International Politics
Corruption concerns remain as buyers jet into Harare to view rough stones. A stash of gemstones that human-rights organizations allege were mined by virtual slaves who were threatened with death goes on sale today in Zimbabwe, having been approved by an international regulator. About 900,000 carats in rough diamonds from the Marange field were brought …
Zimbabewe Sells Blood Diamonds to Russia, India, Israel, Lebanon Read More »
Reflecting on my coverage of the latest UN report released on Tuesday showing a 31 per cent increase in overall Afghan civilians casualties, a couple of questions raised in my mind about the overall chances for success by the US-led coalition. Number-crunchers from the UN’s Assistance Mission Afghanistan (UNAMA) now say the Taliban and other …
A fierce controversy is raging in the United States over plans to build an Islamic community and outreach centre, including a mosque, in Lower Manhattan, several blocks from “Ground Zero” – the site where the World Trade Centre stood when it was attacked on September 11, 2001. The controversy started when the Cordoba Initiative, led …
Ex-spies ponder N. Korean missile sale to Taliban CIA-supplied Stinger missiles proved to be a game-changer for mujaheddinAccording to one of the intelligence reports obtained by WikiLeaks, one of the Afghan insurgency’s most powerful figures, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, traveled to North Korea in 2005 with a top aide to Osama bin Laden and purchased ground-to-air missiles. …
Mikhail Khodorkovsky sits in a defendant’s cage in a Moscow courtroom in this June 16, 2004 file photo. In a lengthy interview published in this week’s issue of SPIEGEL, he argues: “I was not a rober baron in the past, just as I’m not a martyr today.” SPIEGEL interview, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, 47, the former Russian …
The ongoing WikiLeaks saga The truth is out there, but what does it all mean? On this episode of The Listening Post, we turn our attention to figures involved in the WikiLeaks Afghan war logs and the debate over what the US government should do about it.
Michelle Obama today faced a fresh wave of attacks over her lavish break in Spain with 40 friends, which could easily cost U.S. taxpayers a staggering £50,000 a day. The First Lady has been lambasted for her extravagance at a time when the economy is still struggling. One blogger went so far as to brand …
WikiLeaks: The National-Security State Strikes Back By Scott Horton WikiLeaks’ disclosure of the 91,000 U.S. government documents that it labels the “Afghan War Diary” raises a number of vital issues. Most of the discussion so far has focused on the significance of the documents themselves. They make the intelligence community look not so intelligent, and …
Wikileaks upholding national security or betrayal of American democracy Read More »