The Eastern Cape ANC is struggling financially as a result of the one-two punch of the economy and the inroads that the Congress of the People (COPE) has made in the region. The Eastern Cape is a historical stronghold for the ANC, so COPE’s inroads have to be particularly worrisome. Um, COPE? I’d wipe that […]
The Newsweek has published an article revealing that Iran has not restarted its nuclear-weapons development program. According to the article: U.S. intelligence agencies have informed policymakers at the White House and other agencies that the status of Iranian work on development and production of a nuclear bomb has not changed since the formal National Intelligence […]
Both taekwondo and volleyball associations have announced that they will allow women wearing hijab to compete. There is a definite tendency in the West to vilify hijab. And while I am against women being forced to wear hijab, I am also against women being denied equal rights due to the fact that their head is […]
El Universal reported that a decline in revenue from oil sales caused imports into Venezuela to drop by 49% during the first six months of 2009. Despite a recent increase the value of petroleum, Venezuela has experienced a sharp reduction in available funds since the price of a barrel of oil is just over $65, […]
Vladimir Putin has a history of truly bizarre spontaneous gestures, such as kissing a terrified boy on his stomach or stealing Superbowl rings from visiting dignitaries. So what was so odd about him giving a passing factory worker his $10000 Swiss watch as a memento yesterday? For a start, writes Luke Harding, “Putin’s penchant for […]
India’s Atomic Energy Commission Chairman, Dr. Anil Kakodkar, announced during his speech at IAEA’s 53rd General Conference that India had designed an Advanced Heavy Water Reactor-Low Enriched Uranium (AHWR-LEU) that uses thorium along with low enriched uranium as fuel. He said that “the reactor has a significantly lower requirement of mined uranium per unit energy […]
Two years is a long time in the world of sports and is forever in international rugby. So Springbok fans might want to temper their enthusiasm over the green and gold’s status as favorites to win the next World Cup (which will be held in New Zealand — a relevant fact, no?). That said, amabokoboko […]
While troubling in some of its findings, the recently released United Nations Goldstone Report on Israel’s recent strike in the Gaza Strip represents flawed methodology and one-sided bias against Israel. The President of the U.N. Human Rights Council provided a commission headed by Justice Richard Goldstone with a mandate to “to investigate all violations of […]
Mark your calendars. October 1st is the date when Iran and the five UN Security Council members plus Germany will hold talks about the Iranian nuclear program. The State Department spokesman Ian Kelly announced yesterday that Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns – who was also at the Geneva talks – would […]
CNN reports on Pakistan’s female fighter pilots and the Air Force’s work in counterinsurgency and the War on Terror. It’s a very good article and reminds us that Pakistan is a moderate country paying their own costs in trying to uproot fundamentalism, militancy and terrorism from their country.
Tragedy stuck Karachi Pakistan the other day when about 20 women died from suffocation while attempting to collect wheat flour that was distributed by a charity. It isn’t the only time that poor Pakistanis have died tragically, but this one is especially awful because it started with very good intentions. Because the price of flour […]
A few items of note to discuss: Just as I was applauding the seemingly positive news of the fact that Spain was planning to commit a few hundred more troops to the NATO effort in Afghanistan, President Stephen Harper of Canada’s spokesman Dimitri Soudas reiterated in a briefing Monday that Canada will withdraw its troops […]
Shawn W Crispin has an interesting article in Asian Times concerning the Vietnamese government’s latest freedom of speech crackdown that has specifically targeted bloggers who had publicly expressed anti-Chinese sentiment. Hanoi fears it cannot control the more than two million Vietnamese based blogs, a common source of uncensored news. While a general fear of the […]
It appears that Israeli women just might be among the most incredible females out there. Earlier this year, Sports Illustrated featured Israeli model Bar Rafaeli on the cover of the Swimsuit Issue. Now, another Israeli woman won a major international contest when she triumphed as the winner of Fox’s hit dating show “More to Love” […]
India and Mongolia signed a civilian nuclear agreement on Monday during Mongolian President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj’s four day visit to India. The memorandum of understanding between the two countries pertains to development in the field of “peaceful uses of radioactive minerals and nuclear energy” and would allow India to look for uranium in the central Asian […]