Eurasia Review

Despite Horrific Repression, The US Should Stay Out Of Syria – OpEd

FPIF — Sun, 19 May 2013 06:08:55 +0000

By Stephen Zunes The worsening violence and repression in Syria has left policymakers scrambling to think of ways the United States could help end the bloodshed and support those seeking to dislodge the Assad regime. The desperate desire to “do something” has led to increasing calls for the United States to provide military aid to [...]

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Swiss Minister Says End To US Tax Dispute In Sight

SwissInfo — Sun, 19 May 2013 06:02:54 +0000

Swiss Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf says a resolution may be not far off to end a long-running dispute with the United States over Swiss banks accused of helping wealthy Americans evade billions of dollars of taxes. “We are on the point of presenting a solution,” Widmer-Schlumpf told Swiss national radio on Saturday. Several points still [...]

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Iran Says US Preventing Global Denuclearization And International Peace

Iran Review — Sun, 19 May 2013 06:00:56 +0000

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Araqchi says the United States’ opposition and lack of commitment to various international disarmament conventions are obstacles to advancing the issue of global disarmament. Pointing to the US’s 16-year opposition to bringing up the issue of disarmament in the UN Disarmament Conference, Araqchi said, “The US has, for all practical [...]

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Iran: Opposition Leader’s Son Complains To Supreme Leader Khamenei

Radio Zamaneh — Sun, 19 May 2013 05:58:22 +0000

The eldest son of Iranian opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi has called on Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei to direct Iranian security forces to desist from “unethical and immoral” actions and “the confiscation of the personal property of dissidents.” Saham News reports that in a letter of May 17, Hossein Karroubi writes to Ayatollah Khamenei: “Did [...]

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Asteroid 9 Times Size Of Ocean Liner To Buzz Earth On May 31

RT — Sun, 19 May 2013 05:51:18 +0000

The 1998 QE2 asteroid has the physical mass to potentially deliver life on Earth a knockout punch, being 2.7km in length. It is to buzz our planet on May 31, awing the stargazing community. Officially known as Asteroid 1998 QE2, the ‘minor planet’, as astronomers refer to these space objects, is about nine times the [...]

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Mercedes-Benz Presents S-Class In Event At Airbus A380 Delivery Center

Eurasia Review — Sun, 19 May 2013 05:46:00 +0000

Mercedes-Benz presented its new S-Class at a special event this week at the Airbus A380 delivery center in Hamburg-Finkenwerder As “Germany’s most valuable package,” the star of the event had previously been flown from Stuttgart to Hamburg in an Airbus A300-600 freighter operated by DHL – just in time to celebrate the world premiere with [...]

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Germany Grants Residency To Justin Bieber’s Monkey

VOR — Sun, 19 May 2013 05:36:09 +0000

A tiny capuchin monkey belonging to Justin Bieber won lifetime residency in Germany on Saturday after the singer’s agents said Bieber would not try to recover his confiscated pet. Mally, aged five months, is destined for an unnamed German zoo to be integrated into a tribe of capuchins. Animal welfare officials refuse to say which [...]

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Germany’s Merkel Meets Pope Francis At Vatican

Eurasia Review — Sun, 19 May 2013 05:34:32 +0000

Saturday morning in the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Federal Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel was received in audience by Pope Francis, the Vatican said in a statement. Following the meeting with the Pope, Merkel met with Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for Relations with States. According to the Vatican, the conversations centered on the long history [...]

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Echoes Of Arab Spring In Pakistan – OpEd

Arab News — Sun, 19 May 2013 05:21:54 +0000

By Aijaz Zaka Syed In the run-up to what is being viewed as Pakistan’s truly historic elections, an old Pakistani reader of mine from Saudi Arabia wrote in, twice, to ask: “Not a word on Pakistan’s elections so far! Why?” Missives like these, most humbling as they are, make up for all the dull hours [...]

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OPEC’s Renewed Challenge – OpEd

Arab News — Sun, 19 May 2013 05:18:25 +0000

By Alsir Sidahmed The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meeting later this month could represent a landmark in terms of how the group will prepare to handle difficulties ahead. The difficulty arises from the fact that for foreseeable future, or fo the next five years at least, OPEC will see that whatever demand prevails [...]

