POLITICS: Thai-Cambodia Diplomatic Row Bares Decades-Long Rift
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - Thailand’s swift and strong response to Cambodia’s decision to appoint ousted Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra as an economic adviser exposed an emotional faultline rooted in decades of mutual suspicion and hatred.
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SRI LANKA: Colombo’s Diplomatic Sparring Games with EU, U.S.
Analysis by Amantha Perera
COLOMBO - One thing that has set apart the current administration of President Mahinda Rajapaksa from those of his predecessors is its diplomatic duels with international heavyweights.
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POLITICS: U.S. Seeks to Limit Warlords in Karzai Cabinet
By Gareth Porter*
WASHINGTON - The Barack Obama administration is talking tough to Afghan President Hamid Karzai about the need for decisive action on corruption and governance reform, but its main objective is to prevent particularly corrupt and incompetent warlords from getting plum ministries as rewards for helping clinch his fraudulent reelection, IPS has learned.
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ENVIRONMENT: China’s Climate Change Plan: The Debate Goes On
By Antoaneta Bezlova
BEIJING - For China choosing to act on climate change is not simply agreeing to effect changes in the way its robust economy is being run. Chinese leaders have to choose between two equally unattractive options—put the brakes on growth to choke off pollution and face an array of scary scenarios, from unemployment swell to social unrest.
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NEPAL: Hopes High for Environmental Rights in New Constitution
By Mallika Aryal
KATHMANDU - As the new federal republic of Nepal forges ahead with writing a new constitution, activists are demanding that environmental rights be enshrined in this important document.
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BURMA: U.S. Mission’s Meeting with Ethnic Minorities Signals Hope
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - The United States government’s diplomatic foray into military-ruled Burma made early inroads into an area sealed off to United Nations envoys in recent years—meeting the country’s oppressed ethnic minorities.
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RIGHTS-INDIA: Gov’t Urged to Rethink War on Maoists
By Ranjit Devraj
NEW DELHI - In the lull before the storm that the central government has vowed to unleash on Maoist rebels this month, voices of caution are being heard against precipitating an armed confrontation that could further hurt marginalised and largely indigenous populations in the worst affected central and eastern Indian states.
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Q&A: ‘ODA Is What Governments Want to Do at Their Whim’
By Helen Clark
HANOI - Think of a world where rich nations did not fund what was popular but instead collaborated to solve the developing world’s most pressing health needs.
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RIGHTS: Jailed Fishermen Await Thaw in India-Pakistan Relations
By Zofeen Ebrahim
KARACHI - Almost 400 Indian fishermen continue to languish in Pakistani prisons despite having completed their prison terms. Their release has been hampered by tensions in the relations between their country and neighbouring Pakistan.
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SRI LANKA: Anxiety Persists Over Safety of Rubella Vaccine
By Amantha Perera
COLOMBO - Sudarma Senevirathana’s teenage daughter is at an age when she can already be given the ‘rubella’ vaccine, administered free of charge by government health officials at schools.
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