Troops opened fire on political protesters near the presidential palace in Antananarivo, the national capital, on Saturday. Reports indicate that thirty people died and many more were wounded. As a result, the country's defense minister, Cecile Manorohonta, has resigned, saying the violence to weighed on her conscience. Ever since opposition leader Andry Rajoelina publicly challenged President […]
Just what sort of person would confess to reading the FPA Russia blog? In the first of an occassional series, we caught up with Scott Spires, a Moscow-based linguist, translator, writer, and recreational Russia Blog user. FPA Russia Blog: How do you like living in Russia? SS: I love it, despite the occasional aggravations and […]
Biden says a moral US will change foreign policy, but the EU will have to do more than talk The new United States government will follow a foreign policy based on its stated ideals of democracy and cooperation, US Vice-President Joe Biden told world leaders at the Munich Security Conference, but in return will demand […]
Newly appointed Afghanistan/Pakistan US ‘representative’, which gives him a bit more power than an ‘envoy’, stated during a Munich security conference that the war in Afghanistan will be a ‘long and difficult struggle,’ one which is 'tougher than Iraq.’ Not exactly breaking news, but it's important to know where Mr. Holbrooke stands and how he […]
Geithner phones China, G7 officials on economy U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner telephoned foreign finance officials to underscore the need for quick government action to restore economic health and reassure China that the United States wants to sustain a close dialogue, the Treasury said on Monday. China Trade Collapse Weakens Taiwan Dollar, Ringgit The Taiwan […]
_ FPA Russia blog sometimes gives the Guardian's Russian man Luke Harding a hard (ahem) time, but hats off to him for today's chilling and well-researched investigation into rising skinhead and neo-Nazi violence. Ultranationalist gangs, whose members are mostly in their early 20s or even younger, are responsible for over 300 brutal killings since 2004. […]
To mark 20 years since the beginning of political changes in Poland, BBC News asked its online readers: “Do you live in a former Soviet bloc country? What have 20 years of capitalism done for you? Do you think that your country has benefited from the end of communism?” Within hours, the forum was swamped […]
In Lebanon there is always something happening at some level. There are literally no breaks. Quite interesting from a socio-cultural perspective and those who follow closely the political events have their hands full at any given time. PSP leader, Walid Jumblatt decided to withdraw his envoy from the Strategic Defence committee. The controversy around the […]
Adobe Creative Suite 3 + Cakewalk Sonar 7.02 + Adobe Premiere Elements 4.0 Well, it looks like the Kyrgyz government has indeed decided to officially order the removal of American forces from the Manas air base. US officials assert that negotiations were still on going, but Kyrgyz officials stated that the deal was as good […]
Two retired generals have captured the attention of the Mexican public. One general was kidnapped, tortured, and killed in a remote area near Cancun, in the south of the country. The other general successfully confronted a group of criminals that attempted to break into his house in Mexico City. The general not only killed one […]
Cakewalk Sonar 7.02 + Adobe Premiere Elements 4.0 + SPSS 16 The life-or-death question that dominates Somalia right now: Can newly elected President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed “boost security and stability”? If so, maybe there is at least a dim ray of hope. I would not stake my future on it, but perhaps the new […]
After all of the machinations and missed deadlines and bureaucratic holdups, Jacob Zuma's corruption trial date has been set for August. The timing of this could not bode worse either for justice or for South African politics. Despite the very real political threat from the Congress of the people (COPE) the reality is that the […]
“A ten-year study of poverty in Lebanon has found that, in 2005, 28 percent of the Lebanese population qualified as poor while eight percent lived in extreme poverty with 300,000 people unable to meet basic food and other needs. The findings appeared in two reports launched Wednesday by the United Nations Development Program and the […]
At Pambazuka News Shailja Patel looks at last year's Kenya crisis, crediting the country's left with saving the country from the precipice and pulling no punches in apportioning blame .
In a surprise move, Kyrgyzstan President Bakiyev, during a visit to Moscow, stated that he would close the American Manas Air Base in his country. Bakiyev argued that the US mission in the region was complete and voiced concern over several issues including; financial compensation, an incident where a Kyrgyz citizen was killed on the […]