Regions

South Africa's coasts have been battered with storms on both the Indian Ocean and Atlantic sides. Severe flooding has beset the coastal regions of the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. Naturally the most vulnerable populations, the poor, those living in informal settlements, have been hit the worst. Cleanup has begun in KwaZulu-Natal, though the process will […]

Some of the latest developments from Zimbabwe can easily be expressed in shorthand: Mass arrests. Torturing people to death. Shooting and killing members of the opposition. Police, who are allowed to vote early, are forced to cast their votes for the ruling party. And then, because no story on modern-day Zimbabwe is complete without an […]

  After the US initiated two WTO cases* against it last year, China has since worked to develop a National IP Strategy, requiring China to “explore the possibility of establishing specialized IP courts to deal with IP-related civil, administrative, and criminal cases.” The strategy was developed by China's National Working Group for IPR Protection, which […]

A conference of Arab businessmen that opened in Beirut yesterday warned of the serious consequences of the rising unemployment rate in the Arab world, which has reached 14%. The conference, organized by the Arab Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, is being attended by 500 Arab and foreign participants from 21 countries. The chair of […]

The latest news involving Iraqi reconstruction revolves around just one word: oil.  (Reported on Informed Comment) Both UK newspapers, The Independent and The Guardian, published stories today about recent foreign oil company deals with Iraq.  The articles discuss the new contracts negotiated by Exxon Mobil, Total, Shell and BP (amongst others) for “repair and technical support.”  The contracts […]

I am no supporter of President George W. Bush. I voted against him twice and would vote against him again if given the chance. I believe that he has done irreparable harm to the United States and to the world and that he has left a mess that future generations will have to clean up. […]

After a couple weeks of poor news regarding Afghani security, there was finally some positive developments as a force of Afghan troops supported by NATO armored vehicles and helicopters appeared to rout Taliban forces who recently took over the Arghandab region surrounding Kandahar. A NATO official called it a ‘fast and effective’ response. However, the […]

After meeting with former President Emile Lahoud, Wiam Wahhab said Speaker Nabih Berri and Hezbollah would never betray Aoun, their opposition ally, in the subject of government.A sovereign ministry is the right of Michel Aoun, and without this ministry there is no sovereign government. The opposition is preparing for another stage another and another step, […]

This is Zimbabwe has a map revealing the extent of terror in Zim: Each icon represents a single case of violence; the pin colours identify the perpetrator groups involved in the incident. Over 1,000 cases of political violence and intimidation, carried out after the March 29th elections, are represented on this map.

It may be one of the more bizarre stories from Africa, a continent familiar with bizarre stories. In 2004 there was an attempted coup in West Africa's oil-rich Equatorial Guinea. In Africa, alas, coups are not weird. especially when they come against autocrats such as President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has ruled since 1979 […]

Avigdor Lieberman, a far-right Knesset member, threatened to destroy the Syrian capitol, Damascus, if Hezbollah attacks Israel in revenge for the assassination of its top military commander, Imad Mugniyah, on February 13, 2008. We must negotiate with Syria only over security arrangements in Lebanon, not the Golan Heights, Lieberman said while meeting with Russian Jewish […]

Is President Mugabe beginning to feel the increasing pressure from the outside? There is some indication that Mugabe's overheated rhetoric of late comes at least in part because of increased scrutiny of his country from regional leaders. Thus his threat to go to war if he loses the run-off and his warnings that people will […]