Defense Secretary Bob Gates has announced the US support for doubling the Afghan army to 120,000 troops in the next five years, a plan initially proposed by the Afghan government. The plan will require about $20 Billion dollars, which will mostly be paid by the US, but there will be some assistance from other NATO […]
Are things really coming to a head in the Caucuses? Violence is escalating in Ingushetia (bordering Chechnya), Sochi, South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Edward Lucas has written a lucid overview of the Russian conflict with Georgia and whether we are on a cusp of a major war. A Russian position on the Ossetia question is here, […]
On the 10th anniversary of the embassy bombings in Kenya, the government has vowed greater vigilance on the issue of terrorism. Radical Islamist terrorism is likely to be an increasing factor in East African life in the foreseeable future, and it is wise for Kenya to take the issue more seriously, though this heightened awareness […]
The potentially bad news is that there has been a coup in Mauritania. In the country's capital, Nouakchott, General Mohammad al-Abdul Aziz, the head of the presidential guard, and General Mohammad al-Ghazwani, the army chief-of-staff, both of whom had recently been fired have taken control of the presidential palace. Officers seized President Sidi Mohamed Ould […]
Xinjiang Shakeup Since Tuesday's terrorist attack on Chinese border patrol in Xinjiang Province's city of Kashgar, things have gotten rather tense in the region, as exile groups have claimed that China's government has sped up the detainment of suspected 'separatists and increased its presence of paramilitary forces as the Olympics draws near. The region's ethnic […]
Free Patriotic Movement leader General Michel Aoun has moved the goalposts again. Speaking after the Change and Reform bloc's meeting on July 28, the inscrutable former soldier declared that Hezbollah should remain armed until Israel recognizes the Palestinians' right of return, a quixotic deadline if ever there was one. "A solution should be found regarding […]
After a recent post on Mexico's fight against AIDS in Tijuana, I wanted to explore the other, brighter side of the city. An article in today's NY Times titled “It's Hot. It's Hip. It's Tijuana?” reveals a different side of Tijuana than the main drag, Avenida Revolucion, which is much of the source of Tijuana's […]
The Christian Science Monitor has embarked on a vitally important four-part series on how Kenya stepped back from the brink of catastrophe in the wake of its hotly contested elections in January. The country, which appeared to be a shining example of the successes of liberal democracy in Africa, found itself on the precipice when […]
In a morning speech Thursday outside the Oval Office, George W addressed the Iraq war, political and military advances made by the Iraqi government and shorter tours of duty. The International Herald Tribune published the full text of his speech. “This has been a month of encouraging news from Iraq. Violence is down to its […]
Translation provided by www.mideastwire.com On August 5, the Lebanese News Agency posted the transcript of the ministerial statement. The following are excerpts of the statement: "The introduction: 1- "Around two months ago, under Arab auspices and with the support of Lebanon's brothers and friends, we reached an exceptional agreement that was highly necessary for that […]
Zimbabwe ordinarily does not much register on the cultural radar in the United States. But just to show how worthless Zimbabwe's surrency has become, The Washington Post's travel section this week wrote the following: These days, however, frequent-flier miles are looking a lot like Zimbabwean dollars. The currency is being devalued with spirit-crushing regularity. There's […]
President Michel Suleiman will make his first visit to Damascus next week for talks with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad. The two neighbors would discuss establishing diplomatic ties, an official said on Tuesday. “The summit will be held on August 13,” an official from Baabda Palace told AFP. Relations have been tense since Syria pulled […]
With the 2008 International AIDS conference taking place in Mexico City during August 3-8, I wanted to include a link to the conference's main web site, as well as highlighting the programme-at-a-glance that includes the schedule breakdown, links to powerpoint presentations, and more.
Two stories from IRIN underscore one of the big public health issues in Africa today. Maternal and infant mortality is not just a problem in Congo-Brazzaville and Ghana, though those two countries are attempting, as are so many sub-Saharan African countries, to get to grips with the reality that the birth of a child is […]
Jacob Zuma would like to have the corruption charges against him thrown out. Barring that, he hopes that a policy of delay will buy him time to find a way out of his crisis. He knows that in some circles among his allies and among those who have not taken sides there is a hope […]