Most Swedes want the Wikileaks founder to respond to their country’s legal inquiries but a vocal few feel Sweden’s …
wikileaks
Assange’s Special Asylum: Why Ecuador Isn’t Nice to Anyone Else
The government of Rafael Correa extends its hospitality to the WikiLeaks founder but is accused of harassing unfriendly journalists and may extradite a whistle-blower from Belarus to face grave charges in the country described as …
Why Is Ecuador Julian Assange’s Choice for Asylum?
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has appealed for asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy in London. It’s a curious choice: under President Rafael Correa, Ecuador’s free speech record has been dismal.
Conflict in the Air: U.S. Vows to Keep Reporting on Pollution in China
Since 2008, the U.S. Embassy in Beijing has issued hourly pollution readings of small airborne particles known as PM 2.5 on the Twitter feed @beijingair, a service has since spread to U.S. consulates in Guangzhou and Shanghai. …
Must-Reads From Around the World: May 30, 2012
Suu Kyi’s World Tour – Armed with her passport and the freedom to travel without restrictions or fear, Burmese opposition leader and iconic democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi embarked on her first international trip in 24 years, …
WikiLeaks’ Stratfor E-Mails Reveal Unexpected Talent for Comedy
When WikiLeaks released a trove of diplomatic cables penned by U.S. ambassadors at the end of 2010, it soon became clear the missives weren’t simply a fascinating window onto world affairs. Many of them were also a damn good …
The Saudi-Iranian Cold War: Is This the Future of the Middle East?
It’s easy to overlook the killing of a single person in violence-plagued Pakistan, not least in Karachi, a seaside metropolis ever in danger of boiling over into sectarian bloodshed. But the murder of a Saudi diplomat by unknown assailants ought to raise eyebrows. Saudi Arabia’s tangled, pervasive influence in Pakistan has been well …
An Ally in Gitmo: the Story of Sufian bin Qumu
On Battleland, Mark Thompson rightly says that the leaked tranche of documents detailing interrogations with detainees in Guantanamo Bay contains “no bombshells.” We’ve known for a while that methods of interrogation deployed there were suspect, if not in violation of international conventions, and that dozens of inmates were seized and …
Global Briefing, April 13, 2011: Kung Pao Kangeroo
Bahrain, Divided — A crackdown by the ruling Sunni government on Shi’ite protesters is eroding the social fabric of the island kingdom, finds Karen Leigh in Manama. “It’s like there’s an invisible shield between us,” one man says.
He’s No Chicken —China blogger ‘Peking Duck,’ also known as Richard Burger, blasts the Global …
India, Pakistan and Cricket Diplomacy
There is one cricket tradition on the Subcontinent that, unlike those dapper white v-neck sweaters, has endured into the 21st century: cricket diplomacy. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has invited Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to attend tomorrow’s semi-final match in the Cricket World …
Endgame in Yemen: As Saleh sinks, what should the U.S. do?
Over dinner in Sana’a late last year, a European diplomat told me that President Ali Abdallah Saleh’s 32-year-old regime was unlikely to be toppled anytime soon. He offered four key reasons: “The army are with him and the tribes are with him—which means the people will never rise against him. And of course, the U.S. is with …
One More Scandal: Indian Prime Minister Reckons With New Wikileaks Charges
Wikileaks has revived one of the most sordid episodes in India’s recent history — in which members of the opposition waved bundles of cash on the floor of Parliament — and forced Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to answer, yet again, for charges of corruption within his party.
The cable in question, from July 17, 2008, was sent by …
Global Briefing Mar. 15, 2011: Blasts, Booms and Busts
Nuclear Fallout — Hannah Beech reflects on how Japan copes with tragedy; Krista Mahr meets tsunami survivors; Bill Powell has the latest on the situation unfolding at Fukushima Daiichi power plant.
Prelude to a Proxy War? — With Saudi troops deployed in majority Shi’ite Bahrain, Iran issues a stern condemnation.
Requesting …
