The past few days have seen terrible acts of violence (terrorism) in Iraq, Turkey, and India , and threats in China. On Saturday, according to news reports, 17 explosions went off one after another in Ahmedabad, India , with two further blasts at hospitals. 49 people were killed. The attacks were probably "attempts to provoke […]
Anyone can look sympathetically upon a photo of someone crying inside their burnt out house, and feel the pain and grief that one would have, but imagine when it is compounded by a whole village. Now add death and rape into the mix, and the images are even more haunting, the images are the reality […]
There may be a good day in Darfur. And the ICC's indictment of Sudanese Presidnet Omar Hassan al-Bashir may have a lot to do with it, the New York Times reports. While al-Bashir's government, and even the domestic political opposition, is rallying around him in defiance of the ICC indictment, the Times suggests that previously […]
Where do you get your international news? What are your trusted sources for finding out what the U.S. is doing on the world? The MountainRunner blog (devoted to public diplomacy and strategic communication) recently examined a new study about the amount of international news coverage in the mainstream American media. The study found that the […]
While much of the European media is consumed with insatiable "Obamamania,' Christoph von Marschall, bureau chief of Berlin's daily Der Tagesspiegel, describes how the foreign media has been almost completely denied access to the candidate. He writes: "As a German correspondent in Washington, I am accustomed to the fact that American politicians spare little of […]
Although I disagree with The New Yorker's recent taste in cover art, I do think Hendrick Hertzberg is one of America's best political commentators. Until we have some reliable polls on how Americans feel about Obama's recent foreign travel, Hertzberg has the next best thing: how Americans ought to feel: There has been much discussion […]
Al-Jazeera's website featured some video coverage of Hamas's security crackdown that followed a deadly car bombing in the Gaza Strip this past weekend. It can be viewed here: (link) Subsequently, this has been met with raids by Fatah-allied Palestinian police against Hamas elements in the West Bank. While Hamas-allied police forces in Gaza state that […]
Good day everyone, I am Patrick Frost, the FPA blogger for Central Asia, and Karin has been kind enough to let me do a post on this site from time to time. Please feel free to send me comments, critiques, and questions at [email protected] or just post them on this site. Today, I would like […]
Somalia has now faced 17 years of bloodshed and chaos. This past week news agencies have been reporting on and questioning the ongoing power struggle (between the Western-backed government and armed "Islamist militias") and the effects of Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys' proclamation that he is the leader of the country's opposition. Aweys is designated a […]
In the post Drug Trade Fuels Forced Marriages in Afghanistan, the looming drug culture was brought to attention, as the country drug market has only continued to fuel human rights violations and breed more suffering among the populous, especially children. A recent New York Times article written by Thomas Schweich, a former U.S. counternarcotics official, […]
Burma (Myanmar) ratified a proposed international charter that includes controversial human rights provisions, a day after regional powers slammed the nation's ruling junta for extending opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's detention. But question marks remain about whether Myanmar's junta is willing to adhere to the principles of human rights and respect for rule of […]
Costs , The Center for Integrative Environmental Research has been doing a series of studies on the economic impacts of climate change and the costs of inaction. Their release from Wednesday says: "Climate change will carry a price tag of billions of dollars for a number of U.S. states, says a new series of reports […]
In Tanzania, the body parts of albinos are believed to possess magical properties. BBC journalist, Vicky Ntetema, has filmed (see video here) a witchdoctor in Tanzania discussing anatomy for potions. There are anywhere between 4000 to 173,000 albinos living in Tanzania. So far this year, a known 25 have been killed for witchcraft, most in […]
Lawyers for Radovan Karadzic just before midnight Friday dispatched a letter via postal carrier to the U.N. tribunal at The Hague, lodging an appeal against his transfer to the international court. Svetozar Vujacic, one of the defense members, said the letter was filed at the last possible minute in an effort to delay the extradition […]
Reuters reports that conditions in the Haguue war crimes prison are well above international standards, and Joshua Keating at Foreign Policy magazine calls it the Hague's “Kumbaya Prison.” Apparently, the detainees have put aside religious differences and bonded, going from fratricide to fraternity. A shame it didn't happen a little bit earlier.