President Felipe Calderón is trying his hand at regional power broker. Deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya called on Mexico yesterday to bolster his presidential claims, hoping that Mexico can exert the necessary diplomatic pressure to return him to office. Costa Rican President Óscar Arias notably failed to broker a change in Zelaya’s status over the […]
Hillary Clinton’s seven-nation trip to Africa started off in Kenya yesterday. Several critics of Obama’s first Africa trip, which took him to Ghana, thought that maybe he ought to start with Kenya, given both that country’s troubled recent history and Obama’s own familial ties to the East African nation. But as with so many of […]
President Ahmadinejad was sworn in for his second term by the country’s parliament today. Once again the ceremony had notable absentees. The New York Times reported that all but 13 of the 70 lawmakers forming a reformist bloc in Parliament were absent from the inauguration, and some of those who did attend walked out as […]
It seems Cambodia’s ruling party, the People’s Party (KPK), might be learning the art of soft authoritarianism – by legal manipulation from Singapore’s PAP (People’s Action Party). Despite the fact, the KPK won 90 of 123 seats in the last election, the party still feel vulnerable to the press and opposition, because their criticism centers on […]
Merely three years since the Second Lebanon War between Israel and Hezbollah, the terror group substantially increased its military capabilities and poses an extreme risk to Israel. Hezbollah reportedly has 40,000 missiles targeting Israel, with some of the rockets capable of striking as far as Tel Aviv. During the 2006 war, the Israeli military attacked […]
No explanation can at this moment adequately address the horrors carried out in Gojra Pakistan. But these horrors are newsworthy and have potential to serve as a lesson in uprooting such inhumanity. Rather than focusing squarely and vaguely on vast historical causation that might allow factions to commit these horrors, a closer look at the […]
Today the Washington Times reported that the United States is discreetly trying to stop Iraq from closing the Camp Ashraf, home to over 3,000 Mujahedeen-e Khalq (MEK) members. As discussed in my previous blog, MEK is regarded by both the Iranian and the U.S. government as a terrorist group. The group had been operating from […]
A quick end-of-Tuesday roundup: Always remember, Darfur is not the only crisis in Sudan. Kenya is about to open its first wind farm. Perhaps Kenya can help lead the way in pursuing alternative energies derived from those natural riches in which Africa is abundant (sun, wind, for coastal nations, water) and which are less easily […]
Well, give Peter de Villiers points for steadfastness. The Springbok coach is considering starting Ruan Pienaar over Morne Steyn at flyhalf in this weekend’s big Tri Nations clash with Australia. Steyn just finished a record setting day against the All Blacks in which he scored all 31 of the Springbok points. Pienaar has had several […]
The National Disaster Management Authority released its Guidelines for Management of Chemical (Terrorism) Disaster on Tuesday. The guidelines deal with “counter-terrorism strategies, surveillance and environmental monitoring, prevention of illegal trafficking of hazardous waste, Human Resource Development, which includes education and training, knowledge management and community awareness.” An overview of the guidelines can be found here.
Druze leader Walid Jumblatt has announced his departure from the March 14 coalition. Jumblatt takes with him a bloc of eleven votes, which greatly dents the victory of pro-Western March 14 coalition in the June parliamentary elections. Jumblatt has stated that his bloc will not be joining the pro-Syrian March 8 bloc, but will maintain […]
The first Fatah conference in 20 years launched today, with the leading Palestinian faction gearing up to elect new leadership. Due to the inability of some Fatah officials in Gaza to attended the event in Bethlehem, Fatah intends to hold a concurrent conference in the Strip to ensure Gaza-based party members have input. The primary […]
Awful news from Pakistan, yet again about the way minorities are treated in the country. It is alleged that during a wedding ceremony last Thursday, pages of Quran were desecrated, and this news was enough to trigger unbelievable attacks against Christians in Gojra, Punjab. No one knows who desecrated the Holly Quran and why, but […]
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei officially endorsed President Ahmadinejad on Monday for his second term in office. Ahmadinejad was declared the victor of the disputed elections that took place on June 12th in which he allegedly won almost two-thirds of the vote. In the ceremony marking the official start of his second term in office, Ahmadinejad […]
American President Barack Obama’s first meeting with Filipino President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo , which is also his first meeting with a Southeast Asian head of state, was overshadowed in the American press by the domestic melodrama, known as “Gates-Gate” or the “Beer Summit”.