No Chinese investment in African farmland China decided not to follow the growing trend of investing in overseas farmland to outsource food production. According to Niu Den, deputy agriculture minister, outsourcing food production to Africa is not an option for China. While countries like South Korea and Saudi Arabia recently accelerated outsourcing of their food […]
BUNER: Taliban militants from Swat took control of Buner on Tuesday and started patrolling bazaars, villages and towns in the district. The militants, who had sneaked into Gokand valley of Buner on April 4, were reported to have been on a looting spree for the past five days. They have robbed government and NGO offices […]
The Arctic supposedly holds 90 billion barrels of oil – 22% of the world’s remaining oil and gas reserves. These ample supplies make the region highly desirable to the oil and gas industry. Under the Bush Administration, the Department of the Interior auctioned off leases for offshore drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf to take […]
Apparently, other Arab countries, Egypt in particular, do not care for the way Qatar conducts its foreign policy. The United States maintains a large military presence in the Doha area, at Al Udeid Air Base and Camp Al Saliyah; the government has also played host to Iranian delegations. (For a detailed account of Qatar’s supposedly […]
Al Qaeda’s second in command Ayman al-Zawahri spoke out yesterday on an Internet recording about President Obama and his Afghan-Pakistan strategy. I guess we should pay attention whenever a top AQ leader talks as the United States, Afghanistan, and Pakistan would not be in the position they are now in without their existence. It almost […]
Forgive the silence of late. I spent several days in England for a conference and am just now re-emerging. Tomorrow South Africans go to the polls for the fourth time in the democratic era. The Foreign Policy Association has my preview of the election, which is part one of a two-part feature, the second of […]
In June, 500 Million people all around the European Union will vote in the European Parliament elections. The elections will be useful to ascertain if the centre-left are gaining ground during the economic crisis. Already some polls are suggesting they may not be benefitting from the crisis, and may end up losing seats. However Agence Europe […]
Feel free to compare reaction to the Ahmadinejad speech at Durban II courtesy of Haaretz and then Iranian television that apparently shows primarily the Iranian delegation reaction.
LAHORE: Pakistan’s top opposition leader, former Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, expressed concern Monday about a controversial peace deal with Islamist militants but backed off calls he made last month for a “revolution” to topple the government. Unable to contain an insurgency through military force, Pakistan’s government agreed last week to let Taliban militants impose sharia, […]
“Later, as he sat on the balcony eating the dog, Dr Robert Laing reflected on the unusual events that had taken place within this huge apartment building during the previous three months” – Opening lines of Highrise, by JG Ballard. JG Ballard, who died today, was one of my favourite writers. It is not entirely […]
FP’s Paul Collier writes a Pro and Con list as if he were an authoritarian leader (Egypt’s Mubarak was his inspiration). He evaluates the different avenues available to dictators whose power is subject to upheaval. Here’s a brief excerpt: Option 1: Turn over a new leaf and embrace good government Pros: This is probably what […]
Via the Associated Press. countries boycotting Durban II are: Australia Germany Canada Israel Italy Netherlands New Zealand Poland United States Countries who walked out after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attacked Israel are: Austria Belgium Britain Bulgaria Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Greece Hungary Ireland Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Spain […]
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