Historically, Russia-China relations have been characterized by long periods of mistrust, interspersed with bouts of anger, fear, resentment, and at times even open hostilities. During the Soviet period, Moscow and Beijing were, for the most part, able to present a superficial front of friendship based on a common communist ideology. Yet, despite their past differences—at [...]
The Russia-China Relationship And The Russian Far East – Analysis
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Shahbag Square: Bangladesh’s DNA – Analysis
The huge protest gatherings at Shahbag Square in Dhaka demanding capital punishment for the 1971 war criminals, and the growing call for banning the Jamaat-e-Islami (JEI) reaffirms that the future of Bangladesh is in secure hands. These are young men and women, students, and professionals, cutting across party lines and non-party citizens who have realized [...]
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Nuclear Weapons: Debating The Normative Imperatives To Disarm – Analysis
By Satyabrat Sinha In evaluating the argument that for global nuclear disarmament to be possible, norms that delegitimise and devalue nuclear weapons are needed, we first need to understand norms and their difference from injunctions (legal or moral), and the emergence of norms. Norms may be defined as, a principle of right action binding upon [...]
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Philippines: Colonial-Era Dispute Resurfaces As ‘Fake Sultan’ Lays Down Claim
Joe Torres and Steve Finch The Philippines dispatched six navy vessels and an aircraft off Sabah in northeastern Borneo on Thursday as tensions escalated with Malaysia after armed followers of a local sultan laid claim to a tiny corner in the northeast of the island. Malaysia’s armed forces have surrounded more than 200 supporters of [...]
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Panetta Lands In Brussels For Afghan-Focused NATO Meetings
By Karen Parrish Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta arrived here today and will spend the rest of the week at NATO headquarters, attending defense meetings and engaging his counterparts in one-on-one discussions. Pentagon Press Secretary George Little is traveling with Panetta and told reporters the secretary is scheduled to meet separately tomorrow and Feb. 22 [...]
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Hunger Striker Samer Issawi Sentenced To 8 Months In Prison
An Israeli court on Thursday sentenced hunger-striker Samer Issawi to eight months in prison, but he has yet to face a military committee which could imprison him for 20 years. Issawi has been on hunger strike for 204 days. The magistrates court in Jerusalem sentenced Issawi for leaving Jerusalem, in violation of the terms of [...]
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Bulgaria: PM Borisov Criticised For Stepping Down
By Svetla Dimitrova Former Bulgaria Prime Minister Ivan Kostov is criticising Prime Minister Boyko Borisov’s resignation, saying that the leader of the ruling centre-right party GERB shouldn’t quit when a number of key issues, including widespread poverty and high utility bills needed to be resolved. “Borisov simply handed the rule of the country to BSP [...]
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Syria: Large Explosion Rocks Damascus, Over 50 Killed, 200 Wounded
(RFE/RL) — Syria’s state media are reporting a large explosion in the center of the capital, Damascus. Police say a car bomb exploded on February 21 near the headquarters of Syria’s ruling Baath Party and the Russian Embassy. State media called it a “terrorist” attack — a term often used for attacks by rebels fighting [...]
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Sub-Saharan Africa ‘Freedom And Democracy’ Rankings Inch Up
(EurActiv) — Sub-Saharan African countries have seen major advances in freedom and democracy, according to the report “Freedom in the world 2013” presented in the European Parliament yesterday (20 February). The report by US-based NGO Freedom House, was presented in Parliament yesterday (20 February) in the presence of the liberal group leader Guy Verhofstadt and [...]
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MEPs Excited At Prospect Of EU-US Trade Talks, But Warn Of Difficulties
international Trade Committee MEPs on Thursday strongly backed moves to start talks with the US on the world’s biggest-ever trade deal but warned Commissioner Karel De Gucht that hard bargaining would be needed to clinch a deal acceptable to the EU public. “We all were wery happy when President Obama annpunced the will to start [...]
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White House Targets WikiLeaks And LulzSec In Cyber-Espionage Report
Amid a growing call for new cybersecurity protections in the United States, the US government has issued a report that reconfirms Washington’s interest in shutting down WikiLeaks and other underground information-sharing organizations. In Washington, DC on Wednesday, Attorney General Eric Holder unveiled a new White House report that is meant to address further the growing [...]
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Iranian Security Forces Disrupt Dervish Protest
Gonabadi dervishes gathered in front of Evin Prison today in support of jailed dervishes and their lawyers. The Majzooban-e Noor website reports that some of the protesters were briefly arrested by security forces, and some reports even indicate the dervishes were mistreated. The dervishes had announced that they were planning a protest in support of [...]
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John Kerry’s “Soft Power” – OpEd
By Alexei Lyakhov and Andrey Fedyashin The new US Secretary of State John Kerry has hinted that during Barack Obama’s second presidential term, the US’s foreign policy will change to the side of the so-called “soft power”. Mr. Kerry said this during his speech in the Virginia University on February 20, which was his first [...]
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Syria: 53 Die In Bombing Near Assad’s Party Headquarters
A powerful explosion near Syria’s ruling Baath Party building and the Russian Embassy in Damascus on Thursday killed at least 53 people, the state news agency reported. TV footage showed charred and bloodied bodies strewn across the street after the blast, which state media said was the result of a suicide bombing by “terrorists” battling [...]
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Google To Launch Touchscreen Laptops Line – Report
Google is reportedly planning to launch a line of touchscreen laptops later this year, Digital Spy said. The Wall Street Journal claims that the web giant’s new hardware will run the Chrome operating system and embrace cloud computing technology. The move would see Google move into direct competition in the sector with Microsoft, whose Windows [...]
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The Northern Ireland ‘Flag-Riots’: A One-Off Or A Sign Of Things To Come? – Analysis
Deciding to limit the number of days the Union Flag flies over Belfast recently resulted in sectarian violence, or so many have argued. Alex Mackenzie disagrees. To him, the ‘flag riots’ reflect something much deeper – continued frustration with Northern Ireland’s long-term structural problems. By Alex MacKenzie Generally speaking, peace has been maintained in Northern [...]
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NATO Meetings Focus On Capabilities, Readiness
By Karen Parrish Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta spent today discussing NATO capabilities and readiness during the two-day alliance defense ministers gathering under way here. Pentagon Press Secretary George Little, who is traveling with Panetta, said the secretary also took part in one-on-one meetings with the Italian and Afghan defense ministers. A key theme of [...]
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The Netherlands: Calls To Halt Plan To Deport Somalis
The Dutch government should not deport Somalis to any part of south-central Somalia, including Mogadishu, until security improves substantially, and the UN refugee agency has issued new guidelines. In mid-February 2013, Dutch authorities said they planned to deport two rejected Somali asylum seekers, originally from Mogadishu, back to Somalia on February 20 and 23. The [...]
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The Sahara At The Crossroads – Analysis
The current crisis in Mali, the French intervention and the international terrorist threat it poses have once again put jihadism centre-stage in the media. While analysts assess the likelihood of France’s success in the region and the critical situation, rightly emphasising the consequences of recent events in Libya, few have taken into account the intricate [...]
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Trends On Green House Gas Emissions In The US – Analysis
By P. K. Gautam According to the US Department of State’s US Climate Action Report 2010, US GHG emission in 2007 amounted to 7,150 tetragrams of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent—a 17 per cent increase over 1990 levels. This report of 2010 is the mandated fifth National Communication (Natcom) on US climate change actions. The US [...]
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