As you have probably heard, President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. Some are already grumbling that the prize was undeserved because he has few accomplishments on which to base the award. They are missing the point.
The Security Council held a meeting yesterday to discuss a new report from the Secretary General on progress (or lack there of) of the peace process in Somalia. During the meeting, UK Ambassador John Sawers (who will be leaving the UK-UN mission to lead MI-5) recommended sanctions against Eritrea, which he accuses of destabilizing Somalia by sponsoring a militant group that is trying to overthrow the fragile Somali government. The United States seems to be on board. At the
Hillary Clinton says that the United States government is formulating a response the recent flare up of violence in Guinea in which government forces shot and raped hundreds of demonstrators gathered at a soccer stadium.
In March 2007, the Turkish government forced internet service providers to block access to YouTube. The ban has been holding strong since then, so it was a surprise to see the English language Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review report that Turkish censors lifted the ban for the IMF/World Bank meeting this week. The Hurriyet says that the website is only accessible at th
I am in Turkey this week, courtesy of the Turkish Cultural Foundation. As it happens, this is an auspicious time to be here. The IMF-World Bank meetings wrap up in Istanbul today. Also, later in the week, the Turkish and Armenian foreign ministers will meet in Switzerland to sign the Armenia-Turkey protocol which paves the way for the restoration of diplomatic relations between the two neighboring countries.
The South Africa Ministry of Trade and Industry just released data showing that China is now the nation’s top country trading partner. The top regional partner is still the European Union, but the single country with the largest trade volume is China. Exports to China from January to June 2009 were 27.6 billion rand (3.6 billion USD). Exports to the US during the same period were 19.1 billion rand (2.51 billion USD).
The office of the coordinator of humanitarian affairs is asking for $74 million dollars to provide humanitarian releif to the Philippenes in the wake of Typhoon Ketsana. John Holmes, the UN's top humanitarian official, said the typhoon killed almost 300 people and badly damaged or destroyed almost 40,000 houses. 300,000 people still live in emergency evacuation centers. From the UN News Center:
Our very own Alanna Shaikh makes her blogging heads debut. Our woman in Tajikstan discusses the politics of the 'stans and major health issues facing the region. She is joined by Sundaa Bridget Jones of the Council on Foreign Relations.
The attack on the World Food Program headquarters in Islamabad was a tragedy and a crime. It was also symptomatic of a deadly trend in international security. Last year, 268 humanitarian aid workers were killed, kidnapped, or seriously injured in violent attacks. This represents a 61% increase of attacks on aid workers over the past decade. This increase is not just because there are more aid workers in the field today.