Kyrgyz citizens voted in the first competitive elections for a peaceful transfer of power in Central Asia since 1991 and the end of the Soviet Union. Sooronbai Jeenbekov, with the incumbent Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan and who had served as prime minister, won the presidency with more than...
China is moving on a national security resolution for Hong Kong, relying on the National People’s Congress rather than waiting for the territory’s Legislative Council to shape its own rules. The resolution would “ban all seditious activities aimed at toppling the central government and external...
A top economic advisor to the Japanese government, Gregory Clark, argues that globalization and free trade do not always add up to global prosperity. Infant industries have historically benefited more from national trade protection than they have under free trade. The idea that protectionist...
The harsh treatment handed out to European Union ideals by French and Dutch voters this month was in part a reaction to excessive EU bureaucracy and expansionism. But it was also a gut rejection of so-called...
Canada is backing away from open borders for skilled labor. New rules require employers who hope to hire a foreign worker must submit copies of the employment offer, details about their business operations and a $230 fee. The government’s aim is to protect Canadian workers against displacement,...
Click here for the article in The Vancouver Sun.
China has lost the will to enforce its unpopular one-child policy, largely because the need for enforcement has vanished. Europe and the US have long criticized the one-child policy, blaming it for China’s ballooning aging population and a gender imbalance. Fertility rates have gradually fallen...
Click here for the article in Asia Sentinel.
The differences over Iraq that emerged between France, Germany and the US in the UN Security Council have now widened and spilled over into NATO. The Bush administration and Congressional leaders were furious at a news report about a secret Franco-German plan to boost the number of arms inspectors...
Click here for the original article on The International Herald Tribune website.
The United Kingdom and the European Union reached initial agreement on three major Brexit issues, but as the British prime minister once said, “Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.” The agreement covers rights for UK or EU citizens living in either place, a €55 billion financial settlement...
To exit or not: The start to a successful settlement with the European Union on Brexit as shown by Theresa May and Jean-Claud Juncker received a blow from the British parliament.
NEW HAVEN: “Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed” was a...
A new coronavirus emerged in 2019, attacking populations in multiple ways. One mystery is the high Covid-19 mortality rates among some of the world’s wealthiest nations. Five nations account about for two-thirds of global deaths, and the United States, with 4 percent of the world’s population...
Mystery of discrepancies: Belgium defends the transparency of its health care system, left, in posting the world’s highest Covid-19 mortality rate while US protesters reject economic lockdowns, with many shrugging about need for social distancing or...
