The UN called for greater worldwide access to contraception in its observation of World Population Day, on July 11th. The world's population is expected to grow to 9.2 billion by 2050. According to UN data, supplying voluntary contraception to those who want it would cost about $1.2 billion per year. (BBC) Albanian officials are actively […]
Energy and Commerce Committee – We all seem agreed that substantive federal legislation addressing climate change will emerge from the 111th Congress. It seems entirely likely that the new Congress will have a measurably higher Democratic component than now, in both houses. (See this from PollingReport.com and this from the “NY Times” which reports that […]
I came across a video produced by Al-Qaeda in Iraq's al-Furqan media group this weekend. It was posted earlier this week in a jihadist internet forum, but is now also available on YouTube. The video is the third part of a series entitled, “The Knights of Martyrdom”. While I haven't seen part 2, I have […]
Thanks to my fellow blogger for bringing up the newly-confirmed Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy (PD) James K Glassman's remarks at the Washington Institute for Middle East Policy (view video here). Clearly Glassman will be a more than competent placeholder until the next administration names its own Public Diplomacy czar. But some elements of his remarks […]
(Bush and Singh at the G-8 Meeting this week in Tokyo) The biggest headline emanating from this week's G-8 summit in Tokyo had nothing to do with poverty alleviation, or climate change. Rather it had to do with negotiations between President Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about a nuclear deal three years in the making. Referred to as […]
There have been two interesting news stories related to China's "religion policies' in the weeks leading up the Olympics. One development concerns Sino-French relations, and the Chinese Ambassador to France's warning that "there would be serious consequences" for their relations if President Sarkozy meets the Dalai Lama. Apparently, just meeting the Dalai Lama is an […]
A report in yesterday's As-Safir covered a recent press conference given by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus. According to the pro-opposition Lebanese daily, al-Assad voiced that the US's role in any future peace deal with Israel is essential, and is one that cannot be matched by any European country. He stated that this is […]
The Washington Post reports that ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo will charge the president of Sudan, Colonel Omar Hassan Al-Bashir, with genocide and crimes against humanity. Appropriately, the announcement comes on the anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre, which gave rise to an exceedingly rare holding that genocide had actually been committed. A conviction on genocide […]
Last week's release of the 2008 Index of Global Philanthropy by the Hudson Institute, Center for Global Propsperity showed the power that private money is having on the world of philanthropy. Citing that in 2006 government aid equaled less that 25% of the all economic dealings with developing countries – with private flows making up […]
Did you know that the U.S. State Department has a blog? It's called DipNote (short for diplomatic note) and according to the “About” page the blog, “offers the public an alternative source to mainstream media for U.S. foreign policy information. This blog offers the opportunity for participants to discuss important foreign policy issues with senior […]
“There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul, then the way it treats its children.” – Nelson Mandela Children are the global natural resources of the future, if we choose to ignore them we choose to ignore the prosperity of the future. Children are one investment which we should never be taken for […]
Warning: This post contains offensive language. This post was originally published July 11, 2007. Today marks the 12th 13th anniversary of the massacre in Srebernica. In July 1995, in the United Nations mandated "safe area' of Srebrenica, Serbian forces summarily executed some 8,000 Bosnian men. The forces of the Army of Republika Srpska, led by […]
On June 23, this blog discussed the Anglican divide over homosexuality. Now, this week has seen another contentious issue resurface in the Church of England. The General Synod met this year from July 4 to July 8 and voted on Monday, July 7 to approve the appointment of women bishops in Britain. The BBC News […]
A Yemeni national which the U.S. government says ran an al-Qaida terrorist training camp where two of the Sept. 11 hijackers trained says the prosecution should let him view classified evidence, Reuters reported. Walid bin Attash said Thursday he wants access to classifed evidence because he says it would be safer in his hands than […]
Iran continued a military exercise today that demonstrated both an offensive and defensive capability to the region and to the U.S. (Washington Post -Iran Launches Another Test Missile, Draws Rebuke From Rice): Citing broadcasts on state-run Iranian television, the Associated Press reported out of Tehran that the country had continued an ongoing military exercise […]