According to files recently received by George Washington University's National Security Archive, the U.S. has been pushing Pakistan since the early and mid 1990's to close down its terrorist safe havens, and documents times and places where Pakistani troops trained and/or fought with Taliban or terrorist leaders. Of course this was before 9/11. Here is […]
The African National Congress is dealing with the old Chinese curse of living in interesting times. First there are the natural tensions in a party such as the ANC that has so many varied constituencies. There is the unseemly but unavoidable Jacob Zuma mess. There is the succession struggle, which really is two succession struggles […]
Nick Fick wrote an article in the Washington Post on August 12th is making its way through the Afghanistan-watchers blog-land, and it joins with many who are looking at U.S. tactics of keeping ahead in Afghanistan, the actual-land. It begins with his experience of having a gun aimed at him indiscriminately at a checkpoint. The Article: […]
Itar-Tass reports that the presidents of Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan will be cementing cooperative efforts “on all levels.” A meeting took place between Kyrgyzstan's Mr. Bakiev and Turkmenistan's Mr. Berdymukhamedov as part of unofficial SCO activities. Mr. Berdymukhamedov is an honorary guest at the SCO summit this year. It is his first time attending the event. […]
This week, the Stockholm International Water Institute is celebrating the “World Water Week”. We’re all pretty focused on oil these days, but in reality, water scarcity is more of a challenge. Last year, the UN Development Programme issued a report that highlighted water scarcity and the political and institutional reasons that water remained a tight factor […]
The heads of state of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) nations are meeting this week in Lusaka, Zambia. High on the agenda will be the crisis in Zimbabwe, though observers do not expect much on that front. It will be most interesting to see what, if anything, Thabo Mbeki, whom SADC charged with helping […]
Well, the war games are now in Chelyabinsk until the 17th. We have to wait a little while longer for the mass press releases that usually attend the political meetings of the Annual SCO Summit. But so far, things are looking quite interesting. President Hu of China arrived in Bishkek today, and it looks like he's […]
Well, I don't mind saying I thought this case was over and done, but it isn't. Mr. Seidenfeld, who has been held in jail while undergoing a trial with what looked like exceedingly shaky evidence, was acquitted last month. However, the original complainant, AOA Arna, has filed an appeal of the judge's sentence. According to an […]
Jakarta: Approximately two weeks ago, I mentioned the Hizb-ut-Tahrir World Conference 2007 that was to take place in Jakarta on August 12th. Well, BBC's Lucy Williamson covered the conference, which was well-attended: it filled the 100,000-capacity stadium that had been booked. Several speakers who had previously committed did not show, however. London: On August 9, […]
The results are in for elections across three states, with a mixed showing for the major parties. In Baja California, President Calderon's National Action Party (PAN) won the governor's race, four of five mayor's races, and a majority in the state legislature. The only candidate of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) to win a mayor's race was Hugo […]
Do you remember the climactic scene from the Wizard of Oz? Dorothy, Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion are trapped by the Wicked Witch and her Praetorian guard. The Witch taunts Scarecrow with fire, as is her wont, and then sets him alight. Dorothy reacts instinctively, grabbing a handy pail of water from the castle […]
This video is from Worldvision, and documents the actual living conditions of homeless children in Mongolia. Film conveys a lot: but like almost all art, it does not convey touch, smell, taste; this video does its best to include at least a verbal document of those miseries of children's street life. Along the way, it […]
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