At 4:40 pm on April 26th, 1937, the most advanced aircraft from Adolf Hitler's "Condor Legion" approached the Basque town of Guernica. It was a Monday afternoon and the markets were packed with shoppers and peasants. The church bell suddenly rang out, signifying the approach of enemy aircraft. …
Strictly speaking, Mr.Repin's work does not belong in a Central Asia blog. Ilya Repin was an ethnic Russian who grew up in the Ukraine and eventually settled in Belarus. Yet Mr. Repin painted a series of four works that described the conflict between …
Although African agriculture is often underdeveloped, there exist many possibilities for maximizing the continent's resources. According to a report from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs:
With food security often at the mercy of erratic weather patterns, Southern Africa could bank on its “tremendous” potential …
Over at The New Republic John Talbott has a rather radical suggestion for how to end AIDS in Africa: “Compulsory testing and notification of every citizen.” Talbott is not a medical doctor nor is he an Africanist — his tagline lists him as “an author, former investman …
I have been painfully aware of the horrid use of children in war and to commit horrendous acts during a time of war. Children are used as soldiers in a time when genocide, rape, and so many other unspeakable acts are committed. …
Though Foreign Minister Zafiri has stated that Tajikistan has an “open door policy” to foreign investment, barriers do remain:
A. Two official comments from the United States:
On April 13, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Evan Feigenbaum announced that Tajikistan's investment climate is hindered by its …
Prosecutors at The Hague Appeals Court today presented official documents by Sadam Hussein's regime praising the Dutch businessman, Frans van Anraat, for supplying "rare, banned chemical substances" to Iraq "at a reasonable price", and for "expos[ing] himself to extremely dangerous consequences." Van Anraat's case is before the appeals …
In their often desperate plea to find work in the U.S., more and more illegal immigrants are turning to counterfeit organizations to provide them with social security number or new identities. The scope of the problem became evident following a number of raids at meatpacking plants in the Midwest. On …
People are often driven into slavery by sever poverty, sometimes this is based on a general belief that the child sold will bring money back into the family, or that they will have an honest attempt to escape the poverty of the family and community. Other …
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg traveled to Toluca, Mexico this week to learn about the Oportunidades anti-poverty program. Serving approximately 25 million people, Opportunidades is Mexico's conditional cash transfer program and principal anti-poverty initiative. The program awards cash grants to economically disadvantaged families for keeping their children in school …
A universal picture of human rights treats each profession equally in the call for due process of law. Yet human rights organizations focus upon the treatment of journalists in repressive regimes for good reasons. First, the treatment of journalists reflects our own belief in the importance of steady, trustworthy information. …
I’m back from a week in England and am still absolutely buried with email and work and deadlines. But here are a lot of links on some of the crucial issues facing Africa and Africans:
The online news editor of The Economist is in Zimbabwe trying to get a feel for …
An event that has implications for EU position on Uzbekistan's “softening” of human rights violations;
An event which may aid Umida Niyazova in her ongoing trial for border violations and accepting money from foreign news agencies;
Human Rights Watch has had their residency re-affirmed for another six months.
On April 21st 2007 Egyptian born Canadian Mohammed El-Attar was ultimately convicted as a spy in an Egyptian court this past weekend. He was accused of spying for Israel and recruiting Arabs in Canada to assist him in his activities. While the court claims to have obtained a …
Contributed by Rich Basas of FPA's Migration Blog:
W-FIVE, A well known Canadian Investigative journalism program recently aired a report concerning the deaths of Dominic and Nancy Iannero, a Canadian couple who were murdered in their resort hotel room last year. The couple was in Mexico to celebrate the wedding of their …
