Online Journal of Politics and Foreign Affairs
A mystery in The Vatican over who might be leaking documents that include Pope Benedict XVI’s private correspondence, has apparently been solved with the arrest of the most stereotypically obvious suspect possible: VATICAN CITY — An already sordid scandal over leaked Vatican documents took a Hollywood-like turn Saturday with confirmation that the pope’s own butler [...]
Based on the business activity numbers coming out, it’s beginning to look like the entire Eurozone is headed back into recession: Activity at European businesses hit a near three-year low in May, according to a survey by Markit. Its index, based on a survey of purchasing managers in the manufacturing and service sector, fell to [...]
The race to become Egypt’s first freely-elected President is, not surprisingly, headed for a runoff, but one has to wonder what kind of choice the Egyptian people really will have in the end: CAIRO — The Islamist candidate of the Muslim Brotherhood will face former President Hosni Mubarak’s last prime minister in a runoff to become Egypt‘s first [...]
The Pakistani physician who helped American agents find Osama bin Laden has been convicted by a Pakistani court of treason: A Pakistani doctor who helped the CIA find Osama Bin Laden has been sentenced to 33 years in jail, officials say. Shakil Afridi was charged with treason for running a fake vaccination programme to gather [...]
Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, the only man ever convicted in the terrorist attack that took down Pan Am Flight 103, has died in Libya: BENGHAZI, Libya — Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, a Libyan intelligence officer who was the only person ever convicted in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, died Sunday nearly three years after he was released from [...]
The blind Chinese dissident who set off a diplomatic broohaha after seeking refuge at the U.S. Embassy in Bejing is headed to the United States: BEIJING — Chen Guangcheng, the blind legal defender who made a dramatic escape from house arrest and whose decision to seek refuge in the American Embassy here jolted American-Sino relations, [...]
Since Mexico’s President Felipe Calderón began an all-out assault on drug cartels in 2006, more than 50,000 people have lost their lives across the country in a nearly-continuous string of shootouts, bombings, and ever-bloodier murders.
Not surprisingly, the final efforts to form a workable coalition government in Greece have failed: ATHENS—Greece is heading to new elections after political party leaders failed to reach an agreement to form a coalition government following an inconclusive election May 6 that left the cash-strapped country deeply divided and put its fate in the euro [...]
With the political situation in Greece becoming more unstable by the day and the Franco-German alliance on monetary issues likely at an end, it’s beginning to be hard to see how the Euro survives: Is there any hope for the euro dream? One potential way forward would be to create a European- level fiscal union [...]
The latest effort to form a government out of last Sunday’s confusing election in Greece seems to have failed: ATHENS — Talks to form a new Greek government collapsed on Sunday, when the leader of a left-wing party that favors rejecting Greece’s loan agreement with foreign creditors again refused to join a unity coalition, making [...]
Apparently, the whole “from each according to his ability, to each according to his need” thing doesn’t really apply to Socialists in France these days: France’s new Socialist president owns three holiday homes in the glamorous Riviera resort of Cannes, it emerged today. The 57-year-old who ‘dislikes the rich’ and wants to revolutionise his country [...]
My first piece for the Christian Science Monitor, co-authored with my Atlantic Council collegue Barry Pavel, has been posted.
Less than a year after the southern provinces of Sudan gained their independence as the Republic of South Sudan, it looks like the two nations are headed toward war: MAYOM WEL, South Sudan — On a recent blistering afternoon, this village danced in an open field. Women sashayed, hoisting chairs over their heads. Barefoot children [...]
Via the BBC: Russia President Putin will miss G8 Camp David summit Mr Putin, who was inaugurated as President this week after an absence of four years, told US officials he was busy finalising his cabinet. He will send the outgoing president, Dmitry Medvedev, who replaces him as prime minister, instead. My first reaction: how [...]
Via the BBC: Brazil Senate approves controversial World Cup law The Brazilian Senate has passed a controversial and much-delayed bill paving the way for alcohol to be sold in stadiums at the 2014 World Cup. When Brazil was chosen to host the event it promised to sell alcohol at matches despite a 2003 drinks ban [...]
Via the BBC: Pasok’s Venizelos in third bid for Greece coalition Pasok leader Evangelos Venizelos has been asked to make a third attempt to form a coalition government in Greece, amid turmoil after Sunday’s elections. Mr Venizelos was given the mandate to start new talks after failed bids by leaders of the centre-right New Democracy [...]
It looks like Greece is headed for another round of Parliamentary elections after all the major parties failed to form a workable coalition government: ATHENS — Just three days after elections in Greece left a fractured political landscape, and raised further doubts about its commitment to a foreign bailout and its future in the euro [...]
Invite a ridiculously hot Playboy model: Mexico’s electoral authority apologized to voters on Monday after a sober presidential debate was upstaged by a former Playboy model and her revealing outfit. Clad in a tight-fitting white dress with a cut below the neckline to show much of her cleavage, Julia Orayen was working as an assistant [...]
With former Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin back as President, former Russian President Dimitri Medvedev is back as Prime Minister: (Reuters) – Russia’s lower house of parliament confirmed former president Dmitry Medvedev as prime minister on Tuesday, completing a job swap with Vladimir Putin that has sparked protests against the two leaders’ grip on power. [...]