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Denmark’s Emmelie De Forest Wins 2013 Eurovision

Ria Novosti — Sun, 19 May 2013 05:13:03 +0000

Denmark’s Emmelie de Forest won in the final of 2013 Eurovision, Europe’s most popular song contest, after performing her song “Only Teardrops” at the Malmo Arena in Sweden. The grand finale was held May 18 featuring 26 performers – 20 winners of the two semi-finals, as well as representatives of the host country Sweden and [...]

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Somalia And The Slippery Slope Of ‘Jubbaland’ – OpEd

Abukar Arman — Sun, 19 May 2013 05:09:47 +0000

If the latest development in Somalia gives you the feeling of being trapped in the Twilight Zone—somewhere between relative security and renewed bloodshed—you are not alone. Due to the array of competing internal and external interest groups and the federal government’s lack of clear grand strategy or capacity to assert its authority, the formation of [...]

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Stung By Gwadar, India Looks For Business In Chabahar – Analysis

Monish Gulati — Sun, 19 May 2013 05:02:33 +0000

The 17th Session of the India-Iran Joint Commission which was held on May 4 in Tehran was co-chaired by Ali Akbar Salehi, foreign minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and Salman Khurshid, external affairs minister of India. Besides bilateral and regional issues of mutual interest, the matter of “reviving” Indian participation in the Chabahar [...]

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US Has Ethical Responsibility For Health Of Guantanamo Prisoners – Hagel, Dempsey

American Forces Press Service — Sat, 18 May 2013 23:20:05 +0000

By Amaani Lyle Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin E. Dempsey said Friday the United States has an ethical responsibility to assure the health and well-being of detainees at the prison facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where some have been on a hunger strike for several months. [...]

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US Criticizes Russian Missile Sale To Syria

VOA — Sat, 18 May 2013 23:14:10 +0000

The top U.S. military officer says Russian missile shipments to Syria are “ill-timed” and “very unfortunate.” The remarks by General Martin Dempsey were the first U.S. confirmation that Russia made the sale of so-called ship-killer cruise missiles to Syria. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Friday the missiles will embolden President [...]

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India And China In The Arctic: Breeching The Monopoly – Analysis

IPCS — Sat, 18 May 2013 22:53:09 +0000

By Vijay Sakhuja China’s long wait for a ‘permanent observer’ status in the Arctic Council, a top-level intergovernmental regional body, is finally over. At the Eighth Ministerial Meeting in Kiruna in Sweden, the Arctic Council (five Nordic countries, Russia, Canada, and the US) finally agreed to invite China, India, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Italy [...]

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Uncertainty About Canada’s Arctic Vision – Analysis

IDN — Sat, 18 May 2013 22:41:53 +0000

By R. Nastranis While scientists and environmentalists watch the Arctic as a bellwether of global climate change, and nations and corporations seek to exploit its oil, gas and mineral reserves as well as new shipping routes, rapid and even abrupt changes occurring on multiple fronts across the polar region are threatening to cause irreversible impact [...]

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Philippines Tells Nationals In Taiwan To Lie Low

UCAN — Sat, 18 May 2013 22:30:36 +0000

The Philippines advised its nationals living in Taiwan to stay at home or commute directly to and from work to avoid “hate assaults.” Amadeo Perez Jr., head of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office in Taiwan, said that “tension is high” after the shooting of a Taiwanese fisherman by the Philippine Coast Guard last week. [...]

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Undocumented Immigrants In US Mostly Christian – Study

CNA — Sat, 18 May 2013 22:28:23 +0000

A new study says that undocumented immigrants to the U.S. tend to be more Christian than the general population, while new legal permanent residents tend to be less Christian. The Pew Research Center estimated that 83 percent of undocumented immigrants are Christian, with most coming primarily from Latin America and the Caribbean. As of 2011, [...]

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Serb Ex-NBA Star Danilovic Stabbed

RFE RL — Sat, 18 May 2013 22:23:54 +0000

(RFE/RL) — Former Serbian and NBA basketball star Predrag Danilovic has been stabbed and seriously injured in a bar fight. Danilovic was stabbed at a cafe in the Serbian capital, Belgrade, early on May 18. Danilovic, 43, was hospitalized with serious injuries to his head, arms, and abdomen. Doctors said he was stable following surgery. [...]

