the military generals
By Samuel Burke, CNN
Aung San Suu Kyi is one of the world's most revered advocates for democracy.
The repressive military regime in Myanmar kept her isolated from the world, under house arrest for almost twenty years.
In the last year her struggle finally paid off.
The country's new president, Thein Sein, freed her from detention and instituted a series of economic and political reforms – allowing her to win a seat in parliament this year.
Suu Kyi is now working with President Thein Sein – one of the ruling generals who kept her under house arrest.
“I’ve never thought that what they did to me was personal. It is politics. And if you decide to go into politics, you have to be prepared to put up with these kinds of problems. I like a lot of the generals. I’m rather inclined to liking people,” she said. That includes, surprisingly, the very people who prevented her from seeing your husband and her children. FULL POST
French cartoonist defends Mohammed drawings
Cartoonist defends drawings of Mohammed
The French cartoonist known as "Luz" defends his Mohammed drawings in an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour.
Free expression or provocation?
Journalist and author Bernard-Henry Levy weighs in on the cartoons recently published in a French magazine.
By Samuel Burke
Is shouting fire in a crowded theater free speech?
That debate has been sparked once again by a series of cartoons published in the French magazine Charlie Hebdo, some of which depict the Prophet Mohammed in obscene poses.
CNN’s Christiane Amanpour interviewed a cartoonist from the magazine, who is known as Luz. He said, “Everyone can have his own interpretation,” that the drawings were not made to shock people.
As for the violence that could come as a result of the cartoons, Luz said he would not accept any blame.
“Who is responsible for killing? It is the killer,” Luz said. “It’s quite unfair to say we are responsible for this. It’s fear that is responsible.” FULL POST
Russia's "Paris Hilton" turned political reformer
By Samuel Burke, CNN
"Russia, without Putin."
That was the rallying cry from tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters who flooded the center of Moscow this weekend. It was the first time since June that the movement had taken to the streets.
Among the many protesters was Ksenia Sobchak, a well-known socialite often called the Paris Hilton of Russia.
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