Today’s Washington Post is reporting that Obama’s promise didn’t even last 24 hours. According to the paper, Secretary Clinton, Secretary Gates and Admiral Mike Mullen all three danced around the issue of withdrawal from Afghanistan while testifying in front of Armed Services Committee a day after the speech. US Presidents have always struggled with the […]
Just weeks after the United States and China declared their emission cut targets, India today announced that it would reduce its carbon emissions by 20-25 per cent by the year 2020. Jairam Ramesh, the Indian Environment Minister informed the Lok Sabha (India’s lower house of Parliament) that this would be achieved through policy changes including […]
Tendai “The Beast” Mtawarira, the burly Springbok and Sharks prop who is easily one of the most popular athletes in South Africa, is a Zimbabwean national. This has never raised anyone’s hackles in any meaningful way in the past. But suddenly South Africa’s Ministry for Sport, at the head of which sits Makhenkesi Stofile, has […]
President Obama delivers a speech on the Afghanistan Pakistan (Af-Pak) war promising 30,000 new troops to the region. Zainab Jeewanjee sheds light on the need for a new strategy either in tandem with, or other than just a troop surge, especially in the case of Pakistan.
I love the BBC to bits, but I have had enough. Yet another report, the second ‘profile’ in a week about the resurgence of Stalin’s legacy in the former USSR, has put my knickers in a twist. This time, we see a Stalin look-alike treated ‘like our own dear Queen’ in his hometown of Gori, […]
Media reports indicate a prisoner swap between Israel and Hamas is currently underway, with abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shalit already in Egypt awaiting transfer to Israel. Meanwhile, Palestinian prisoners held in Israel were told to gather their belongs in anticipation of a swap. However, it is unclear if Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti will be included […]
Just in case you missed it, Maziar Bahari was on the Daily Show on Monday night. Bahari, a Newsweek reporter, was arrested in the aftermath of the Iranian election and kept captive for 118 days. When John Stewart commented, “You were imprisoned in Iran…” Bahari replied, “Yes. Because of you.” While it sounds ridiculous, it […]
So far, in 2009 alone, 9000 Pakistanis have died in Pakistan because of terrorism – that is bombings, suicide attacks and other acts of extreme violence against Pakistan, and Pakistani society by the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. Yes, 9000 (nine thousand) Pakistanis have died because of terrorism in 2009 alone. This terrorism according to Pakistan is […]
In an interview with the Pragati magazine, India’s Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor said that India has a special advantage over many other countries in its relations with Africa. Comparing India’s standing in Africa to that of China and the West he said, “they (African countries) see a country that is accessible, […]
The peso has strengthened this week amid signs that the Dubai World crisis will not transmit contagion throughout emerging markets. The Mexican currency has rallied more than 7% against the dollar over the past two months, leading the 16 major currencies tracked by Bloomberg. At 12.85 pesos to the dollar, the peso is now up […]
The Economist has a nice piece up about the literal and metaphoric trials that P.M. Sheikh Hasina will have to suffer through in the near term. As the Economist reports: “Officials say executions [of the convicted assassins of the founding leader of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rehman] by a firing squad will be carried out by […]
Just a quick word on the strategy laid out by Obama before getting to other firsthand observations of the speech. As I have written, I basically support the entire counterinsurgency ‘surge’ strategy, but find the inputting of an exit date, July 2011 presumably, to be potentially counterproductive (how can we not expect the Taliban to […]
The European Union, with Sweden holding the rotating presidency until the end of the year, will consider a draft resolution put forth by Sweden that would express support for the division of Jerusalem and refers to “Palestine” officially for the first time. Israeli leaders condemned the proposed resolution as heavily biased towards the Palestinian narrative. The […]
Bangladesh seems to have improved some of its aggregate income and governance metrices. Per capita income seems to have improved over fiscal year 2007-2008. Nevertheless, hit by the global recession aggregate GDP growth decreased by 0.3%. As The Daily Star reported recently, a “World Bank (WB) report says poverty may increase by 0.3 percentage point […]
Vietnam – Well it finally happened. Vietnam devalued its currency, again, this time by 5% and increased its interest rates by 1% (moving it to 8%). This is the 3rd devaluation of the Vietnamese Dong since June of 2008. This blog reported that Vietnam was having some currency liquidity issues for awhile, but they were […]