Ignacio Coronel Villarreal is described as one of the Sinaloa’s drug syndicates top three. Villarreal, known as “Nacho,” was believed to oversee the Siñaloa group’s operations in the western states of Colima, Nayarit, and Jalisco. He was killed after opening fire on law enforcement, closing in on his hideout in an upscale neighborhood of Guadalajara. […]
During a press conference President Hamid Karzai responded to the WikiLeaks document dump. He took a hard line on Pakistan, though in the language of diplomatic speak. Echoing U.S. Congressional leaders Karzai spoke out against at least one of Afghanistan’s neighbors: A widely run Associated Press piece quotes him: “The international community is here to […]
Zainab Jeewanjee highlights Ambassador Haqqani’s response to the Wikileaks Reports on Charlie Rose. Jeewanjee draws on Hussain Haqqani’s insights to elaborate on his notion that history is to be taken into account, in tandem with ground realities before sensationalizing the Wikileaks story to implicate Pakistan for “not doing enough”.
Apparently Saudi King Abdullah shares my wish for peace. The Saudi King has come to Damascus today in an effort to quell growing tensions over news that Hezbollah members could potentially be indicted by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL). King Abdullah will also be moving on to Beirut sometime friday. The trip is significant […]
Football is only the second favorite sport for the majority of South Africans, ranking well behind political infighting. let’s take a quick but representative tour, shall we? The African National Congress (ANC) is firmly in control of all aspects of politics in South Africa except for within its own party. Corruption is a constant issue, […]
In spite of the decades of pressure coming from the United States, Canada has maintained consistently cordial relations with Cuba—in fact, Canada and Mexico were the only two countries in the hemisphere to maintain uninterrupted diplomatic relations with Cuba following the revolution in 1959. [Interesting Wikipedia fact of the week: Former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre […]
It appears that the “dangerous objects” that are the target of the recently-commenced Russian expedition also exist in Canadian waters. While Russian officials are trying to clean up the Northern Sea Route to make it safe for shipping, on the other side of the planet, Canadian archeologists have just found the long-lost HMS Investigator in […]
Garment factory workers have been demonstrating and engaging in violent street protests to call for a 5000 taka monthly minimum wage. The government has come to meet them more than half way. It is offering a 3000 taka monthly wage that will be announced later on Thursday afternoon. The Daily Star reports that the Labor […]
Spain’s Telefónica announced today the successful takeover of leading Brazilian mobile operator Vivo after weeks of strained negotiations with its joint-owner Portugal Telecom (PT). The move will allow Telefónica to merge its fixed landline services with Vivo’s national mobile network and begin offering Brazilian consumers ‘triple-play’ and ‘quadruple-play’ service packages (i.e. fixed-phone, internet, television, and […]
An important conceptual shift has occurred over the past few months in U.S. policy vis-à-vis New Delhi, heralded in two recent addresses by senior Obama administration officials.
Pakistani Ambassador to Washington, Husain Haqqani spoke to Charlie Rose yesterday. It was a very interesting talk and well worth watching. As you watch the piece, please note a few points that could use a bit of explication and clarification between the various counterparts in U.S-Pakistani bilateral relations. First, Ambassador Haqqani, a most collegial and […]
I’d direct you all to read my fellow FPA blogger and global film critic, Sean Patrick Murphy, as he takes on the Iraqi war flick The Green Zone, based on Ray Chandresekaran’s excellent Imperial Life in the Emerald City. http://globalfilm.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2010/07/27/green-zone-2010/ Have a look before you catch it on the small-screen. Sounds like you might be better off […]
Nearly five months after national elections were held, Iraq is still without a government. Now, they may be without a football team.
Greg Mortenson, humanitarian activist, education entrepreneur in Afghanistan and to a great extent Pakistan, spoke to Charlie Rose a few days ago. The conversation was broadcast yesterday. During the talk Mr. Mortenson highlights the importance of the Afghan tribal elders in achieving a settled peace. That’s to say he is arguing that the U.S and […]
Politico just posted a new piece on the fall-out of the WikiLeaks document dump. Former Director of the CIA, Michael Hayden has gone record to say that More importantly contrary to– or even consistent with– WikiLeak’s founder Julian Assanges’ claim that he has withheld 15,000 documents that reveal the identities of Afghan’s who have aided […]