Haaretz reports: In surprise move, Netanyahu, Mofaz agree to form unity government, cancel early elections Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition chairman MK Shaul Mofaz (Kadima) reached an agreement early Tuesday morning to form a national unity government and cancel early elections, which had been expected to take place on September 4. Under the agreement, [...]
It is as if he never left, in fact. Via the BBC: Vladimir Putin inaugurated as Russian president Mr Putin is returning to the presidency after an absence of four years in which he served as prime minister. The outgoing President, Dmitry Medvedev, was widely seen as an ally of Mr Putin. He won a [...]
Apparently upset with the austerity conditions necessitated by decades of government profligacy, Greek voters have opened their political system to some potentially dangerous forces: ATHENS — Greek voters appeared to radically redraw the political map on Sunday, bolstering the far left and neo-Nazi right in a wave of protest against the dominant political parties they [...]
As most observers had been expecting, François Hollande was elected the 9th President of the French Fifth Republic in a runoff with incumbent President Nicolas Sakorzy: François Hollande swept into office on Sunday, becoming the first Socialist to become president of France since François Mitterrand left office in 1995. Mr. Hollande campaigned on a kinder, [...]
Iran’s path to a nuclear bomb isn’t as easy as most think, Jacques Hymans argues in the current Foreign Policy.
The blind Chinese activist who daring escape from house arrest set off a diplomatic brouhaha that grabbed the world’s attention is about to get his wish to come to America.
Via the BBC: New rape claim in Strauss-Kahn inquiry in France The magistrates in Lille are already investigating Mr Strauss-Kahn over his suspected role in a prostitution ring. A Belgian prostitute has alleged that "DSK" and three of his associates gang-raped her in Washington DC in December 2010, French media report. Prosecutors are now considering [...]
Via Haaretz: Netanyahu’s Likud moves to dissolve Knesset ahead of early Israel elections Israel’s political arena has been abuzz with the likelihood of elections being moved up from their due 2013 date, with one possible cause for holding early elections is the controversial Tal Law, which exempts ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students from mandatory military service. The [...]
What seemed like a diplomatic success has begun to unravel very quickly.
Via the BBC: Sarkozy: France election too close to call. Note that the headline says that Sarkozy thinks it is too close to call. Indeed, he sounds like a politicians trying to convince himself that he is better off than he really is: French President Nicolas Sarkozy believes Sunday’s presidential election run-off against Francois Hollande [...]
What appeared to be something that would develop into a diplomatic standoff between Washington and Beijing came to an abrupt, and someone surprising, end today: BEIJING — Chen Guangcheng, the blind Chinese dissident who fled house arrest last month in a dramatic escape from security forces, left the American Embassy in Beijing on Wednesday after [...]
A well known Chinese dissident escaped house arrest over the weekend and made his way to Beijing, where he is now being given sanctuary at the U.S. Embassy: Blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng is under U.S. protection after an bold escape from 19 months under house arrest, sources told NBC News on Monday, a revelation [...]
(And yes, the title is meant to be ironic). Via the BBC: Cannabis farms: 21 found each day, police chiefs say An average of more than 21 cannabis factories were found daily in Britain last year, police chiefs say. [...] The number of farms discovered increased to 7,865, more than doubling in four years. [...] [...]
Via BBC: Israel ex-security chief says leadership ‘misleading public’ on Iran The former head of Israel’s domestic intelligence agency has accused the country’s leadership of "misleading" the public on the merits of a possible military strike on Iran. Yuval Diskin said an attack might speed up any attempt by Iran to obtain a nuclear bomb. [...]
Via the BBC: Mein Kampf: Bavaria plans first German publication since WWII The German state of Bavaria is preparing to publish Hitler’s manifesto, Mein Kampf, in 2015, before the book’s copyright expires. The book is not banned by law in Germany, but Bavaria has used ownership of the copyright to prevent publication of German editions [...]
My latest for The National Interest,Insurmountable Obstacles in Afghanistan, has been posted.
Lt Gen Benny Gantz says Iran “is going step by step to the place where it will be able to decide whether to manufacture a nuclear bomb. It hasn’t yet decided to go the extra mile.”
ABC’s White House Correspondent, Jake Tapper notes that, once again, President Obama has failed to live up to a promise made to the Armenian-American community while he was running for President: On the fourth Armenian Remembrance Day of his presidency, President Obama has for the fourth time in a row broken his promise to the [...]
Via the BBC: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez dismisses death rumours Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has spoken on state TV for the first time since he arrived in Cuba for more cancer treatment nine days ago. Mr Chavez, 57, dismissed rumours that he had died undergoing radiotherapy for a second tumour in his pelvic region. Speaking [...]
Another round of threats from North Korea.
Congressman Dana Rohrbacher won’t be allowed to visit Afghanistan: Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Monday he was denied entry into Afghanistan because of his critical views of that country’s government. “Apparently, [Afghanistan President Hamid] Karzai just goes bananas every time he hears that I might be, in [...]
Via the BBC: France election: Francois Hollande ‘wins first round’ French Socialist Francois Hollande has won most votes in the first round of the country’s presidential election, estimates show. They suggest he got more than 28% of votes against about 26% for centre-right incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy. The two men will face each other in a [...]
Via the NYT: Escort Recounts Quarrel With Secret Service Agent There was a language gap between the 24-year-old woman, who declined to give her full name, and the American man who sat beside her all night and eventually invited her back to his room. She agreed, stopped on the way to buy condoms but told [...]
