Mugabe's Zimbabwe is undergoing what many call the county's worst peace time crisis. Due to a shortage of hard currency Zimbabwe is now weighed down by hyperinflation and constant import shortages, mainly fuel and food stuffs. The current crisis has led to what is almost a complete demise of Zimbabwe's education system. Once was once seen as […]
When former Secretary of State Colin Powell appeared on Meet the Press and endorsed Senator Obama he specifically mentioned Gov. Palin's candidacy as one of the reasons for his doubts about the Republican ticket: And I was also concerned at the selection of Governor Palin. She's a very distinguished woman, and she's to be admired; […]
The tribunal system established to try suspected terrorists at the U.S. naval facility at Guantanamo Bay does not seem to meet international requirements for a fair trial, a U.N. expert said. Martin Scheinin, a human rights and terrorism expert, told the U.N. General Assembly a visit last year to the detention facility confirmed his concerns […]
In the Washington Post today Joby Warrick and Karen DeYoung report, “On Al-Qaeda Web Sites, Joy Over U.S. Crisis, Support for McCain:” “Al-Qaeda is watching the U.S. stock market's downward slide with something akin to jubilation, with its leaders hailing the financial crisis as a vindication of its strategy of crippling America's economy through endless, […]
The U.S. presidential election is entering its final weeks and it's not surprising to find most news media saturated with election coverage. Most of it naturally concerns domestic politics, so I’d like to call your attention to an excerpt on the American Diplomacy website of analysis by George Friedman, founder and Chief Intelligence Officer of […]
The Council on Foreign Relations recently won an Emmy for its video Crisis Guide on Darfur. I’ve gotten through the first two chapters and I can tell you that it is extremely informative. It highlights both the devastation that the civil war has wrought on the Sudanese and also the efforts of the international community […]
For years now the culture of impunity against rapists in the Congo has further humiliated victims. Many are too frightened to speak up, others too shamed. The eastern Congo, according to the United Nations, is the scene of world's worst orchestrated campaign of rape. Another tool that breeds fear for reasons insane by various military […]
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has convened a two-day Global Forum of Faith-Based Organizations in Istanbul. The main result was the formation of an Interfaith Network on Population and Development. The goal was "to strengthen cooperation against the global urgencies of maternal death, AIDS, and poverty." The press release says that the Global Forum […]
WEST AFRICA : Cross-border FGM on the rise According to the UN, spurring the need to impose a region-wide law banning the practice, say experts. A study sponsored by UNIFEM to be released in late October 2008 said circumcisers or girls who undergo circumcision are increasingly crossing borders to perform or undergo the procedure to […]
First, a recent order directing that a group of Uighur detainees at Guantanamo be released into the continental United States has been placed on hold by the DC Circuit Court of Appeals pending a government appeal. Lyle Denniston provides the hold order, from a three-judge panel of the Court, in this post, summarizing the case. […]
The U.S. is hosting a major international conference on aid and development (AP – Bush hosts international aid summit): The event brings together about 500 representatives of nations ‚ from Africa to Romania ‚ that receive U.S. aid; faith-based organizations; and non-governmental, private and public leaders from the United States and the developing world. U.S. […]
Commenter Steve Hoenstine had some harsh words for the Sudanese Darfur trials here. Human Rights Watch agrees, condemning the domestic trials as “mere window dressing” with “little promise of bringing justice to victims of serious abuses.”
Afghanistan is standing on the precipice of disaster. Almost seven years after the initial attack on the Taliban (most of which was very successful), Coalition forces are now poised at a crossroads. All interested parties must ask themselves one key question: Are we in or are we out? Just as America double-downed on the surge […]
According to the Hamas-affiliated Palestinian Information Center (PIC), a spokesman for the group asserts that an Egyptian document outlining guidelines for internal Palestinian reconciliation “contains positive points that could be built upon.” He went on to say that Hamas will agree to the document once necessary changes and clarifications are made to it. Hamas's statement […]
Two reporters from abroad have separately noticed and reported that certain issues and regions have been neglected in the US presidential campaign. First, Jonathan Marcus, a BBC News diplomatic correspondent, reported last week that “US campaign bypasses foreign policy:” “At the outset of this presidential race it looked as though foreign policy would be one of the […]