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Li Keqiang’s Visit To India: What Promise Does It Portend? – Analysis

Rajaram Panda — Sat, 18 May 2013 21:58:17 +0000

The Prime Minister of China Li Keqiang who assumed office in March is arriving in India from May 19 to 21 as part of his first round of overseas visits after becoming Prime Minister. He also travels to Pakistan, Switzerland and Germany. He clubbed his visits to India and Pakistan on his way to Europe [...]

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India And China In The Arctic: The New Great Game? – Analysis

IPCS — Sat, 18 May 2013 21:56:06 +0000

By Ramesh Ramachandran Energy rivalry took India and China first to Central Asia and then to Africa. Now, they are scrambling for resources and attendant benefits on the icy slopes of the Arctic. On 15 May 2013, the two Asian giants were made observers in the Arctic Council, an intergovernmental forum, to provide a means [...]

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Peru: Government’s Revenge On Lawmaker

Latinamerica Press — Sat, 18 May 2013 21:53:32 +0000

Leftist leader and lawmaker Javier Diez Canseco passed away on May 4 without Congress having complied with the Supreme Court’s ruling that forces it to reinstate him to his seat after having been unjustly suspended last November. Diez Canseco, leader of the Socialist Party (PS), was elected to Congress in 2011 through the Peru Wins [...]

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Separatism In Eurasia: Grassroots Growing In The Wrong Direction – OpEd

JTW — Sat, 18 May 2013 21:50:39 +0000

By John Storey Over the past year, tensions between ethnic Chechens and the Ingush of Russia’s North Caucasus region have increased dramatically. The provocative de jure annexation of parts of Ingushetia, Russia’s smallest republic, by Chechnya in February was soon topped in audacity by an unexpected “visit” of 300 or so Chechen officials (many of [...]

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Stupid Regulations – OpEd

Randall G. Holcombe — Sat, 18 May 2013 21:47:54 +0000

I received a postcard in yesterday’s mail. The first paragraph reads: “The City of Tallahassee’s Office of Cross-Connection Control monitors actual or potential backflow via cross connections with non-approved water sources. We are committed to the quality of water delivered to our customers, and your drinking water remains clean and free of contaminants [sic]. Our [...]

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Paraguay Among Latin American Nations With Robust Growth

Peter Tase — Sat, 18 May 2013 21:42:12 +0000

In early May, BBVA Bank Paraguay presented its Latin American economic growth outlook for 2013 and 2014, predicting the economies that will lead global growth. BBVA estimates that the pace of global development in 2013 will be 3.3 percent, only a tenth of the estimated growth in 2012. In 2014 it will reach rates close [...]

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When Thein Sein Uses Political Prisoners As Image Building Tool

Nava Thakuria — Sat, 18 May 2013 21:39:33 +0000

Burma Campaign UK has criticized the Burmese President Thein Sein for once again using political prisoners’ releases as an image building exercise before his official visit to the USA. The London based rights body slammed Mr Sein for taking this decision just hours before leaving for America, where he is scheduled to meet the US [...]

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The UN, Integrated Systems And American Intransigence To Accountability – OpEd

Eurasia Review — Sat, 18 May 2013 21:34:01 +0000

By Clive Hambidge Integrated Systems In Wikipedia we find this, concerning an overview of the meaning ‘integrated systems’ “A system is an aggregation of subsystems cooperating so that the system is able to deliver the overarching functionality. System integration involves integrating existing often disparate systems. System integration is also about adding value to the system, [...]

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The Syrian Crisis: The Option – OpEd

Palestine Chronicle — Sat, 18 May 2013 21:29:17 +0000

By Jeremy Salt While all options are said to be still on the table, Barack Obama is clearly backing away from any deeper involvement in Syria now it is clear that nothing but direct intervention is going to bring down the government in Damascus. In the past few months alone the armed groups have lost [...]

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WestMinister’s Take On Future Of Afghanistan – Analysis

Monish Gulati — Sat, 18 May 2013 21:27:46 +0000

Introduction In its recent report-“Securing the Future of Afghanistan,” the UK House of Commons Defence Select Committee calls for measures to help establish a “peaceful and functioning” Afghanistan. The report, which pays tribute to the service and sacrifices of British troops, focuses on an issue that is engaging most NATO/ ISAF countries at this moment [...]

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