Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, surrounded by Gulf leaders on 1 April in Istanbul during the second conference of “Friends” of Syria. On March 21, 2012 the UN Security Council unanimously (all 15 members)…
Category: Asia
“The Bretton Woods times institutions are not the right tools to meet the 21 century challenges.” “An agreement to replace the US dollar by own currencies in mutual credit lines is a great achievement of…
Kofi Annan: black skin, white masks Although Kofi Annan’s track record at the UN is an indisputable success in terms of management and efficiency, he has been sharply criticized for his political shortcomings. As Secretary…
Over the past years, it has been happening with frightening regularity that U.S. diplomats and CIA agents were caught pulling off operations involving illicit weapons supply in Latin America. The inescapable impression is that the…
Japan’s Pacific coastline may be hit by an enormous tsunami, should a major earthquake occur off the coast of the country’s central island. This is the scenario feared – and expected – by local specialists. A special Cabinet Office panel warned of the possibility Saturday, after it revised its 2003 estimate, reports the Kyodo news agency. The new revision reflects new findings from the March 2011 earthquake that triggered a massive tsunami and the world’s worst nuclear crisis in 25 years. Back in 2003, the panel was sure that Japan would never see a tsunami more than 20 meters high. The new report, however, is based on the assumption that the earthquake will have a magnitude of 9.0 and will occur on the Nankai Trough. The oceanic fault runs east of the central Japanese island of Honshu and is 900 km long. Moreover, this trough is one of the most probable places for an earthquake of such magnitude to occur in the coming decades, local specialists believe.
A state of war only serves as an excuse for domestic tyranny. -Alexander Solzhenitsyn The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has nothing to gain and all to lose – especially their lives. -Eugene Victor Debs Few nations have such extensive borders or coasts as the United States. Few have borders as blessedly uncontested and unthreatened. Why, then, is the US so contemptuous of international law? Why does the US intervene in and invade other lands, often far from our shores, with such alarming frequency? Why does this nation squander trillions of dollars on “security” and “defense”? Why does this nation maintain fleets and hundreds of costly military bases all over the globe? Why does this nation dissipate its treasure deploying the world’s most massive killing machine?
Editor’s Note: Despite voices of opposition from the West calling the latest election in Myanmar/ Burma as a ‘sham’ and ‘undemocratic’, it is important to remember that countries must be given a chance to develop…
Chen Xin (China Daily) and Reuters reports on the latest decision made by Foxconn in terms of improving work conditions for its workers. Foxconn vows to reduce hours at factories Foxconn, the largest supplier of Apple Inc, said on Friday that it will remedy its workplace abuses after a US labor auditor commissioned by Apple inspected Foxconn’s three plants in China. A report, filed by the nonprofit Fair Labor Association and released on Thursday, found that Foxconn employees work 56 hours a week on average – which is more than the 40 regular hours a week and 36 hours of overtime a month that they are allowed under Chinese law. In some cases, the report found that employees had worked more than seven days in a row without taking a 24-hour break, as they are required to. And many were not properly paid for working overtime, it said. In February and March, the Fair Labor Association surveyed more than 35,000 workers in three Foxconn factories, two of which are in the coastal manufacturing hub of Shenzhen and…
The Art of Warfare : Iran and The Gas Pipeline Battle Two major pipeline projects are at present vying to secure future energy supplies to Pakistan, India and China. One originates in Iran while…
One of the reason why Australia was able to stay out of the economic crisis is due to China’s interest in Australia’s resources. Regardless of past criticisms, the trade and business between the two countries…
