Mark your calendars. October 1st is the date when Iran and the five UN Security Council members plus Germany will hold talks about the Iranian nuclear program. The State Department spokesman Ian Kelly announced yesterday that Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns – who was also at the Geneva talks – would […]
CNN reports on Pakistan’s female fighter pilots and the Air Force’s work in counterinsurgency and the War on Terror. It’s a very good article and reminds us that Pakistan is a moderate country paying their own costs in trying to uproot fundamentalism, militancy and terrorism from their country.
Tragedy stuck Karachi Pakistan the other day when about 20 women died from suffocation while attempting to collect wheat flour that was distributed by a charity. It isn’t the only time that poor Pakistanis have died tragically, but this one is especially awful because it started with very good intentions. Because the price of flour […]
A few items of note to discuss: Just as I was applauding the seemingly positive news of the fact that Spain was planning to commit a few hundred more troops to the NATO effort in Afghanistan, President Stephen Harper of Canada’s spokesman Dimitri Soudas reiterated in a briefing Monday that Canada will withdraw its troops […]
It appears that Israeli women just might be among the most incredible females out there. Earlier this year, Sports Illustrated featured Israeli model Bar Rafaeli on the cover of the Swimsuit Issue. Now, another Israeli woman won a major international contest when she triumphed as the winner of Fox’s hit dating show “More to Love” […]
Shawn W Crispin has an interesting article in Asian Times concerning the Vietnamese government’s latest freedom of speech crackdown that has specifically targeted bloggers who had publicly expressed anti-Chinese sentiment. Hanoi fears it cannot control the more than two million Vietnamese based blogs, a common source of uncensored news. While a general fear of the […]
India and Mongolia signed a civilian nuclear agreement on Monday during Mongolian President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj’s four day visit to India. The memorandum of understanding between the two countries pertains to development in the field of “peaceful uses of radioactive minerals and nuclear energy” and would allow India to look for uranium in the central Asian […]
Bitterlemons has another great series, this time about the renewal of a U.S.-brokered peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. Two of the scholars in the series seem to differ on the need for an immediate renewal of negotiations. George Giacaman expressed urgency, calling the current proposals a “last chance,” in attempting to solve the […]
The Iran-Pakistan-India natural gas pipeline slated for completion by 2013 sees India withdraw from the project and increasing concern from Washington that Pakistan do the same. However, there are few alternatives to such a profitable, efficient solution to Pakistan’s energy crisis. The IPI pipeline is testimony to Fareed Zakaria’s concept of “The Rise of the Rest” and beckons President Obama to consider formulating new strategies in foreign policy dealing with Iran, Pakistan and India
With 99% of the votes counted, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg’s center-left coalition appears to have won the national elections held on Monday. 86 of the 169 seats in the Storting went to the Red-Greens, giving them a plurality. If the victory is indeed confirmed, Labour and its partners will be the first government to be […]
Russian oil companies, including Gazprom and Lukoil, will pay $1 billion to Venezuela for the chance to develop oil reserves along the Orinoco. Even though Caracas and Moscow are allies, I still have doubts about the final payout for these businesses. In 2006 the Venezuelan government pushed out some foreign oil companies, and forced others […]
That is, minus Iran. The leaders of Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Azerbaijan met in Aktau to, as they say, ‘informally’ discuss the resources in the Caspian Sea. No major agreements were signed, because they likely wouldn’t be honored internationally anyway without Iran, but an important message was sent. As Iran is having major domestic unrest […]
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