The annual Tri-Nations tournament, pitting the national rugby teams of southern hemisphere powers South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia is now underway. On Saturday New Zealand’s mighty All Blacks, who seem not to be quite as mighty as in years past, defeated the Wallabies of Australia 22-16 in Auckland. Nonetheless, the Springboks still enter as […]
Mauritania had a coup in which its first democratically elected president, President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, was ousted. The new leadership holds an election that the coup-installed leader, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, wins comfortably and by enough of a margin to avoid a runoff. There are allegations of corruption in the voting. The opposition calls […]
Somalia is complex. The situation there seems incomprehensible and hopeless. The logical response, then, is to wash our hands of it and simply try to contain the seemingly intractable problems that characterize basically stateless Somalia in hopes that they do not bleed beyond its borders. Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the United Nations’ Special Representative for Somalia, rejects […]
In a Commentary article bound to stir up some controversy, Tod Lindberg puts forward “The Only Way to Prevent Genocide.” A few sample passages (I insert ellipses in brackets to indicate where there are long passages between what I have included): We simply do not have to put up with this. By “we,” let me […]
In an excellent piece in Daily Times, the writer deplored the conspiracy theorists in Pakistan claiming that the US is working on re-drawing the map of Asia, and there is no room for Pakistan in this ‘new map’. The writer correctly pointed out that this type of hysterical notions have been claiming that Pakistan is […]
Firoze Manji, editor-in-chief of Pambazuka News, presents the speech he wishes President Obama had given in Ghana. This is all well and good and unobjectionable. But this is, of course, not the speech that Obama gave and it is usually better to deal with the world as it is than the world as we wish […]
The ultra-orthodox community in Israel and the settlements continues to gain increased political clout in Israeli politics, according to a new report from the International Crisis Group. Due to high birthrates and political mobilization, these communities will likely prove to be a significant hurdle in the evacuation of settlements and the realization of a two-states […]
As border enforcement stiffens, fewer ‘safe’ routes are leaving workers and drug traffickers corralled side-by-side in northern Mexico. This precarious arrangement likely contributes to the recent drop in Mexican immigration. More and more often unarmed workers are being assaulted and robbed by traffickers, adding to the perils of border crossing. During the day, motley clothed […]
The Obama Administration’s mandate of a settlement will include any Jewish construction projects in East Jerusalem, according to U.S. officials cited in various news reports. The clarification comes amidst plans to transform a hotel in predominantly Palestinian East Jerusalem into apartments for Jews. Protestors rallied yesterday to show opposition to the construction project. Opposition to construction […]
The United States maybe in the initial stages of a Southeast Asian foreign policy overhaul; the Obama Administration is not only reconsidering its sanctions against Myanmar, but also reevaluating America’s policy toward the entire Southeast Asian region. Brian McCartan has an informative article on the recent removal of Cambodia and Laos from the United States’ […]
The Hamas government in the Gaza Strip released its first major motion picture in an effort to transform a small lot in the embattled territory into an Islamic Hollywood. The film, produced by Hamas with $200,000 over 10-months, depicts the story of 23-year old Hamas commander Emad Akel who was killed in 1993 by Israeli […]
On March 21 celebrated Zimbabwean poet Julius Chingono was briefly detained in Harare. His offense was “reciting offensive literature.” The literature in question was his powerful “My Uniform,” which he read on the capital city’s First Street in honor of World Poetry Day. I reproduce it here: My Uniform When the bread bin is empty I put on […]
CNN is reporting that Malaysian-born Noordin M. Top is believed to have been involved in the recent bombings at the Jakarta Marriott and Ritz Carlton, in the Mega Kuningan business district: Top is reportedly an officer, recruiter, bombmaker, and trainer for the JI group that was involved in a previous attack on the Marriott — […]
I am not a fan of Asif Zardari, but I have to give him credit for swallowing his ego, yet again, and going to meet Nawaz Sharif at Sharif’s residence. Given Pakistan’s awful economical and political situation, I do admire Zardari’s commitment to finding common ground with as many political parties as possible to keep […]
India will send 500 specially trained troops to Sri Lanka to help with the demining process in the northern parts of the country. Demining is the process of removal of landmines. According to the United Nation Sri Lanka had 459 known minefields yet to be cleared as of October 2008. Many more were reportedly added […]