If it weren’t already enough that the Norwegian government is trying to investigate Grameen Bank’s books from some fifteen years ago, now the local government, just down the street, sitting in Parliament is out for some explanations from Grameen Bank’s founder Dr. Mohammad Yunus. Sheikh Hasina has chastised Dr. Yunus for the micro-credit business model […]
Things are not good as the Ivory Coast post-election standoff continues. Both incumbent Laurent Gbagbo and opposition leader Alassane Ouattara have claimed victory after the 28 November poll but virtually every legitimate outside observer recognizes Ouattara as the legitimate winner. Hundreds have fled as food security and shortages of basic goods are becoming a legitimate […]
A new poll covering all of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces was released today by The Washington Post, ABC News, the British Broadcasting Corp. and ARD television. Let’s go over some of the polls main findings: Afghans are more pessimistic about the direction of their country, less confident in the ability of the United States and its […]
It might be one of the most dramatic changes in Africa in the last decade or so, and it’s crept in so quickly that it is hard to identify when it all happened. Go to Gabarone or Lusaka or Windhoek and you see a new construction project. Look closely. The odds are pretty good that […]
Last Saturday, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri flew to Tehran to meet with President Ahmedinejad and other Iranian politicians. The purpose of the visit was to secure support for his country at a particularly tense time in Lebanese history, or at least in Hariri’s tenure as Prime Minister. The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), which […]
Wikileaks may be to espionage as the internet is to newspapers. Why should governments pay good money and risk agents’ lives when they can get dirt on their enemies with the click of a finger? Think about it: Russia allegedly paid thousands of dollars (and a fair amount of risk to its international reputation) in […]
One of the latest Wikileaks that might cause a serious rift between friendly nations is the assumption by officials that Russia and Mr. Putin have a stronger relationship with organised crime within Russia and abroad that realised and that this relationship is often used to promote national goals. These accusations focus mostly on the sale […]
“The sole aim of journalism should be service. The newspaper is a great power, but just as an unchained torrent of water submerges whole countryside and devastates crops, even so an uncontrolled pen serves but to destroy. If the control is from without, it proves more poisonous than want of control. It can be profitable […]
President Barack Obama issued a presidential determination today to suspend a 1995 law that requires the relocation of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. In a letter from Obama to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Obama says the 6 month extended suspension of the law “is necessary, in order to protect the national […]
At the international stage, the Southern African country of Namibia is known as the rare success story of the UN. Lost in this UN Namibian success narrative is the story of people detained by the South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO), the current ruling party and one-time national liberation movement in Namibia, during the war […]
Bashneft has bought the Trebs and Titov onshore oil deposits in Russia’s Timan-Pechora province for a reported 18.5 billion rubles ($587 million). The Russian government had earlier sought to keep the deposits under the government’s ownership, since the two constitute strategic oil deposits with 78.1 million tons and 132.8 million tons of oil, respectively. However, […]
More Europe or else. Considering the problems facing the euro, more Europe seems to be the only alternative to a euro meltdown that could jeopardize the entire European project. European Central Bank boss, Jean-Claude Trichet, is not in doubt. In a meeting with the European Parliament´s economic and monetary affairs committee, Trichet called for a […]
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