Crisis can and seems to have opened new opportunity in the Korean peninsula. Having gone to the precipice of a nuclear confrontation, the parties in Northeast Asia have woken up to the need for a realistic approach. China, Japan, Russia, South Korea, the US and North Korea reached an agreement to...
A new beginning: US Assistant Secretary Christopher Hill (left) shakes hand with North
Korea's chief negotiator Kim Kye-gwan
CANBERRA: After 15 years of sporadic negotiations and crises, an agreement reached in Beijing on...
Libya’s rebels receive assistance in the form of a no-fly zone from NATO and training from former Afghan Mujahedeen, reports Charles Levinson for the Wall Street Journal. One is a Libyan militant who was detained by Pakistani forces after the US invasion of Afghanistan and spent six years in the US...
DARNA, Libya – Two former Afghan Mujahedeen and a six-year detainee at Guantanamo Bay have stepped to the fore of this city's military campaign, training new recruits for the front and to protect the city from infiltrators loyal to Col. Moammar...
The world has inequalities of many kinds, and retirement is no exception. Government-sponsored pensionable retirement programs are popular worldwide, regarded as essential in the wealthiest economies. “Retirement programs are similar in purpose, yet differ considerably in scope, coverage,...
Retiring difficulty: Analysts eye income levels, health habits and lifestyles to determine reasons behind varying life-expectancy rates; seniors in a California facility exercise in chairs, and Japanese elderly work hard to stay in shape
NEW YORK: A...
Despite a stream of bad news, development plans are underway even among nations with adversarial relations. Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Pakistan and India signed an agreement in early July to move forward with a 1,700-kilometer natural gas pipeline. “This $7.5 billion project known as TAPI, or the...
Peace pipe: File photo of 2012 summit of TAPI partners, from left, Indian Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Murli Deora; Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari; Turkmenistan President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov; Afghan President Hamid Karzai;...
While soccer has contributed to nationalism in the face of sectarian violence for some Middle Eastern countries, it also reemphasizes some deep divisions that resound across the region. The violent fallout stemming from the Egypt-Algeria World Cup qualifying match indicates how notions of Middle...
Click here for the article in Foreign Policy.
The Public Health Ministers of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) are scheduled to meet in Malaysia to discuss specific proposals for regional cooperation to combat further spread of SARS. Thailand’s proposals include the screening of all departing passengers, the establishment of...
Thailand will propose screening departing passengers to strengthen regional cooperation in combating the Sars outbreak when Asean public health ministers meet in Malaysia, the public health minister said yesterday...
China, the world's most populous country, looks set to become one of the 21st century's main movers and shakers. Analysts speak in less glowing terms about China's neighbor and budding rival, India. The subcontinental giant has years of catch-up to play to match China's...
My first visit to India, more than 20 years ago, was in a previous incarnation as an investment banker. I often say that the experience of trying (and failing) to do business in India is what drove me back to my first-...
Scientists have long warned that temperatures will soar and people swelter as rising levels of greenhouse gases lead to global warming. However, new evidence suggests that these conclusions were somewhat off-base. Instead of sweating, people around the world may soon be shivering as high...
If you can remember back to the bitter winters of the late 1970s and early 80s you might also recall that there was much discussion in scientific circles at the time about whether or not the freezing winter conditions...
