Thousands gather to pay homage to Jamphel Yeshi who set himself ablaze in protest.
Mossad Cutting Back on Covert Operations Inside Iran, Officials Say
Israel’s intelligence services have scaled back covert operations inside Iran, ratcheting down by “dozens of percent” in recent months secret efforts to disable or delay the enemy state’s nuclear program, senior Israeli …
Must-Reads from Around the World: March 30, 2012
War on Islam – The Washington Post reports that early morning raids in Paris and other French cities led to the arrest of 19 people suspected of radical Islamist activity. The raids come in the wake of al-Qaeda-inspired gunman …
U.N. Sri Lanka Vote Redefines India’s Regional Role
In the early months of 2009 when Sri Lanka’s war was reaching its final crescendo, frantic calls were made to Colombo by Sri Lankan diplomats at the United Nations headquarters in New York. According to a top Sri Lankan diplomat, some calls were directly to Mahinda Rajapaksa himself, warning the Sri Lankan president that the U.S., …
In Wake of Protests, India Confirms Commitment to Boosting Nuclear Power
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh took his moment at the podium at the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul this week to reassert India’s commitment to nuclear energy. “We must continue to harness the numerous developmental benefits …
A New Season of Palestinian Protest Challenges Both Israel and Abbas
The Arab League is talking about Syria; Israel and the U.S. are talking about Iran. Nobody in the corridors of power, these days, is talking about the Palestinians. In part, that reflects the shifting geopolitical sands and the …
Burma: Election Fever Heats Up and Even the Military’s Party Plays Along
At the campaign rally on the outskirts of Rangoon, Burma’s largest city, much appeared as it should be. A sweaty crowd, thousands strong, dutifully waved green-and-red party flags; many sported baseball caps with the Union …
Politics, Ahoy! Germany’s Pirate Party Scores Another Election Win
Last September, when the German Pirate Party won seats in the Berlin state parliament for the first time, mainstream politicians dismissed their success as a fluke. Sure, they had secured 8.9% of the vote, pushing them well past …
Police and Protesters Clash in Spain
Unions, angry over economic reforms, wage a general strike and vent their frustrations on the street
In Hong Kong, a Setback for Domestic-Worker Rights
When Eni Lestari, an Indonesian domestic worker, heard about a ruling that might allow some 300,000 temporary foreign workers to live in Hong Kong permanently, she was thrilled. She likened it to the day in 2000 when she escaped …
Must-Reads from Around the World: March 29, 2012
Probing Tragedy – The Guardian exclusively reveals a nine-month Council of Europe investigation found a “catalog of failures” by NATO warships and European coastguards led to the deaths of dozens of migrants left adrift at sea …
Why Syria’s Peace Process is a Continuation of War By Other Means
Skepticism by Syrian opposition groups and their foreign supporters over the Kofi Annan peace plan ostensibly accepted by President Bashar al-Assad is hardly surprising: The plan specifies no timetable or sequence for its …
Tibetan’s Self-Immolation Casts Shadow over BRICS Summit
The build-up to conclaves like the BRICS summit underway now in New Delhi usually generates lofty rhetoric about the shifting of global power and the emergence of a new world order. The geo-political grouping, which brings …