Salva Kiir, a former rebel leader who leads South Sudan’s semi-autonomous government, has urged his compatriots to register “en masse” for January’s independence referendum. Plans for the vote really do seem to be proceeding slowly but steadily. But one hitch is the fact that Western donors appear to have reneged upon or been slow to […]
Within the next couple of hours preliminary results from Guinea’s election should finally be known. But instead of being a time for celebration tensions have risen to the boiling point. Clashes between protesters and security officials have resulted in at least one death. Politicians have the opportunity to step in and try to quell violence […]
The tension between Turks and Greeks have always been remarkable due to long history of wars. The elderly population from both sides continues to pass on their judgments to next generations. Even though there is hope for talks between Turkish and Greek youth for the sake of economical relations, it seems like the hatred still […]
Pressure continues to build in Lebanon in anticipation of indictments in the Hariri tribunal. Members of Hizballah are widely expected to be named in the case, which could ignite mounting tensions between the pro-West March 14 government and the Party of God. The rhetoric coming out of south Beirut has been increasingly threatening. Last week, […]
The greatest challenge to affecting change in current U.S. policies toward Cuba, of course, is the fractious political environment and correspondingly disparate views (both in the public and within government) on what should be done. Nearly everyone seems to agree on a key point about Cuba policy: the embargo and related travel ban have not […]
The Asia Foundation recently released a massive report on the views of the Afghan people. The report titled ‘Afghanistan in 2010: A Survey of the Afghan People‘ is over 200 pages and features Afghan replies to numerous questions about the state of their country and lives. Below is a chart of the overall national temperature […]
The 2010 UNDP Human Development Report offers some muted good news for those concerned with the reach of socially structured human welfare and development in Pakistan. However, given the way the good news is structured, recent events in Pakistan suggest that the prospects of Pakistan’s human development look strikingly bleak for the coming few years. […]
This is happened sometimes in July of this year, but only landed on my desktop now. And I have to say that could not contain my excitement to post it! How many languages does Google speak? Oh wait, to be precise, how many African languages does Google speak? I admit, I don’t know the answer. […]
India’s reputation has quickly rebounded from the Commonwealth Games fiasco.
Port-au-Prince, Haiti– Haitians will be electing a president, 10 Senators and 99 members of parliament on November 28, 2010, 16 short days from now. Democracy must prevail; the Haitian Constitution, international community and fundamental democratic principles necessitate such peaceful transfer of power. However common sensical, dubious observers question the legitimacy and wisdom of the Provisional Electoral Council’s decision and […]
The 2010 Human Development Index is out. It offers some good news for Bangladesh. Though Bangladesh ranked 129 among 169 UN members states (out of a possible 192 states in the world), it ranked 3rd in terms of improvement since 1980 in its assessed Human Development Index, itself a weighted average of education, wealth and […]
A super-brief South Africa crime update: Now Verb Free! Good news. Caveat. Context. Much more context.
Brazil, Russia, India, and China, the BRIC countries, exist in a state of ever becoming. All four have massive potential economies, sometimes can play with the big boys (meaning basically the United States and certain of the European Union countries) and want to have a permanent role in the game. South Africa has wanted to […]
It had to come sometime. The major international financial organizations, like the World Bank and the IMF, have long lauded the successful moves of the stewards of Bangladesh’s economy. Now Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has taken credit for that stewardship. She made the claim during Governor of Oregon Ted Kulongoski’s visit to Bangladesh. I suppose […]
At least eighteen people are dead in Karachi, many more wounded, victims of a car bomb and subsequent armed attack that targeted a police compound set up to investigate and counter militant activity in that southern port city. Karachi, the commercial hub and a major political constituency in Pakistan is now increasingly becoming home to the […]