In Somalia famine spreads and its death toll rises. It is increasingly clear that while the famine’s proximate cause may be drought, in reality like so many famines this one is predominantly a political creation that emanates from al Shabaab, the al Qaeda-affiliated organization that is actively preventing food aid and other materiel to reach […]
The African National Congress (ANC) and the ANC Youth League have clashed over the issue of, of all things, politics in Botswana. Basically, the Youth League has called for political change in Botswana, supporting the the Botswana National Front, (BNF) which the Youth League calls its “ally,” instead of the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP). […]
Suzanne Trimel, Media Relations Director Amnesty International USA New York – Amnesty International today called the United Nations Security Council response to the bloodshed in Syria “completely inadequate” and “deeply disappointing” and pressed the Council for a “firm and legally binding” position imposing an arms embargo, freezing President Al-Assad’s assets and pursuing an international investigation […]
Two years and one conviction later, Mumbai was once again rocked by three serial bomb blasts last month (apparently to mark the 26/11 convict Ajmal Kasab’s birthday). Though smaller in comparison to the 26/11 terrorists attacks that killed some 166 people during a three day virtual siege on the city, the blasts on 13 July […]
NPR’s “Morning Edition” features an upbeat report by Jason Beaubien on Cuidad Juarez. Yes, Juarez: the border city in full grip of Mexico’s drug war. But the economy is thriving, adding jobs and exporting more goods to the United States than ever before. Car part factories are a big part of the city’s industrial base. […]
Both Israeli and U.S. politicians often discuss the shared values and interests of the two countries, but shared outcomes are also a big part of that package and emerge time and time again in the economic, foreign policy and security realms. As Washington struggled to cobble together a debt limit increase and deficit reduction […]
Tochigi became the fourth prefecture to have beef shipments suspended due to fears of radiation contamination. Tochigi joins Fukushima, Iwate and Miyagi to find cattle contaminated with radioactive cesium after eating straw grown near the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. The straw was contaminated with 690,000 becquerels per kilogram, well over the government’s limit of […]
One of the latest news from the High Representative Ashton is the appointment of 25 new Heads of EU Delegations around the world. This new wave of appointments is part of the 2011 rotating period. The list of appointees is composed of 16 individuals from Member States, seven from the EEAS, and two from the […]
“Shut up,” said President Michel Martelly to members of the national press who, in his view, kept tourists and potential investors at bay, depicting Haiti as a desolate, hostile environment. “Why don’t you just shut up,” he reportedly reiterated during a short speech at the initial launch of Magic Haiti, a magazine dedicated to promoting […]
On Tuesday, leaders of Iraq’s major political parties signed an agreement allowing Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to negotiate terms of a prolonged US troop presence in Iraq. Although months of debate, discussion and endless deliberation undoubtedly remain before a final pact is reached, “after weeks of wrangling and lots of US pressure [this deal] appears […]
I am going to spare you of my thoughts on the debt ceiling circus in Washington and its foreign policy implications in East Asia. (I’ll leave that to Krugman and Richardson, both of whom I think are spot on). Instead, I’d simply like to direct your attention to a political cartoon I stumbled across recently that […]
I spent two blustery weeks this summer in Iceland. Four of those days were spent in Reykjavik, the world’s northernmost capital. 200,000 out of the country’s 300,000 citizens live in Greater Reykjavik, making this country one of the most urbanized in the world. Most people have cars, Reykjavik being a surprisingly car-friendly city. In […]
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