Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Gareth Porter* WASHINGTON, Aug 26, 2010 (IPS) – President Barack Obama’s refusal in a White House briefing earlier this month to announce a "red line" in regard to the Iran nuclear programme represented another in a series of rebuffs of pressure from Defence Secretary Robert Gates for [...]
SOUTH-EAST ASIA: China Flexes Hydropower Muscle
August 27, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Marwaan Macan-Markar BANGKOK, Aug 27, 2010 (IPS) – After all the turbines in the Xiaowan hydropower station sputtered to life this week in China’s south-west Yunnan province, the Asian giant was able to lay claim to having the world’s largest hydropower capacity. A "great leap forward" was [...]
VENEZUELA: Opposition Hopes to Make a Comeback
August 27, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Humberto Márquez CARACAS, Aug 26, 2010 (IPS) – The campaign for Venezuela’s Sept. 26 legislative elections is officially on, and the opposition, which boycotted the last vote five years ago, is back in the running, hoping to win enough seats to act as a counterweight to President [...]
CORRUPTION-PERU: Gov’t Tries to Track Down Millions from Convicted Officials
August 27, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Ángel Páez LIMA, Aug 26, 2010 (IPS) – The Peruvian government will try to track down funds hidden away by former officials of the Alberto Fujimori regime (1990-2000) and others sentenced for corruption. The aim is to recover 323 million dollars — the total amount that the [...]
DR-CONGO: Mass Gang Rape Exposes Systematic Sexual Violence
August 25, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Aprille Muscara UNITED NATIONS, Aug 24, 2010 (IPS) – A U.N. human rights investigation mission will be launched in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Wednesday, U.N. officials announced Tuesday, after gruesome reports surfaced in the media of the systematic gang rape of nearly 200 [...]
BEIJING TIGHTENS UP CONTROL OVER MONASTERIES & MOSQUES
August 25, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy B.RAMAN Acting jointly, China’s Ministry of Public Security and the United Front Work Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China have tightened up their control over the Buddhist monasteries in the Tibetan areas of China and over the mosques in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region. While the [...]
Guarding Environment with a Paper-and-Pencil Project
August 25, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IDN By Taro Ichikawa IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis BANGKOK (IDN) – Asia-Pacific already has the largest number of motorized vehicles in the world and if the present trend continues, the region would in the coming years have more automobiles than Europe and North America combined. In Japan alone, the number of [...]
Asia Expects a New Decade in Sustainable Transport
August 25, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IDN By Taro Ichikawa IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis BANGKOK (IDN) – A new town of about 150,000 people is expected to sprout every day in the next 20 years in the Asia-Pacific region, increasing the urban population from 1.6 billion to 2.7 billion in 2030. This will also influence mobility patterns [...]
RIGHTS-CHINA: Doubts Simmer Around New Labour Rules
August 24, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Michael Standaert FOSHAN, China, Aug 24, 2010 (IPS) – Faced with strikes in recent months, China’s southern Guangdong province is crafting revisions to labour regulations that would allow workers to negotiate pay increases and elect representatives to bargain on their behalf. This is certainly good news, but [...]
MIDEAST: This Math Class May Figure Out Israel
August 24, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Eva Bartlett AL ZAHARA, Central Gaza Strip, Aug 24, 2010 (IPS) – In a bright and spacious classroom, with plants overflowing in the courtyard outside, six students lean forward at their desks looking at the 10-digit addition they are asked to make. One student stands before the [...]
