Cape Town has proven to be an interesting case study for the success of the World Cup in South Africa. Cape Town is, after all, the postcard image that South Africa sells to the world, a beautiful tableau wedged between Table Mountain and the sea. Cape Town and the Western Cape is a much easier […]
I have not seen that before. In Mexico City on Sunday, Christian Hernandez, decked out in traditionally garish attire of gold and pink (!), didn’t like what he saw when the giant bull made its appearance. Sizing up the half ton of muscle trailing 13 inches behind the tip of two horns must have had […]
The hotly contested election in Chittagong, intensely barked about, has ended peacefully. The BNP backed candidate, expected to lose to his Awami League backed opponent, has claimed to be broadly satisfied with the polling process. Apart from some minor instances of irregularities— that, if verified, would not mount to much–the polling on Thursday was widely […]
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton released on Monday, on behalf of the State Department, the “Trafficking in Persons Report 2010.” It is billed as the most comprehensive worldwide report of government efforts to combat trafficking in persons, and covers 177 countries. And Clinton was quick to note that the United States ranked itself as well, […]
The largest pro-Israel lobby in the country, AIPAC, is trying to leverage is Capitol Hill supports to issue a steadfast expression of support for the Jewish state following last month’s highly controversial raid on an aid ship from Turkey. Even though the Israeli public and Israel supporters have come out backing Israel for defending its […]
Just like Haiti’s Port au Prince, large portions of Bangladesh’s major cities are liable to be washed away in some coastal, rain soaked incident. The throng of people in Chittagong live in cramped spaces, in rough hewn, corrugated, unconstructed huts in that hilly city, like millions others lived in Port au Prince. And like […]
In note form because, well, I wrote it in note form: Out in Cape Town. Went to a place called “Mexican Shabeen Bar.” Big crowd, seems engaged. Huge Bafana fans. Drinking. Uruguay scores. Ugh. But Wow!: That was a blast. We keep holding them in the midfield. We keep getting called for fouls. Continue to […]
The Kuwaiti newspaper As-Siyassah is reporting that Hizballah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has been invited to Ankara to meet with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Neither Hizballah nor the Turkish government have confirmed the story, but if it is true, it marks a significant deterioration in Turkey’s relationship with Israel in the wake […]
Canadian author and photographer Ed Struzik, who has written about the Arctic for nearly three decades, has an interesting post on the Yale Environment 360 blog about the ongoing debate over the need for an Arctic Treaty similar to the Antarctic Treaty System. While the latter has been highly successful, resulting in a continent dedicated […]
Singapore’s ST Kinetics unveiled the new prototype of its Bronco all-terrain tracked carrier (ATTC) at this year’s Eurosatory, a biannual defense trade conference held in Paris. Dubbed the Bronco Fire Support Vehicle (FSV), it has greater firepower than previous models. ST Kinetics, the land systems and specialty vehicles branch of ST Engineering, is trying to […]
As things stand, the member states and the Commission have accepted the EU foreign policy chief Ashton’s blueprint for the European diplomatic corps – the European External Action Service (EEAS). This institutional innovation is intended to be a step towards a coherent European foreign policy, and to provide the EU with a pool of foreign […]
Heavy rain off the Bay of Bengal hit Cox Bazaar in Southeastern Bangladesh and caused landslides which are responsible for at least 52 deaths, small buried alive in their own homes, unready and unaware onslaught. The AP piece published in the Washington Post, draws out the story distressingly well: “The mudslides struck early Tuesday in […]
In a sign that suggests that indeed, Bangladesh and China are moving closer together, China has proposed to help Bangladesh construct its first deep sea port in Chitttagong. Chinese officials have also promised to help Bangladesh put up its first sattelite in orbit. This news follows Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s successful state visit to China. […]
Present Dangers A Counterterrorism Ally In North Africa Morocco’s remarkable soft-power strategy By Ilan Berman Morocco can trace its contemporary approach back to the end of the Cold War. While many in the region saw the Soviet Union’s collapse as a destabilizing development–and consequently tightened domestic control–Morocco’s monarch did the opposite. The previously authoritarian […]
No folderol. No big celebrations. No nationalism. This is the South Africa I know. As many of you are aware, my biggest worry about this trip has always been being treated like a tourist, and thus being condescended to like a tourist. But today I just was able to hang out at my friend’s house […]