Archive for July, 2007

ASEAN braces for hurdles in formation of human rights body

Tuesday, July 31st, 2007

The Associated Press
31 July 2007
Available here
MANILA, Philippines: Having agreed to set up a regional human rights body, Southeast Asian nations now face the more difficult task of reaching consensus on how it will work, officials said Tuesday.
Human rights watchdog Amnesty International applauded the foreign ministers of the 10-member Association of Southeast Nations for agreeing to [...]

ASEAN favors US pullout from Iraq

Tuesday, July 31st, 2007

Agence France-Presse
Last updated 08:35pm (Mla time) 07/30/2007
MANILA, Philippines — Southeast Asian nations on Monday called on the United States and other nations to pull their forces out of Iraq, saying the move would help bring the war-torn country back to normal.
Foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) issued the call in a [...]

The 2008 Turkish Elections: An Islamist Victory?

Tuesday, July 31st, 2007

Informed Comment Global Affairs Blog
Guest Op-Ed by Howard Eissenstat
31 July 2007
Original available here
Howard Eissenstat is an Assistant Professor of Middle Eastern History at Seton Hall University in South Orange, NJ.
It is hard to understate the high drama of the Turkish elections that took place on July 22nd. One leading candidate, Devlet Bahçeli, of the neo-fascist [...]

Will Pakistan be in a Civil War?

Monday, July 30th, 2007

Musharraf risks civil war as he invades the Al-Qaeda badlands
July 29, 2007
Times (UK)
By: Ghulam Hasnain
Click here
IN North Waziristan, the wild border land that America hopes will be Osama Bin Laden’s graveyard, the normally busy roads are almost deserted and the fear is pervasive. Army helicopters sweep the valleys at night hunting for Al-Qaeda militants as [...]

Israel Voices Satisfaction Over U.S. Aid Increase

Monday, July 30th, 2007

Israel Voices Satisfaction Over U.S. Aid Increase
July 29, 2007
REUTERS
Reported by Andrew Grey and Avida Landua
Click here
US boosts Israel’s annual defense aid to $3 billion
Daily Star
Monday, July 30, 2007
Compiled by Daily Star staff
Click here
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert voiced satisfaction on Sunday over Washington’s intention to offset a package of arms sales [...]

Germany asks Poland for comprise on Constitution Talks

Monday, July 30th, 2007

Al Jazeera
Article on site
BBC (see below)
Article on site
Al Jazeera reports:
Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, has urged EU members to be prepared to compromise on talks over the bloc’s controversial constitution before a summit next week.
Her comments on Saturday came before she attempted to persuade Poland’s president to [...]

Q & A: European Constitution

Monday, July 30th, 2007

Q&A: EU constitution’s future
Brought to you by the BBC
Full Article
The EU is trying hard to find a replacement for the European constitution, two years after its rejection in referendums in France and the Netherlands.
Germany, which holds the presidency of the EU Council of Ministers until the end of June, is leading the effort to [...]

Sarkozy’s Libya Nuke Deal ‘A European Disgrace’

Monday, July 30th, 2007

THE WORLD FROM BERLIN
SPIEGEL ONLINE
Spielgel Online (Germany)
Siobhán Dowling
27 July 2007
URL: http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,496914,00.html
French President Nicolas Sarkozy went to Tripoli on Wednesday and struck a number of deals with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, including promises to build a nuclear reactor. Now critics in Germany and France are crying foul, accusing him of going it alone and potentially endangering [...]

Can Putin be the next Hitler?

Sunday, July 29th, 2007

Sex for the motherland: Russian youths encouraged to procreate at camp
Daily Mail (UK)
29th July 2007 8:35 am
By: Edward Lucas
Available at: click here

Remember the mammoths, say the clean-cut organisers at the youth camp’s mass wedding. “They became extinct because they did not have enough sex. That must not happen to Russia”.
Obediently, couples move to a special [...]

New US Ambassador to the UN Skillful Diplomat

Sunday, July 29th, 2007

Praise at U.N. for a New U.S. Envoy’s Inclusive Tactics and Convivial Style

The New York Times
June 6 2007
By Warren Hoge
Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/06/world/06khalilzad.html
UNITED NATIONS — One by one, the ambassadors at an unusually jolly diplomatic dinner last month rose to pay tribute to the new American ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad.
He was a needed “breath of [...]

Model United Nations Development Organization (MUNDO)