Cyril Ramaphosa and Martin McGuinness were amongst the attendees at a conference on national reconciliation in Baghdad that brought together politicians from across Iraq's sectarian and ethnic divide.

The Baghdad conference brought together Shi'ite and Sunni Arabs as well as Kurds....

In secret talks in Helsinki, Finland last weekend, influential Sunni and Shia leaders from Iraq agreed to a set of principles reminiscent of those which set in motion the road to the historic Good Friday Agreement ("GFA" aka "Belfast Agreement") of 1998.

Mr. Padilla, a US citizen that the Bush administration once labeled an "unlawful enemy combatant", together with two other defendants, was found guilty of "conspiracy to murder, kidnap and maim people in a foreign country".

First, because some Irish-American voters still have family in Ireland, this is just a heads up that the Irish will be enduring 24 whole days of electioneering between now and the date of their national election next May 24. Aren't we lucky that our politicians get to campaign so much longer? ;)

Surprise! The election was held while you weren’t watching last week, and the results are already final! No party got more than 30.1% of the popular vote, and there will be four parties sharing power in the new government, if it ever gets up and running.

No, I’m obviously not talking about the USA. Nor am I talking about Iraq, Israel, or Palestine. I’m talking about Northern Ireland.

What with St. Patrick’s Day (March 17) being just around the corner, and some 40 million Americans claiming some Irish ancestry (including both Wes and Gert Clark), I figured today was as good as any to give everyone the most accurate picture I could find on the current political situation in Northern Ireland.

Whether we like it or not, whether we wish to believe it or not, there is growing evidence that Saddam Hussein was viewed as a patriotic Iraqi and a martyr by some. It is very likely that many of them will long remember his trial, his last words, his execution, and his burial.

I have posted before that the Bush administration made a mistake by having Hussein tried before an Iraqi court. Now, I think they may have made another mistake by returning his body to his home village. As humanitarian as this may be, it could be just another mistake which will contribute to significant instability in the region for generations. This is the sort of mistake that might be avoided if only someone in the Bush administration paid some attention to history.