The five men, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, charged with planning the 9/11 attacks have filed a new document in court accepting – indeed, bragging about – responsibility for the attacks. CNN pulls out this excerpt from the filing: “With regards to these nine accusations that you are putting us on trial for; to us, they […]
On February 28, 2009, China upgraded its 1995 food hygiene law by passing a new law creating a food safety commission which can increase compensation to those harmed by tainted food or impose severe penalties on those involved with producing and promoting tainted food products. The new law is intended to improve China’s food safety […]
An Iraqi tribunal Wednesday sentenced former Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz and others to 15 years for the deaths of 42 businessmen exploiting U.N. sanctions. Aziz, along with Ali Hassan al-Majid, better known as “Chemical Ali,” were handed 15-year prison sentences Wednesday by the Iraqi High Tribunal for their role in the 1992 deaths of […]
If the end of the Cold War marked the defeat of communism and the rise of the United States as the world’s dominant power, can the financial crisis and end of US hegemony signal the defeat of liberal democracy and capitalism? No, but Iran’s president seems to think so. In a speech to regional leaders […]
American law enforcement expects, and often receives, an extremely high level of cooperation from various Muslim communities throughout the United States. Iranians, Iraqis, Saudis, Egyptians; most are well integrated within their local communities and establishments. As a result, the threat of domestic terrorism is often lower in the US than in other western nations with […]
In an effort to silence the press and drown out media criticism, Turkey’s government imposes its controversial Article 301 measure. Any journalist or editor who “insults” or “criticizes” the state could face a year in prison. Prison sentences were initially three years but Turkey agreed to reduce sentences after pressure from the European Commission. Turkey, who […]
When assessing the world’s rising powers, we often focus on the most evident forms of strength – military, economic and diplomatic. But, does a country’s soft power impact the global balance of power? The term soft power was coined by Joseph S. Nye Jr., a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School (and rumored new United […]
Clean water…you simply turn on the faucet and it’s there…you fill your glass, take a sip, its as simple as that. Or is it? For you and I a glass of clean and safe water has surpassed being a necessity and a right, its a regular part of life we hardly even think about, we […]
I wrote about the anthropogenically induced environmental catastrophe that is looming in The Melting Himalayas. As a long-time student of Tibetan culture, Buddhism and someone who has delved into the politics of Tibet, I offered an observation regarding the politics of China and Tibet. In New York today, I joined a march and rally in […]
One suggestion for combating future global food crises is to launch a new Green Revolution. The first Green Revolution took place in the mid-20th Century, and was a campaign that encouraged farmers, particularly in the developing world, to increase the success of their crops by using better seeds and farming methods. The Green Revolution succeeded […]
Last week I mentioned the efforts to reset U.S.-Russian relations and so I’d like to follow up by relating a somewhat amusing incident that happened when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton presented Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov with a symbolic reset button. Apparently, the translators at State made a small error in translating “reset” into […]
“Tight credit markets and the global economic downturn are rapidly swelling the population of U.S. companies with high default risk and weak liquidity. The Bottom Rung, a new Moody’s database and quarterly publication, captures and comments on these low-rated companies.” March 10th marked the inaugural debut of Moody’s newest ratings publication by its Global […]
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